Single Function button for multiple class lights

[zman616]

Bowser produced models that came equipped with multiple coloured class lights that would cycle through red-white-green-off as you pressed the F5 function key on the DCC controller.

I would like to add this functionality to some of my models that do not have it.

A chat with Matt Herman of ESU has informed me that this is possible with Ver. 4 ESU decoders and up.  However he didn't tell me how to do it and he is very difficult to get a hold of.

Does anyone know how to do this?  Can it be done with the Loksound programmer?

I can't find any documentation on how to do this.

[C855B]

I had http://www.ngineering.com custom-program two of of their special effects boards to do this. They are for a roundtuit project nowhere close to done yet. Anyway, they are programmed to use two Fx outputs, one steady-state for power on/off, the other momentary to select color. In my case they would be controlled from a TCS M4 decoder auxiliary outputs normally assigned to F1 and F2. Can't tell you offhand if we went with two Fx keys because I had that in my mind, or if there was some reason that power and function selection needed to be separate because I was powering the board from the decoder.

If you inquire, just tell them you're looking for something similar to what Mike from Centralia ordered on 6/2/2016 and it will jog their memory. They were $15 for each board plus $10 (for both) for custom programming.

[RBrodzinsky]

Hmm, I can envision a way using two buttons, say F5 and F6. Put the three LEDs on, for example, Aux1 (red led), Aux2 (White led) and Aux3 (green led) outputs. (Check your specific ESU decoder for powered vs logical output on each).  Then, in Function Mapping, set Aux1 to “F5, not F6”, set Aux2 to “not F5, F6” and Aux 3 to “F5, F6”

I think one would have to create a “custom sound slot”, even though no sound is involved, to create a proper cycling on a single button. That would only work on a V4 or 5, not a Select.

[riogrande491]

You will need the LokProgrammer hardware and software to do this.

Download V4 sound project 74308 from the ESU web site. Open it and select sound in the left column. Double click on sound slot 10, labeled Class Lights. It cycles through white, green and red class lights on functions Aux3, Aux4 and Aux5. You can change the function activated in any state by clicking on it and scrolling down to Mapping.

You can copy this sound slot and paste it into a different project, or create your own from scratch using sound slot 10 as an example.

After editing your project, you will need to load the modified sound data into your V4 or V5 decoder. This requires the LokProgrammer hardware.

Bob

[zman616]

Thanks!

This helps.  I'll have to fool around with it now to see if I can get it to work.