irishthump

I believe the 121 comes with a sugarcube speaker as standard. There's nothing special about these speakers, they are readily available and can be replaced easily enough. Although I would'nt fancy having to do surgery like that on a brand new loco!

You can try reset of the decoders by programming CV8 with a value of 8. This should reset the decoder to factory setting. Do it a couple of times to be sure. The loco addresses will also be set to 3 when you do this. Let us know how you get on.

Replacing the decoder may be the best option at this stage. If you get the same issue with a new decoder then it may indicate an issue with the PCB but think that’s unlikely if the lights work under DC power.

Well it gets even better with the V5 decoders. They allow acceleration and deceleration times that are roughly 3.6 that of the V4. So if you set CV4 to maximum (255) it will take ages for the loco to coast to a stop. I have mine set up like this and also use the brake feature so I can turn the throttle to zero, let the loco coast then stop it with the brake. The deceleration value for the brake can be set independently. The V5’s also have a feature which allows you to set 3 different “load” settings for the loco. I have them set to mimic light engine, a light train and a heavy train. These are mapped to function keys. This basically does away with Drive Hold and Coast and makes the loco incredibly prototypical you drive.

You're supposed to activate the Manual Notching logic before notching up or down. If you leave F16 off when you notch up the loco will go to Run 8 mode which makes the engine spool up to top speed. Notching down with F16 off will make the engine drop right down to idle which is called Coast. If you activate F16 first then each press of F14 or F15 will make the engine go up or down one notch. If I remember correctly to go up or down one notch you need turn F14 or F15 on then off again, if you leave them on the engine will rev all the way up or down. Hope that helps, it sounds way more complex than it is!

201's came with dynamics as delivered, but they were never used. No other Irish locos had them.

There should be no problem with compatibility, ESU decoders will work with any DCC system. I suggest doing a hard reset, set CV8 to 8, then try again. This is best done on a separate programming track and 2 it a couple of times to be sure.

You should try Drive Hold instead of manual notching. It basically provides the same effect but you only need to use one function key.

Is the decoder the Murphy Models decoder specifically designed for the 121?

You're welcome! Glad you got it sorted. Didi you install a sound decoder?

You can wiggle it very slightly as you do it, but ONLY a little otherwise you risk bending the pins on the plug or damaging the PCB.

Grip it from above with a needle nose pliers. Then apply gentle pressure and lift it straight up.

I'd say there might be a few modellers who may want the 121 decoder set up for independently controlled lighting. When you make adjustments to the function mapping in the Lokprogrammer software if you click on the tools tab there is an option to show which CV's have been changed.

You can do it with CV's but it's a bit of a chore and easy to mess up.

Great video. Do you only use the Drive Hold and Coast functions to drive the loco? What values do you program to Acceleration and Deceleration? The way I set up my locos I put the Independent Brake function on F3 and set deceleration to maximum (255). I only use Drive Hold if simulating starting a heavy train. I never use Coast as with the high Dec value you simple turn the throttle down to 0, let the train coast and stop it with the brake on F3. I find this is very realistic way to drive the loco.

The DCC side of the 121 models is rapidly growing into its own thing. Could the relevant replies here and on other threads be merged into a separate thread?

DCC control, lighting and sound is a fascinating part of the hobby.

That sounds good. Which file did you use?

Not sure where the speaker is placed in the 121’s but contrary to popular belief it’s best to have a completely sealed body shell with one small speaker opening than to have large open sections in the shell.

Oh damn these are tempting!

Except in this case there is nothing proprietary about the decoder or the software used on it.

$482 for the throttle. Another $99 for the wireless adaptor for whatever DCC system you use.

Another thing to note about the MM121 decoder I bought yesterday.... The Loksound V5 is available in 2 versions - The V5 and the V5 DCC. There are some important differences between the two decoders... The V5 is designed for the European market. It addition to DCC it works with other control protocols such as Marklin and Motorola which are more popular with European modellers - not really relevant to us! It also uses a multiplier of .25 for momentum settings similar to the V4. The vast majority of other brands of decoders use a multiplier of .896 and no one knows why ESU deviated from this when developing the V4. What that means is that when you program acceleration or deceleration whatever value you enter into CV3 or CV4 if you multiply this value by .25 the result is the amount of seconds it takes for the loco to go from full speed to a dead stop. So a value of 100 in CV4 means the loco will take 25 seconds to come to a stop. The V5 DCC is made primarily for the US market. It uses a momentum multiplier of .896 which is preferable on large layouts common in the US. Now, when I looked at the decoder I bought in my Lokprogrammer software it identified it as a V5 DCC. If the rest of the decoders supplied are all DCC5 it will mean that if you try to double head them with Loksound V4's your momentum settings will not match up. It's a simple enough fix, simply take the value you have entered into your V4 and divide it by 3.6 and enter this value into the V5. This should result in the two different decoders being matched. Bloody stunning piece of engineering. Unfortunately, not available outside the US. (I looked into it, believe me!!!)

There's no reason the decoder would'nt work as normal in an 121 as opposed to a 141....

Yes, the sounds on the ESU website are very recent, high quality recordings and the engines in both those switchers are identical to what's in the 141/121/181's Sorry I corrected the typo! No, Full Throttle features are NOT activated in these decoders as delivered. But like I said, it's an easy task to turn them on with a Lokprogrammer. I just did it with my own decoder.