This follows the prior post that you can find here. In this part, I'm focusing on the running of the consist on the layout, and more specifically on the front and back lighting.
Running the consist
To get the correct lighting, there are a few things to properly set on the ECoS:
Running direction
F0 - Head-lights for BB 460054
F9 - Rear-lights for BB 460054
F21 - Consist function
F22 - Head-lights for BB 460050
F23 - Rear-lights for BB 460050
Therefore, if the consist is running in the direction of the BB 460054, I need to set 3 functions: F0, F21, and F23 (F9 and F22 being disactivated)
It works well:
And on a video:
Running the consist in reverse
When the consist is running in the direction of the BB 460050, I need to set 3 functions: F9, F21, and F22 (F0 and F23 being disactivated)
After the relative failure of my previous attempt described here, I'm now trying with two decoders from the same manufacturer and the same "source". I've purchased a sound decoder and a no-sound decoder from Train-Modelisme:
Décodeur sonorisé 2 rails pour BB 4600000 SNCF PluX22, sonorisé TMC Bastiani - link
Décodeur ESU Lokpilot PluX22 pour 60000 Piko - link
Speed matching
I installed both decoders and ran a running test, and - thanks to my awesome test stand - I could see that both engines are running in a very similar fashion; I, therefore, do not feel like further speed matching is necessary.
Command consist
Following the video from the previous post, I'm going with a "command consist". It means that both engines will have different addresses and that none will have a value in CV19. The consist will be created and operated from the ECoS Command Station.
When testing the consist, here's what I get:
The video is not super helpful because we cannot really see the lights and the running is not smooth. This last aspect is quite surprising because when I run those engines through the ESU LokProgrammer, it is very smooth, but not with the ECoS. I will have to investigate further once I can run the engines on the layout - hopefully, nothing is wrong with the ECoS!!
Consist functions
As you can see on the screenshot above, the command consist displays the functions from the first engine; in my case the functions from the sound decoder. Unfortunately, the no-sound decoder has a very different function mapping - see below. Therefore, as it stands F1 starts the sound on the sound decoder and starts the red lights on the no-sound decoder. In short, I cannot independently control the functions from the command consist.
Functions for sound decoder
Functions for no-sound decoder
After a little research, I've found a working solution based on the following video:
The idea is to add a consist function on the sound decoder and use it as an indicator on the no-sound decoder that it should use the "higher" functions such as F22 or so. In details:
The sound decoder has functions from F0 up to F20 - I did not change any of those
I've added the F21 function and an icon to the sound decoder; that function is not mapped to anything
I've added the F22, F23, and F24 functions and icons to the sound decoder; those functions are not mapped to anything
I've added "not F21" on all existing functions on the no-sound decoder
I've added the F22, F23, and F24 functions and icons to the no-sound decoder; those functions are mapped to white lights, red lights, and cabin lights "with F21"
I'll summarize with a few screenshots:
Sound decoder
Before consist
With consist
Functions
Mappings
No-sound decoder
Before consist
With consist
Functions
Mappings
And this works just fine as I can control white and red lights on each engine independently. There is still some work to do when reversing the direction: the side of the lights should remain the same and only the color should change.
On the ECoS Command Station, everything looks neat:
For complete success, I need to get to a smooth running and fix the reversing; next post!
One of the pre-requisite for consisting engines is speed matching. To run a test, I created a command consist and put each engine on separate tracks as my test bench allows for this:
Unfortunately, Piko's decoder seems to have the M4 protocol, so it's very different from the ESU decoder in the other engine. I've tried to overwrite the ESU settings with those from a different engine to have a smooth-running, but it didn't help.
At this stage, I've decided that I will use the Piko decoder in another engine. For my consist, I'm ordering two decoders from Train-Modelisme. Stay tuned!
