Lights on the 181

[gph2000]

While the markers and main beams on the 071 are separate by default, when I went DCC I found that the markers and main beams were all together on F0. Can this be changed by tweaking the dip switches?

[irishthump]

22 minutes ago, gph2000 said:

While the markers and main beams on the 071 are separate by default, when I went DCC I found that the markers and main beams were all together on F0. Can this be changed by tweaking the dip switches?

Unfortunately not. The switches will just turn the lights on or off.

Another member of the forum posted a step by step for how they got the lights to be mapped seperately. It requires a bit of work.

[Sean]

hey gph.

 

take a look at my dcc workbench thread.

 

this post will show you exactly how to change the F0 issue for the markers and headlights being tied together on the 141/181. thats using a 121 esu decoder in jmri.

not sure about 071 i have never used one but im sure it would be a similar sort of nuance.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Sean

[gph2000]

It will take me a while to get through that thread Sean. But on a scroll, it is very impressive. I'm away for a few days, but when I get back I could put something together on using a windows app called 'snip" for showing your screen.  It would give better results than your phone camera.

[WRENNEIRE]

For those of us who had to sit the "Primary", do the Inter & Leaving in black & white and also go to school on a Saturday Morning
please explain a 121 esu decoder in jmri.

[Sean]

4 hours ago, gph2000 said:

It will take me a while to get through that thread Sean. But on a scroll, it is very impressive. I'm away for a few days, but when I get back I could put something together on using a windows app called 'snip" for showing your screen.  It would give better results than your phone camera.

not a bad idea, those pictures are taken using linux off a 10 inch netbook so leave a lot to be desired. JMRI runs really well on really old crappy hardware so i like being able to upcycle what i have lying around and watts consumed are always on my mind so it was ideal candidate for JMRI.

 

 

41 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

For those of us who had to sit the "Primary", do the Inter & Leaving in black & white and also go to school on a Saturday Morning
please explain a 121 esu decoder in jmri.

sounds complex but its simples really. JMRI(java model railroad interface) reads all of the data off an esu decoder without the need for an expensive lokprogrammer. (screenshot is the A class decoder but its all the same)

its a bit like a spreadsheet then. the first column deals with each function and what it does in each direction. the second column programs just what the function does. i.e each aux corresponds with a physical connection wire somewhere within the loco and turns it on or off.  take for example Forward.F4 - Aux 3 and Reverse F.4 -Aux 4 (rows 8 and 9)

When forward is selected and you turn on F4 it will turn on Aux 3( the front headlight) but when reverse is selected it now lights aux 4(rear headlight) and aux 3 turns off because it is no longer selected. you can tie as many aux to a single function as you like and they dont have to be directional as can be seen on F2 which is currently linked to toggle shunting mode instead of a physical wire..

when everything is tweaked to your fancy, you simply hit write changes to sheet and it will reprogram the decoder with no need for an expensive lokprogrammer, my dcc base station/programmer combo cost me less than 20 quid to put together and can be reliably driven from an app on my phone for throttle control. its only 1.5 amps though which limits the amount of trains that can run at one time without some kinda booster.

 

 

[WRENNEIRE]

sounds complex but its simples really.....
On me second mug of cocoa and it is not getting any clearer
Maybe after me afternoon nap..........

[gph2000]

Primary cert, I'm impressed. I've got a Group Cert in my collection. 

[irishthump]

On 11/4/2022 at 12:12 AM, Sean said:

hey gph.

 

take a look at my dcc workbench thread.

 

this post will show you exactly how to change the F0 issue for the markers and headlights being tied together on the 141/181. thats using a 121 esu decoder in jmri.

not sure about 071 i have never used one but im sure it would be a similar sort of nuance.

I don't think it's a matter of remapping with the 141/181's. The markers and headlights can be rigged to work independently but it requires some rewiring.

I believe @murphaphmay have performed the necessary surgery before....

[murphaph]

Not me. I've never played around with the 141s beyond fitting a speaker and Loksound in one. I modified a 201 to allow the red marker lights to be switched off with an F button when hauling a train, maybe that's what you're thinking about

[irishthump]

3 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Not me. I've never played around with the 141s beyond fitting a speaker and Loksound in one. I modified a 201 to allow the red marker lights to be switched off with an F button when hauling a train, maybe that's what you're thinking about

Oh I'm sorry! I saw a thread here a while ago where somebody rewired the loco, I assumed it was you....

[murphaph]

No probs. I think it may have been Sean who figured out that it was fairly easy to get the headlights to work independently of the marker lights on the babies. I had always assumed the same LEDs were responsible for the light but it seems they aren't.

[Dhu Varren]

12 hours ago, murphaph said:

No probs. I think it may have been Sean who figured out that it was fairly easy to get the headlights to work independently of the marker lights on the babies. I had always assumed the same LEDs were responsible for the light but it seems they aren't.

No, it was me. When reading Sean's post on getting 141/181 headlights and marker lights to work independently, I was beginning to think I had missed something obvious, as these lights on 141/181 are both on the same circuit in the loco, unlike the 071s. No amount of function remapping is ever going to get the lights in the Baby GMs to work independently without some surgery inside the locomotive. 

 

[murphaph]

5 hours ago, Dhu Varren said:

No, it was me. When reading Sean's post on getting 141/181 headlights and marker lights to work independently, I was beginning to think I had missed something obvious, as these lights on 141/181 are both on the same circuit in the loco, unlike the 071s. No amount of function remapping is ever going to get the lights in the Baby GMs to work independently without some surgery inside the locomotive. 

 

Apologies. I wasn't sure anymore. It was a great find

[Sean]

hmmm, upon reinspection my 141 does NOT have the head and marker seperated at the moment, so what the hell did i do to think i did 

[Sean]

looks like that post detailed separating lights and markers on 121 class, sorry for any confusion.