Hi, I have a LokSound 5 micro decoder installed in an Atlas Alco S2 locomotive. I use Digitrax and programmed it on my JMRI. I went to run it at a club that uses NCE, but can’t get the sound to come up. Everything else works (motor, lights). Is there something I need to know about using NCE with LokSound?
Thanks.
JRP
Loksound has a startup feature. I think maybe F6. If the throttle reads the decoder as being in shutdown mode I think you have to select F6 to startup the locomotive engine. I run into this situation with Rapido Loksound equipped locomotives.
JRP,
Sorry for the stupid question: You pressed F8 when you were using the NCE throttle?
Tom
Watch it, pal. That’s a question I ask myself regularly.
Ed
I use nce exclusively with loksound decoders. I’ll second the dumb question. Did you try pressing F8?
Yes all, I pressed F8, but nothing. I was told that using NCE with LokSound required some different adjustments, but don’t know what they are hence the question.
JRP,
I use an NCE Power Cab and I’ve never had an issue operating a Lok5 decoder; nor do I know what “different adjustments” would refer to.
Tom
Yeah, I’m not sure what the problem might be. I do recall there being an issue with some decoders and having an address issue, but I think that was resolved with loksound 5. It was either sound but no motor, or motor with now sound. IDK?
Nor have I. I have an NCE system and have a few locomotives with LokSounds in them. Not the Lok5 either, but a previous version. Never had an issue.
JRP,
Have you tried reaching out to ESU to see if they have a suggestion?
Randy Rinker used to write about JMRI requiring multiple passes to write to a Loksound. I’m not a JMRI guy. Does anyone at the club have a lokprogrammer?
Did the S2 come from the factory with Loksound or is this you installation, or someone else’s?
Do you have a home layout where the sound works or is the only place you run it is at the club?
LokSound decoders work best in Direct Mode.
IIRC, the process when using JMRI is as follows:
See my reply below for the updated process and a note regarding the Power Pro.
Makes sense. I’ll try Direct and make sure my JMRI version is the latest (I think it’s about a year and a half old), although it does read the Loksound Micro 5 version when my loco is on the program tract.
Update, as I missed a few points… I asked an ESU guru to verify if my process was right, what he said:
With the current version of JMRI…
Use New Loco: Read type from decoder.
Since ESU decoders are very complex, this is the best and only way to get it right.
Use Read Full Sheet to get the current state of the decoder. If any CVs are red, do another read, as many times as are needed to get all the CVs. Read all sheets can be slow and is error prone.
Make any changes on that programming sheet, then use Write Changes on that sheet**.**
It isn’t a bad idea to read all the sheets and save that to a file, just in case.
There is an issue with the NCE Power Pro: It will sometimes lock up during a read operation. If it does, turn off power the the NCE system, wait 30 seconds and power up. JMRI will soon pick up where it left off.
If you have a lot of ESU decoders, a LokProgrammer is a worthwhile investment.
In Decoder Pro you can perform individual CV re-reads if any of them return red after the initial read. Given that it takes anywhere from 30-45 min to read a Lok5 decoder, it is much quicker to re-read each red CV than to perform an entire re-read of all CVs. I’ve generally found that one re-read of an individual CV is all that’s needed to change the status from red to white/clear.
Tom