Sound options on MRC decoders

My MRC sound decoders have numerous sound effects, but I can olny figure out how to use the basic ones on my MRC Prodigy Express system. Does anyone know how to use all the function buttons on the MRC Prodigy handset? If there are 16 or more sound functions, how do I access them all? I don’t even know what some of the buttons on the handset do, and the guide does not explain them. I just can’t figure this out! HELP!!

Keep pressing buttons to see what happens! The best part about MRC decoders is that you never know what to expect…they are unpredictable! Some even come with a smoke generator! They tend to stop working when you activate the smoke, though.

Another helpful answer from the north.

Anyway, you do need to read the manual. I believe that the information you need may be found in section 2-2 of the operations section of the manual, where it says at the top of the page “controlling accessory functions”: http://www.modelrectifier.com/resources/dcc/0001420manual.pdf.

Thanks, I’ve tried that but not getting the results I’m looking for…

Thanks for your input. I have the maual, and will go over it again…hopefully I’ll figure this out.

I read the section you referred me to, and that was the answer I was looking for! Thank you so much!..

u r welcome

  1. You lack and sense of humor. 2. You basically said “RTFM”. Well done.

I don’t use an MRC system, but on many systems there is a “shift” button which increases the function buttons. So for example my Digitrax handunit has function buttons 0-8, holding the shift button down makes them functions 9-18.

R. U. Talkin to me?

Au contraire, I do have a sense of humor. But there is a time and a place. Giving a reply that is only relevant to the extent that it happens to concern a decoder that you most love to hate does not seem an appropriate response to a new member with 7 posts to his name.

Further, while I did suggest that he needed to read the manual, I also gave him the link and a reference point where to look. When I respond to those posts that I think I know something about (and yes, sometimes I don’t), I try to at least be helpful even though the answer might, in my opinion, be obvious. I don’t find non-relevent answers helpful, nor do I type “RTFM” eleventeen times and expect anyone to learn from that. He probably wouldn’t even have known what “RTFM” means. Might as well have not responded at all.

Of course, those are the opinions of a mere mortal. Your take on things is obviously different.

Live long and prosper.

Actually, I thought all the instructiosn you needed were printed right on the back of the throttle. At least, that’s what the MRC ads claim [:D]

If the next question is which CV value selects which horn, well, I’ve already contacted tech support and they said they don’t even keep track of that information. So if anyone wants an HO MRC sound decoder that sort of sounds like an Alco (but can be changed to something else that sort of sounds like an EMD), best take it of fmy hands before I use it for target practice, or as a test install where I am not sure if the motor is completely isolated.

–Randy

Maybe. But when I “RTFM”, it says that “although there are quick start instructions on the back of the cab/handheld, please read these instructions thoroughly…etc, etc”. I don’t know the line of demarcation between what is quick start and what is shift this or shift that. I only read into the manual far enough to see if the OP’s question was answered somewhere. I didn’t look at the CV list to see which one controlled the smoke effect.

No wonder I couldn’t figure this out. My MRC handset is the original version without a “shift” button!

Well, that would be what they say is “problematical”. When I looked at the on-line manual, I didn’t look at the picture of the handset closely and didn’t see that the shift key is missing. It looks like MRC combined the instructions for the Advance and the Advance squared. Upon further reading, I see where they say:

The following chart is for Prodigy Advance Cab only. If you add a Prodigy

Advance Cab to your Prodigy Express

2, it will automatically upgrade to

Prodigy Advance DCC System. So this manual also covers

I like this post - thank you.

Yep, you’re correct. Guess I’ll have to upgrade my system if I want to access all the sound Funct.

Yep, you are correct. Guess I’ll have to upgrade my system…damn!