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Which function / sound button does what?

A DCC system is a simple bullhorn shouting commands. Example:  “Hey, loco 1234, the user pressed the F3 key.”  That is all the cab does. The loco decides what to do when it hears that from the DCC system.

The DCC system does not define the behavior of the function buttons/sound buttons on a cab. The DCC decoder in the locomotive defines which sounds are controlled by which button. This is called Button mapping. The DCC system sends button commands to the locomotive. The locomotive DCC decoder decides how the loco responds to the button being pressed. To find out what button does what functions or triggers a certain sound on your locomotive, read the documentation that came with the loco, consult the company's website, or contact them by phone.  

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Page 27 of the Ph-Pro system Manual /   Page 24 of the Power Cab Manual:

The behavior of the keys on the Power Cab and Pro Cab cannot be modified. By design the horn key is momentary, all other keys are on/off latching.

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The numbers on the display match the buttons on the cab.

Example: 5 on the display means you pressed the keypad's 5 / F5 / FX5 button.

If your locomotive decoder is not programmed to respond to 5, it will do nothing.

The current status of Function keys above 6 is not on the normal display. The standard cab display only has enough room to show functions 0 to 6. To see a complete list of all 28 functions use the "EXPN" key - This button toggles the Full Function key display on and off

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Use the regular Keypad to access functions F0 to F9.

EXTENDED FUNCTION CONTROL (F10 - F28)

To access function F13 through F28:  

Pressing the option key will display “F10 through F19 on the bottom line of the cab. The keypad is now on the second set of function keys.  For example, Pressing 6 will toggle F16, with the display returning to normal. The standard cab display only has enough room to show functions 0 to 6. To see a complete list of all 28 functions, use the "EXPN" key - This button toggles the Full Function key display on and off

Pressing the option key a second time will display “F21 through F28” on the cab. You are now on the third set of function keys. Pressing a digit with this display will toggle that number plus twenty.

Pressing the option a third time will return to the F10 through the F19 display.

Pressing  Prog/Esc at any time will abort the operation.

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If the option key does not shift your keypad to the second and third keypads, Click here to program the Option key.

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The standard cab display only has enough room to show functions 0 to 6. To see a complete list of all 28 functions use the "EXPN" key - This button toggles the Full Function key display on and off

 

 

What a loco decoder responds to and HOW it responds is decided by the programming in the locomotive decoder, not the DCC system. This process is called Button Mapping. It uses CV “configuration variables” to determine what happens when a loco decoder receives a notification that a certain button is pressed. 

Please refer to the documentation of the loco decoder.  The example below is the button mapping details of an NCE DECODER. This is not part of the NCE standard, so do not use these values on your decoder unless it is an NCE decoder. This is for an example ONLY.

In most cases, multiple buttons can be mapped to perform the same function if you use the same CV value in both CVs for both buttons.

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The example below is for NCE mobile decoders only.

 

CV33 F0F              default value is 1              output 1 / white  / pin 6

CV34 F0R        default value is 2      output 2 / yellow / pin 2

CV35 F1         default value is 4      output 3 / green  / pin 3

CV36 F2                        default value is 8     output 4 / violet 

CV37 F3                        default value is 16   output 5 / brown   or solder pad

CV38 F4                        default value is 4      output 6

CV39 F5                                default value is 8              output 7

CV40 F6                                default value is 16            output 8

CV41 F7                                default value is 32            output 9

CV42 F8                                default value is 64            output 10

CV43 F9                                default value is 16            output 11

CV44 F10              default value is 32            output 12

CV45 F11              default value is 64            output 13

CV46 F12             default value is 128          output 14

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CV67-CV94   Uploadable speed table steps 1-28 (128-speed mode calculates intermediate steps)

CV95          Reverse trim, values 1-127 add to reverse speed, values 129-255 add to forward speed

CV116       Torque kick rate (default is 4)- number of 16ms periods in a row that the motor is ‘kicked’ with a voltage pulse

CV117       Torque kick strength - how much voltage is used to kick the motor at slow speeds. Reduces

                    to 0 as speed is increased.

CV118       Ditch light hold time (in ¼ second increments) after F2 goes off.

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CV120 EFX for F0F output 1 / white  / pin 6        default value is 1  directional active in Forward

CV121 EFX for F0R output 2 / yellow / pin 2        default value is 2  directional active in Reverse 

CV122 EFX for F1 output 3 / green / pin 3          default value is 0 - standard on / off  

CV123 EFX for F2 output 4 / violet                 default value is 0 - standard on / off   

CV124 EFX for F3 output 5 / brown                  default value is 0 - standard on / off  

CV125 EFX for F4 output 6                          default value is 0 - standard on / off  

CV126 EFX for F5                                   default value is 0 - standard on / off 

CV127 EFX for F6                                   default value is 0 - standard on / off 

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