INSTALLATION
For newer locomotives with circuit board and wires, simply remove the old circuit
board and follow the diagram to install the decoder. Hook up the front headlight to
the tabs marked as FL and COM. Hook up the rear headlight to the tabs marked as
RL and COM. For accessory light, hook up to ACC and COM.
For older model locomotives such as Atlas/Kato RS-1, RS-3 and RSD-4,
follow the installation tips.
There are no bulbs furnished with this decoder, as modification to the internal
light bars and internal weights may be needed to complete installation. New lenses
and bulb retainers are to be fabricated by the decoder installer. Use of DCC rated
bulbs is reccomended. The speaker is attached to the decoder with a plug. If you
have enough room inside the locomotive a larger speaker from MRC can be used
in place of the 18mm round one included.
Remove the body shell of the locomotive by following the directions that came
with it. There is a centrally mounted board mounted on the chassis with one light
bulb mounted to it. Disconnect the four black pick up wires that are attached to
the corners of the board and label them right side and left side. Gently slide the
motor brush pick up tabs from under the brass pick up strips running lengthwise
across the circuit board. Pop the board off the retention clips and discard. Cut
the motor brush pick up tabs slightly short, leaving enough room to solder a short
piece of wire to each tab. These two wires then get soldered to the decoder’s
motor terminals, [see diagram]. Solder the four pick up wires from the trucks to
the four corner terminals of the decoder, keeping left side pick up wires to one
side of the board and right side pick up wires to the other side of the board, [see
diagram]. Before attaching the decoder to the retention clips on top of the motor,
place a piece of insulating tape on top of the motor to isolate the bottom of the
decoder to the top of the motor, motor brush tabs and wires. Decoder orienta-
tion does not matter as some locos ran long hood forward and some ran short
hood forward. If the locos direction does not match your particular road name,
you can reverse the decoder orientation, or reverse the two wires on the motor
brush terminals, or program CV # 29 to reverse direction.
There are two light bars running lengthwise inside the body shell. These must be
shortened or removed to accomodate the decoder. Choice of headlight/number
board lighting is left up to the decoder installer. The speaker can be mounted on
the decoder in the space provided if there is enough internal body shell clear-
ance. If not it can be mounted to the underside of one of the hoods. Some of
these locos have weights that sit over the gear towers, these must be trimmed
down to gain clearance when mounting the speaker to the undersides of the
hoods. Remove the paper backing from the face of the speaker to expose the
glue ring and press speaker into the desired location.
If you use 1.5V bulbs or LED’s, you should connect a 2k ohm resistor in series to
one of the leads to limit current.
MAKING A TEST TRACK
We strongly recommend building a test track with a 27 ohm resistor to limit
current. Only test your installed decoder on the test track. The test track will
reduce the chance of damaging your decoder due to an incorrectly installed
decoder.
TESTING
The decoder has been programmed to address #3, 28/128 speed steps. To test,
place the loco on the test track. Select address #3 and 28 speed step. Move up
the throttle and the loco should move. Push the light button [F0] and headlight
should come on. Change the direction of the loco and the loco should change
direction. The loco cannot reach full speed, due to the resistor. If all the above
occurs, you passed the test. Congratulations! Do not run the loco for an
extended period of time on the test track or the resistor will overheat.
I
f your
installed decoder does not pass the test, find the problem, correct it and test it again.
As long as you test the decoder on the test track there is little chance of damaging
the decoder. This is why the test track is so important.
OPERATION
The decoder has start up and shut down features. If the loco was previously
shut down you have to start up the engine. Press any function key to start up
the engine before operating the loco. To shut down the engine you must bring the
loco to idle and then press F8 three times.
Double click F0 will turn on/off sound (CV49). You can’t turn off horn which is
always on. The decoder has four types of diesel prime movers. You can use F12
or CV 123 to select the desired prime mover sound or turn them off. If you want
the decoder to be used in an Electric Type Traction Loco such as Trolley or GG-1
set CV 123=4 to turn off the diesel sound. With the prime mover sounds shut off,
CV 123=4, the traction air compressor will cycle on and off randomly, of course
you can still use F11 to activate the compressor whenever you want while in the
random mode. You can use F19 to select 34 different horn sounds and use F18
to select 8 different bell sounds. With MRC Prodigy Advance
2
DCC which has 28
functions, you can easily setup and access all the decoder’s functions. If not,
you may not be able to access all the features of the decoder. And you have to
use the CV program to setup the decoder.
This decoder allows certain functions to be re-mapped easily, ( CV numbers- 37,
39 and 42). If the values of these CV’s are set to “0” (default), normal DCC
keypad/functions are applicable. Inseting the values shown in the CV chart
allows certain function swapping for example: F3 becomes F4 and vice versa.
The decoder default is set to automatic notch. You can program CV122 to 3 for
manual notch for realistic operation. And then use F9 to notch up and use F8 to
notch down.
The decoder can also be operated by a regular DC power pack. This will give
you synchronized engine sounds only. If you wish to enjoy the full array of
sound functions using your DC power pack, the unique MRC Blackbox (item
#0001050) for DC operation will allow you to control all of the sounds in your
sound equipped locomotives. And, the MRC Blackbox is easy to setup and use.
Note: Bell, Dynamic Brake, and Rail Wheel Clack cannot play at the same time.
LIGHT EFFECT PROGRAMMING CHART FOR CV#118/119
Program CV117 to choose 3 different modes of headlight effects (0=normal
directional, 1=off/dim/bright cycle, 2=rule 17). Both ACC1 and ACC2 has 7
different accessory lights effects. Program CV #118/119 to choose the desired
light effect. CV118 for ACC1 and CV119 for ACC2. For ditch light both CV118 and
CV119 must be 0. In ditch light mode, use F3 to turn on/off and use F28 to enable/
disable flash. When you blow the horn the ditch lights will flash. The ditch lights
will remain flashing for several seconds after horn is off.
CV118/119 value
ACC#1/ACC#2 Light effect
0
Ditch light
1
Gyra light
2
Marslight
3
Prime strato light
4
Single strobe light
5
Double strobe light
6
on/off
Function
Idle/Moving
F0
Headlight on/off or rule 17 or cycle of dim, bright, off
Double F0 Double click F0 within 1 second will turn on/off sound (CV49) with Horn on
F1
Bell on/off
F2
Horn
F3
Ditch lights on/off or Acc1 light on/off with air release
F4
Coupling 1
F5
Brake release (idle) / brake squeal (moving)
F6
Dynamic brake on/off
F7
Air hose firing/uncoupling lever
F8
Click 3 times during idle will shut down / notch down while CV122=3
F9
Engine cooling fan / notch up while CV122=3
F10
Rail wheel clack (only moving)
F11
Traction air compressor on/off
F12
Change prime mover type and prime mover off
F13
Acc2 light on/off with air release
F14
Coupler lift bar
F15
Air pump
F16
Associated loco sound
F17
Flange noise 1
F18
Change bell type (use F1 to turn off bell after adjustment)
F19
Horn type select (total 34 different horns)
F20
Associated loco sound
F21
Change bell volume (use F1 to turn off bell after adjustment)
F22
Change horn volume
F23
Change diesel rumble volume
F24
Air release
F25
Flange noise 2
F26
Flange noise 3
F27
Sand drop
F28
Ditch lights steady on/off (CV121) with Air release, use F3 to turn on/off
DCC base unit
Power supply
Test track
27 ohm resistor
Figure 3. Diagram of test track
com
com
pick up
pick up
pick up
pick up
front light
motor
motor
ACC1
ACC2
rear light
speaker connector
