Bachmann Spectrum HO 82122 4-8-4 Class J, N&W #611 (DCC Equipped)

Started by brat, April 25, 2010, 06:55:09 PM

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brat

I am new to model railroading and have just completed building a layout and am trying to run my N&W Locomotive with DCC.   The loco runs fine except I cannot figure out how to operate the headlight.  I am sure that I have missed something obvious but would certainly appreciate any advice.  Thank you!

ABC

Yeah it is pretty obvious, if you have an E-Z Command select your loco's address by pushing the button corresponding to the number, select a direction, push the yellow function button then press the button corresponding with the number 10, push the number 1 button to dim/brighten the lights. If using any other controller select your loco and push f10 to turn them on/off and f1 to dim/brighten.

brat

Thank you very much for the help I really appreciate it! 


Jim Banner

Quote from: ABC on April 25, 2010, 07:11:23 PM
If using any other controller select your loco and push f10 to turn them on/off and f1 to dim/brighten.

Most (all?) other DCC systems use f0 to turn the lights on and off as per NMRA standards.  Somebody somewhere doesn't like the number zero so Bachmann lists CV bits from 1 to 8 rather than 0 to 7 as is more commonly done.  On the E-Z Command, address 10 is actually NMRA address 0 and function 10 is NMRA function 0.  I have been told that this goes back to the old Lenz way of numbering things, but I personally suspect Bachmann got a good deal on number 10 buttons.   ;D

More to the point, as long as you know which button to push to get the desired result, it really doesn't matter how they are numbered or even if they are numbered at all.  They could be lettered or identified by button colour or even have little animal icons on them and we would still learn to use them.  "Push the dog's snout for forward, the pig's tail for reverse, the goat's horn to sound the whistle ..."

Jim
Growing older is mandatory but growing up is optional.