head lights not working

[controller]

Hi all, I have just purchased a Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance.I programmed all the locos I have and everything is working fine, except my MM IR 201 and 071 head lights. Marker lights and cab lights are all working fine. FO 0 will turn on the marker lights, FO 3 and 4 will turn on the cab lights. FO 2 will turn on the head lights, but only for a couple of seconds. Any advice on what I need to do, to fix this problem.

 

Thanks,

 

Controller.

[DART8118]

Has anyone a CVs fix for headlights and sidelights alternating on/off (i.e., flashing) after lowering CVs for engine sound and airhorn?  Want to revert to the standard steady lights.  Chip is MM0055, loco is MM071 and controller is PowerCab?  Trying to avoid the CV 8 solution.

Many thanks in advance.

8118

 

 

[Noel]

51 minutes ago, DART8118 said:

Has anyone a CVs fix for headlights and sidelights alternating on/off (i.e., flashing) after lowering CVs for engine sound and airhorn?  Want to revert to the standard steady lights.  Chip is MM0055, loco is MM071 and controller is PowerCab?  Trying to avoid the CV 8 solution.

Many thanks in advance.

8118

 

 

That happened to me once, Once mapping is messed up its a nightmare to sort out. I did CV8=8 reset and all back to normal, but recommend you do the motor speed autotune calibration again afterwords (ie CV54=0 procedure allowing the loco to hare off at speed for 2 meters to self calibrate).

Edited August 19, 2020 by Noel

[irishthump]

1 hour ago, DART8118 said:

Has anyone a CVs fix for headlights and sidelights alternating on/off (i.e., flashing) after lowering CVs for engine sound and airhorn?  Want to revert to the standard steady lights.  Chip is MM0055, loco is MM071 and controller is PowerCab?  Trying to avoid the CV 8 solution.

Many thanks in advance.

8118

 

 

Yeah you need to do a hard reset, it sounds like the decoder has gotten itself in a twist!

[DART8118]

Thanks Noel and Irishthump.

Since posting I have wondered if I changed CV31 & CV32 back to the defaults would that fix it.  Problem is I don't know what the defaults were.  Anyone able to help?  TIA.  Otherwise is a reset.

8118

 

[irishthump]

30 minutes ago, DART8118 said:

Thanks Noel and Irishthump.

Since posting I have wondered if I changed CV31 & CV32 back to the defaults would that fix it.  Problem is I don't know what the defaults were.  Anyone able to help?  TIA.  Otherwise is a reset.

8118

 

CV's 31 and 32 are indexing CV's. They don't control anything directly they are used when programming CV's above 255. They won't affect anything  by themselves.

The reset is your best bet.

[DART8118]

Reset all done OK, but now no headlights, sidelights or taillights when forward cab is selected.  I think I need a lie-down

But getting back to the flashing lights.  That looks like a nice feature typical of American railroads.  Could be used here for level crossing or on-street layout or in a yard.  Is it possible to program it?

8118

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by DART8118

[Noel]

1 hour ago, DART8118 said:

Reset all done OK, but now no headlights, sidelights or taillights when forward cab is selected.  I think I need a lie-down

But getting back to the flashing lights.  That looks like a nice feature typical of American railroads.  Could be used here for level crossing or on-street layout or in a yard.  Is it possible to program it?

8118

 

Check the dip switches under the loco are set to factory default positions. They are meant for DC use, but may affect the way the decoder interacts with the Loco's own PCB

[Irishrailwayman]

Worth checking for a full listing of CVs for that particular chip as these vary between makers. Also the MM model itself may be using different electronic set ups to make certain lights work together etc.

[irishthump]

3 hours ago, DART8118 said:

Reset all done OK, but now no headlights, sidelights or taillights when forward cab is selected.  I think I need a lie-down

But getting back to the flashing lights.  That looks like a nice feature typical of American railroads.  Could be used here for level crossing or on-street layout or in a yard.  Is it possible to program it?

8118

 

That's weird. I suggest doing the reset a few more times, sometimes it does'nt take the first time. Also when you do the reset cut the power to the track, this helps sometimes.

[DART8118]

All good now.  I did a second reset and re-entered the edited CV values and all worked as it should with lower volumes, lights and all.  So, thanks Noel, Irishrailwayman and Irishthump for advise.  Much appreciated.

Still wondering if it is possible to program the alternating on/off (flashing) light as a function.

8118

 

[murphaph]

It's highly unlikely if the 201 is anything to go by as the end marker lights are driven by a common function output on the decoder. You would need to be able to drive them independently to make them flash alternately. That means hardware) wiring changes and more function outputs than the MM decoder (which is a Lokpilot v4 really) has available.

[DART8118]

Thanks Murphaph,

The reason I asked again was the alternating state does happen which suggests to me that the hard wiring is already in place (don't know if that's by accident or design) and that the alternating is a software matter.  I thought that a single bit in a CV or a combination of bits in CVs would solve that problem and that was why I originally asked if there is a CVs fix.  When it first happened I thought I was in Yard Mode as flashing lights and reduced speed seemed like a natural combination.  I did find a listing of CVs on the Internet but found them a bit confusing and there was no indication of what some of the byte values did.  I gave up when I saw that blocks of CVs were reserved for the manufacturer.   What might be lost in there.

The good thing is that the lights on the 071 are all steady now.

Do other decoders support alternating lights?

