Summary of Problem:
Not getting any “engine sound” from decoder when I test it on decoder tester. I get other sounds to play (bell, horn, etc). The motor runs and the front and back lights work as expected.
I’m expecting to hear the engine sounds when it gets power, but there is nothing. The strange thing is that the other sounds work. Is something configured incorrectly in the CVs or do I have a bad decoder? Should I contact TTE and/or send it back?
Note: I’m a newbie to Loksound and doing my own DCC installs, so entirely possible I’m not doing something right here!
Details:
I got a LokSound 5 from TTE, preloaded with sound file S0746. This is for an F7 diesel that I want to convert to DCC.
You’re getting “other sounds” so the speaker is working properly. You should get a start-up sound of the prime mover when you press F8 right out of the box.
Try resetting the decoder back to original factory settings (CV8=8) and test it again. And be sure to cycle power after you do that. If that doesn’t remedy it then I would contact TTE about returning the Lok5 to verify the issue and/or have them reprogram it again with the proper sound file. It sounds like the sound file was not installed.
OK, pressing F8 on the throttle (Im using JMRI) got me the engine sounds! This is what threw me off, usually I expect F8 to mute everything, but it’s reversed here? Is that something I can configure? I want the default to be that I get sounds on powerup, and F8 mutes it.
Thanks for the help here. At least the decoder is fine and sound file is installed.
That’s great news, Chris! Yea, there should be a way to re-configure start up. I don’t know the CV to do that right off hand but it should be in the Lok5 diesel manual, which you can download directly from the ESU website.
I think the ESU decoders are configured for no sound as the default to minimize the number of sound decoders on a layout firing up at the same time. Maybe not an issue for you but perhaps for someone with a large layout and a large roster of sound-equipped locomotives. That would make for quite a roar…
CV 124 set to 0 or 16 should eliminate the startup delay. That’s from the Atlas Gold manual but all Loksound 5 should work that way I should think. I didn’t look in the ESU manual for that specific item. The Atlas manual describes the effect on BMEF whether you choose 0 or 16.
F8 is often a mute function. For ESU it shuts down the locomotive also.
Disabling the start up sequence might also mean the locomotive may start moving before the engine sound starts up. Atlas manual suggests this is what happens.
There have been a variety of OEM configurations regarding “Startup/mute/shutdown” of both Loksound select and V5 DCC decoders regarding the F8 key.
For instance, as programmed, the Rapido F40 had a funky F4/F5 sequence where the HEP alternator had to go from standby to run before the locomotive would move.
I seem to recall others setup so that the “startup” sequence had to complete before the locomotive would move. The purchaser would have to change certain CVs in order to override these factory defaults.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to standardize many of my functions through remapping and tweaking CVs but I’m far from having a comprehensible “system”.
Scroll down to page 8 here if you’d like to fill your brain with all the finer points:
Different Loksound 5 manuals indicate different default values for CV 124. Let me suggest that you first read the value that is currently in CV 124 on your loco’s decoder. Then subtract the value of 4 from CV 124.
One thing is for certain. In every Loksound 5 manual, you disable the prime mover startup delay by using 0 as the value, and you enable prime mover startup delay by using 4 as the value. So, if your prime mover is delayed at power up, and you want the sound of the prime mover to start up at power up, subtract 4 from the value of CV 124.
Normally when you open the throttle, the locomotive will not start moving right away. First, the power plant (diesel engine) will rev up or the brakes will be released on a steam locomotive while the cylinders will be slowly filled with steam. Therefore, it takes some time before the locomotive actually starts moving.
However, not everybody appreciates this even though it is quite prototypical. Therefore, you may turn off the start-up delay. Then, the locomotive will respond to the throttle immediately. However, the sound effects will not be synchronized to the movement of the locomotive anymore.
OK. I’ll check that out. I’m still switching over from Tech 6 to ESU Cab Control and from a three page manual to a ten plus page manual…DCC is so easy to use.
Yes, F8 works differently depending on whether the locomotive is moving or stationary when you select F8. The locomotive shuts down or starts up if F8 is pressed when the locomotive is stationary. In either case F8 controls only the sound, not the motor.
QSI decoders do have an actual shutdown F key but that is F9 and then F6 is used to restart the locomotive. That does control power to the motor. As I say, it would be handy if all makers agreed on the F key functions.
Rapido ships their ESU equipped locomotives with startup delay deactivated.
As I mentioned in your ESU Cab Control thread, blame the decoder manufacturers, not the DCC command station manufacturers, for the inconsistency of the F-key function from decoder manufacturer to decoder manufacturer.
Another problem fostered by decoder manufacturers is the increasing complexity of Configuration Variables (CVs), especially on sound decoders. Until the advent of sound decoders, most of us were only concerned with a handful of CVs. Now, CVs number anwhere from 256 to 512. Add to that Indexed CVs and then, yes, DCC is no longer easy to use.
In my experience, Loksound decoders are far and away the most difficult to program, even using a Lokprogrammer to make adjustments. But it’s not impossible, you just have to learn how they do it since it’s very different from all the other manufacturers. It’s kinda like I wouldn’t take a 15-year old with a driver’s permit and start teaching them to drive by sticking them in a 18-wheeler truck with a double clutch and a dozen gears or whatever. A regular car with automatic transmission would be easier.
The ESU Cab control makes this easy. Figuring out what number to enter remains as complex and obscure as ever. No DCC system is easy to program for that reason. The user interface is awful by current computing standards.
It’s getting better slowly but it’s got a long way to go to catch up with other consumer computing devices.
One great thing about F8 turning on motor sounds? Not a huge “start up load” when you power up the tracks, as not every locomotive will suddenly need the power inrush. That does help on smaller layouts.
Less noise right away as well. (All my non-ESU sound units start right away, and I end up muting them all until I start operating a train with them. A small layout means all that noise sounds just like that - noise.)
Once you get the hang of a LokProgrammer, or even JMRI DecoderPro, programming becomes super easy. With ESU, a LokProgrammer goes way quicker than DecoderPro will.
I would never attempt to program anything without either the LokoProgrammer or DecoderPro available. It’s just way easier to program decoders, even non-sound, with them.
I’ve been thinking about getting Lokprogrammer. Thanks for that information.
It is interesting that many if not most decoders are default programmed to “start up” the engines automatically when prototypes are not.
On my layout all the ESU equipped locomotives stay silent until you open the throttle controlling that address. Then 25-30 seconds of startup noise begins before the locomotive will move. Other decoder brands seem not to have this startup delay as the default setting and this feature can also be disabled in the ESU if that is preferred.
I do know that startup delay isn’t a desirable default for a dual mode decoder operating in DC mode.
