Sound v Lights

[Potrail2378]

Hi, I have bought another Hornby class 43 HST (power and dummy cars) from ebay. Again, it's probably from around the 1983 age. It has been converted to DCC, and only the power car  has a sound chip. The dummy car has a standard Hornby decoder for the direction lights.

I put the dummy unit on the test piece of track in the workshop, and took the green and violet wires (along with the blue wire) and installed a cab light and a guard's light, respectively. They now operate on F1 and F2, along with F0 for the direction lights.

All well and good - when I took the dummy unit off the test piece and put the power unit on, the sounds work well, and the blue & green wires become live with F25. The dummy car does not have an F25 output, only blue + and green & violet.

If I couple these units together and push F1, F2, etc for the dummy's lights to illuminate, surely the sounds will alter on/off on the power car, along with the cab light and guard's light of the dummy unit.

I have a Hornby Elite up in the loft, and a Hornby Select in the workshop. Is there a way around this? Or would I have to buy a sound chip for the dummy car?

Thanks in advance. 

[Chrissaf]

You could buy a more expensive non sound decoder for the dummy car that supports function mapping. Then you can move the F1 & F2 dummy car light functions to something different. The question is move the functions to what though, because the motor car being sound is likely to have all available function numbers pre-allocated to sounds. But that principle is still workable with limitations. For example, I have a Loksound in a Class 37. The Cab light is mapped to F8 but F8 is also a coupling clank 'spot sound' which I am not too bothered about. If I want to put the Cab light on I just 'close my ears' and ignore the spot sound coupling clank.

 

Another option would be to give the dummy car decoder a different DCC address. I don't see that as an issue as the dummy car has no motor and is lights only. The downside is that you then have to perform more button pressing on the controller [once for the motor car and again for the dummy]. Of course, if you had RailMaster connected to your Elite [which you don't] then you could create little programs to automate the multiple tasks for you at the 'press of a single button'.

 

Others might have some other ideas for you to consider.

.

[Fishmanoz]

Can you not give each decoder a different address?

[Potrail2378]

Fishmanoz, yes I suppose I could. But then the directional lights won't be synchronised, would they? 

[ColinB]

I had exactly this same issue with a Tornedo, where I had added cab lights and firebox glow, but the sound decoder was in the tender, so I used a function decoder in the loco. Chrissaf is right there is a means using CVs to make a function move to another number, I thought the Hornby decoders supported this but obviously not. I never quite got round to trying it. So you could change the decoder to one that does, I think the Zimo ones do ( I say Zimo because I tend to use them all the time), and most of the others do and they are about the same price as Hornby. Alternatively what you could do is swap the functions around so F1 is guards light, and F2 is cab lights. I know it is a bodge, but that is best I think you can do.I am surprised you only have sound in one end, the TTS comes in a dual pack.

[Potrail2378]

ColinB - maybe the ebay seller will have another power unit for sale (with one sound decoder) and a dummy car very soon! 

[96RAF]

Given the OP has already said its a bog standard Hornby decoder in the dummy car then he cannot remap the functions.

 

My sugestion would be separate addresses (per Fishy) and lash the power and dummy cars into a consist, then you may (depending upon the controller and decoder consist capability) be able to operate each decoders functions separately. RM uses this method to allow you to run decoders which do not support consisting to run together and for each decoders functions to be individually operated.

[Potrail2378]

RAF96 - that is a great suggestion. I shall try that, thanks very much. 

[Fishmanoz]

Rob, why consist given no motor in dummy car?

[96RAF]

Just to run them under a single throttle in RM Fishy, but I see what you mean as you need to have both throttles open to be able to pick their sound or aux functions. With RM you can throttle up either and control both, motor or not.

[Chrissaf]

That's all well and good, but Potbus doesn't have?? RailMaster, he said and I quote:

I have a Hornby Elite up in the loft, and a Hornby Select in the workshop

There is also no mention of RM in any of his posting history.

[Potrail2378]

True - With my daughter going to university (yesterday), things are a little tight concerning cash. Just the Elite and the Select controllers right now. 

[Fishmanoz]

Thanks Rob, point taken. In my original post I included consist first up but then edited it out. Hadn't thought about throttle and sounds. 

[96RAF]

That's all well and good, but Potbus doesn't have?? RailMaster, he said and I quote:

I have a Hornby Elite up in the loft, and a Hornby Select in the workshop

There is also no mention of RM in any of his posting history.

 

 

True - I introduced it as an option and with an Elite Potbus could try the demo version to see if that suited his purpose.