8118

 

[irishthump]

3 hours ago, murphaph said:

It's highly unlikely if the 201 is anything to go by as the end marker lights are driven by a common function output on the decoder. You would need to be able to drive them independently to make them flash alternately. That means hardware) wiring changes and more function outputs than the MM decoder (which is a Lokpilot v4 really) has available.

As far as I know the Lokpilot supports these features. No additional hardware are rewiring is necessary, the decoder will control the flashing functions. In fact a lot of lower spec decoders support these features as well, I have flashing headlights on a couple of Athearn F units which are fitted with Lenz decoders.

Yeah but get you're point that the marker and end lights are an the same circuit, so they would flash together!

Edited August 20, 2020 by irishthump

[Noel]

3 hours ago, irishthump said:

As far as I know the Lokpilot supports these features. No additional hardware are rewiring is necessary, the decoder will control the flashing functions. In fact a lot of lower spec decoders support these features as well, I have flashing headlights on a couple of Athearn F units which are fitted with Lenz decoders.

Yeah but get you're point that the marker and end lights are an the same circuit, so they would flash together!

Yea even chemo TCS and Lenz decoder have all manner of weird and wonderful light options, mars lights, etc.

 

[murphaph]

I understood the question to mean "can I have something like US locos with the left and right ditch lights alternately flashing" and this is unlikely if the 071 wiring is anything like the 201 (I haven't examined a 071 yet) because the two marker lights at each end are wired together. You would need to make changes to the wiring to allow independent control of the left and right marker lights.

The Lokpilot v4 supports flashing lights but has very few outputs (6 in total without using their expander board) and on the 201 (and I assume 071) they are all allocated to the marker lights (2), headlights (2) and cab lights (2) already.

Apologies if I've misunderstood the question.

 

[DART8118]

No need to apologise.  Cab light was steady and all other lights were alternating on and off as one unit.  Like I said it was happening so the hardware must be in place and perhaps it is a CVs matter to activate it.  If it could then be mapped to a function key that would make for easy operation.  Maybe it's just a matter of editing the CV on the outputs you mention.

Thanks again.  Maybe some day.

8118

 

 

[irishthump]

1 hour ago, DART8118 said:

No need to apologise.  Cab light was steady and all other lights were alternating on and off as one unit.  Like I said it was happening so the hardware must be in place and perhaps it is a CVs matter to activate it.  If it could then be mapped to a function key that would make for easy operation.  Maybe it's just a matter of editing the CV on the outputs you mention.

Thanks again.  Maybe some day.

8118

 

 

Some info for you...

I was messing around with the Lokprogrammer software and experimenting with getting the marker lights to flash. To do this you alter the following CV's:

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 0
----------------------
CV259 =  14
CV267 =  14

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV417 =  16
CV422 =  16
 

Now you said you altered the volume of the engine sound. This is in sound slot 1 and to do that you change the following CV's:

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 1
----------------------
CV259 =  63
 

You'll notice you alter the same CV, in this case CV259, to change both the light function AND the sound slot. It's the index CV's  - CV16 and CV32 which need to be given the correct values to change the functions or sounds you want. I'd say an incorrect value was entered in to one of these and that caused the lights to behave erratically.

This just shows how important it is to get these index CV's right as it can cause the decoder to have a fit!

Edited August 20, 2020 by irishthump

[irishthump]

On the subject of the flashing marker lights, I don't think this it's possible to have steady state lights that change to flashing at the push of a function key. I'll ask on the Loksound IO Group but I don't think it can be done.

[DART8118]

Many thanks for the 2 updates and for taking the time.  I'd be interested to know of any feedback from the Loksound IO Group. 

For what it's worth this is the sequence I did things and the values I used for lowering the volume on the LocSound V4.0 decoder

CV31 =16

CV32 =1

Master Volume Control CV63 = 35  (this certainly lowered the volume for everything)

Engine sound on/off CV259 = 50 (lowers the engine running sound a little more)

High pitched airhorn CV275 =70  (lowers the airhorn sound a little more) 

The CV are as given on p9 of the LocSound V4.0 Instruction Manual Murphy Models (Class 071 /111)

The values I used are trial and error to get a volume level that I was comfortable with.

Works great.

 

 

[irishthump]

11 hours ago, DART8118 said:

Many thanks for the 2 updates and for taking the time.  I'd be interested to know of any feedback from the Loksound IO Group. 

For what it's worth this is the sequence I did things and the values I used for lowering the volume on the LocSound V4.0 decoder

CV31 =16

CV32 =1

Master Volume Control CV63 = 35  (this certainly lowered the volume for everything)

Engine sound on/off CV259 = 50 (lowers the engine running sound a little more)

High pitched airhorn CV275 =70  (lowers the airhorn sound a little more) 

The CV are as given on p9 of the LocSound V4.0 Instruction Manual Murphy Models (Class 071 /111)

The values I used are trial and error to get a volume level that I was comfortable with.

Works great.

 

 

No problem at all. It only took a couple of minutes on the Lokprogrammer software. Even if you never buy a Lokprogrammer you can download the software for free, it's easy to re map function keys, adjust sound slot volumes and lighting effects. There is a feature which then shows which CV's were altered to achieve this and you then use them to manually programme your loco.

With the best intentions programming can still go wrong when manually inputting CV's. All it takes is dirt on the track or some bad track writing for the commands to get corrupted.