Recently I have been watching a lot of youtube videos looking for layout ideas and noticed a large number of DCC/sound equipped engines have blinking headlights. I'm not talking about Mars type lights but the normal headlights. Why do they do that and how would you prevent that? I'd rather not have headlights than blinking ones. Very distracting and as far as I know unprototypical.
Thanks,
oldline1
Could be that the track and or the wheels are dirty- Not a decoder problem. Normal installs, the head light will either be on or off.
unless you program it different.
I'm not sure what your seeing oldline, but I'll take a stab, that sounds like ditch lights. If you model modern times, it's a light function on the decoder that allows you to make the ditch lights blink like that, like the prototypes do when approaching a crossing.
Ditch lights are below the head lights.
Is that what your seeing?
I don't know of many modelers that like the actuall head light to flash, unless they are simulating the Mars light.
Just a quess!
Mike.
My You Tube
Mike,
No. I know what ditch lights look like and where they are located. These are the single headlights on steamers and F-units and all.
Maybe "pulsing" is more accurate than "blinking".
Look at this video and the 2 helpers about 1:59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5mHPm6JEVM
The pulsing is very regular and so I doubt if it's dirty track. I've seen this on a lot of videos on youtube.
oldline1Maybe "pulsing" is more accurate than "blinking".
Whatever you want to call it, it looks slightly faster in the front pusher, but happening at regular intervals in both. Someone asked him 5 years ago why do they blink, but he chose not to answer.
With a layout that nice, I'm thinking he also knows a thing or two about wiring, and for some reason thought the blinking added visual interest.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Agree....he does have a spectacular layout and equipment. I don't find it interesting. To me it's annoying.
I've seen it on other layout videos so I doubt if it's something he must have done.
I've only installed about 10 sound decoders and I' ve never encountered this in them. If I ever do I will just do without the headlights. Very strange!
That is one great video, with great modeling, scenery and photography! Thanks!
Well, then I guess I don't have clue. It looks like just the helpers.
You know WAY more about what is prototypical in the days of big steam than I've ever thought about.
So, nothing like that was done in the real world ? with helpers?
I guess I'll watch your thread, and see what develops, and learn something!
I wish I could do that quality of modeling and had that much room to do it in!
In the steam days headlights were generally only used at night. I understand they became mandatory sometime in the mid 1950's. A helper usually wouldn't have any headlights on. I'm sure some railroads differed per their own circumstances.
I've thought long about the headlight pulsing and can't understand why they do it.I noticed the M1 on the point didn't have a headlight on and only the helpers did.
While the locomotives and trains are impressive, I can't imagine the reason for the pulsating headlights.As far as the layout goes, it looks to me that there's either a lot of use of photos as temporary backdrops, or the creator of the video somehow pasted/photo-shopped those scenes into the video. Some of it was done quite well, some not-so-well, but still, very imaginative use of real images.
Wayne
Yea, those backscenes are superimposed. It's noticeable along the top edge and in front of the locomotive about a minute into the video.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I think even the tracks are computer imposed. He could be simply running a train on plywood with everything else computer assisted.
I like lighting of all kinds, the more the better. I don't know much about steam or the purpose of the pulsation, but I like the effect.
- Douglas
It does say in the description, "fun with green screen" so yeah, that is heavily post processed. COuld be an artifact of that, but the pulsing of the lights is very regular and it dims out slowly, if it were loss of power it would wink out instantly. It would appear to be deliberately set to a specific effect - but why? I've never heard of anything like that being done in the steam era, not for the main headlight anyway. Some railroads had additional warning lights on their steam locos, either to flash a pattern in the sky to increase visibility at grade crossings or to light up with a flashing red pattern if the loco stopped on the main.
And they didn;t seem to be changing speed, which would mean it could be that the decoder is set to 14 steps and the system is sending 28 or 128, so the lights would go on and off each alternate speed step. Heck do we even know that's DCC in that video?
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It appears to me that for whatever reason, the owner programmed in the mars light effect into the headlights.
I have been following Dferg for quite some time on Youtube. He lives near me in NE Ohio.
You see, I was one of the ones who asked him about the headlights (SIX years ago!). Much of his steam is Broadway Limited out of the box, with mostly QSI decoders. He does use DCC.
He said in one of his replies that the headlights got wonky when he was setting up a consist. He had not noticed the headlights until after he had posted the video.
Once he cleared the consist the problem went away.
Good Luck, Ed
Is that some fault or quirk of QSI decoders?
Sorry I missed your post of six years ago. I didn't search for an answer as on the MR site I've found the search feature virtually worthless.
Thanks for the answer.
Well that's strange, that conist or not would change the effect on the light output, which is an entirely different set of CVs, not even close to the ones used for consisting, if he's using CV19 or if he uses NCE DCC.
I have one last QSI loco, I guess I can try putting it in a consist and see if the headlights go nuts. But it's a diesel one, not steam.
oldline1Sorry I missed your post of six years ago.
The comment was at Youtube, not here.
Hope you find your answer.
Cheers, Ed
I just looked at his video Ore Train Part 3 and the lights are all working as they should.
Nice seeing someone run at prototype speeds too.