I have an NCE PowerCab system. I also have a Kato N scale SD40-2 with an MRC #1806 sound decoder and a Digitrax TL1 single function-only decoder. The TL1 is to power a single blinking light bulb to replicate a rotary beacon.
It is always on. However, rather than typing in the address in my NCE POwerCab system as '03' and turning on and off the light that way, I want to remap it to the 'Option" button when the ENGINE decoder is addressed, not the TL1. In other words, instead of selecting '03' to address the TL1, can I type in '5053' (the engine number) and hit the "Option" button on the NCE PowerCar system to turn off the rotary beacon light (i.e. remap a function from one decoder to another)?
Read the documentation that came with the Digitrax TL1 decoder and see if it supports function remapping.
From the brief description of the TL1 on the Digitrax web site, it can be turned on or off using F0, F1, F2, F3, or F4, but you'll have to delve into their programming documentation to see which CV controls this function.
If I change the TL1's short address to a long address, say, '5053' for the engine number, and then press the 'light' button, that is the same button and address as my MRC #1806 sound decoder, and pressing the 'light' button will turn off the headlight AND the rotary beacon light, right?
Once the TL1's address is reprogrammed to 5053, how will the NCE PowerCab know that I want to reprogram the TL1's output to the "Option" button and not the MRC's lighting output?
You may need to temporarily separate one decoder so that you can program the one without it affecting the other. I had to do that when "piggybacking" a sound-only decoder on top of a regular one.
wjstix You may need to temporarily separate one decoder so that you can program the one without it affecting the other.
You may need to temporarily separate one decoder so that you can program the one without it affecting the other.
Exactly what I was going to suggest. You should remove the Digitrax TL1 and program it separately from the MRC sound decoder. Change the TL1's address and then change the function.
You'll need to consult the MRC documentation, too, to see which CVs they use to control lighting and sound functions so you don't wind up piggy-backing a function that causes some strange sound to turn on or off along with the strobe.
It may turn out that you can't do what you want because of a conflict of CVs between the two decoders.
When the NMRA established their DCC Standards and Recommended Practices sound was not even dreamed of, so many CVs were left up to the individual decoder manufacturers to use for anything they wanted.
It would be easier to select the short address of the TL1 decoder. LOL.
If you want the beacon to come on at the same time as the headlights, just putting the two decoders at the same address and assigning the beacon to F0 will do that for you. If you want separate control for the beacon, though, you'll have to reprogram the MRC decoder to move something else. F1 through F4 are already assigned to various sounds on the MRC, and their manual doesn't say if they can be reprogrammed.
By the NMRA standard, CVs 33-46 map the function codes to their outputs. So, for example, if you wanted to disable the "Air Release" sound on F3 on the MRC decoder, you would set CV 37 on that decoder to zero, and that should disable that function. Then, if you assign the beacon on the T1 decoder to F3, that button should control just the beacon.
But, you'll have to try it. I don't know if the MRC decoder will support the standard.
You will need to separate the decoders to program them.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Per the second paragraph, would the address that I would choose be 5053 for the engine or 03 for the TL1 decoder? Or did you mean that I should change the short address to the long address of the TL1 to 5053?
Is it even possible to turn on and off the beacon from the TL1 (whose address is 03) when the address is showing on the PowerCab is set to 5053? I assume it would be if and only if I reprogrammed the TL1 to have an address of 5053, right?
It's not that big of a deal, just wanted the option to be able to turn it off when the engine number is selected, not the TL1. I'm good with it being on all the time.
You should not need to remove the TL1 to change it's address to 5053. If the MRC decoder is already on that address, programming a long address of 5053 will not affect the MRC decoder. But to function remap the TL1 it will have to be removed because you're going to be dealing with some CVs that may mess up the MRC decoder.
Not sure on the MRC sound decoder, but on many sound decoders F3 is 'coupler crash' and F4 is 'dynamic brakes'. If you don't use one of these, you could reprogram the TL1 to operate on say F4, and set the dynamic brakes sound volume to zero. Then you wouldn't have to re-map the sound decoder, and could still control the strobe separate from engine lights.
cacole You should not need to remove the TL1 to change it's address to 5053.
You should not need to remove the TL1 to change it's address to 5053.
I've added Digitrax sound-only decoders to a few engines. I'd say that statement is a "maybe." In most cases, I've had to program one decoder at a time. I don't think the decoders have a problem, but the DCC system and the programming track don't necessarily like having two decocoders at once.