A DCC system is a simple bullhorn shouting commands. Example: “Hey, loco 1234, the user pressed the F3 key.” That is what the system cab does. The loco decides what to do when it hears that command from the DCC system.
The DCC system does not define the behavior of the function buttons/sound buttons on a cab. The decoder in the locomotive determines which sounds are controlled by which controller. The DCC system sends button commands to the locomotive. The locomotive DCC decoder decides how the loco responds to the pressed button. To find out what button does what function or triggers a particular sound on your locomotive, read the documentation for the DCC decoder that came with the loco or the loco decoder. Please look over the company's website or contact them by phone.
The Function keys are the number keys on the keypad. The numbers on display match the buttons on the cab. Example: 5 on display means you pressed the 5 / F5 button on the keypad. Note: If your locomotive decoder is not programmed to respond to 5 / F5, it will do nothing.
The Function keys that control the sounds of a locomotive are based on the manufacturer of the Locomotive and the Sound Decoder. This doesn't directly relate to your NCE DCC System. The manufacturer of the sound decoders decides what sound goes to what button, not NCE. Also, I'd like to point out that most locomotive manufacturers do NOT make the installed decoders. Sound Decoders are a specialized item made by a small group of companies (Soundtraxx, TCS, ESU/Loksound, etc...). Please know who makes the decoder in your loco. The value of CV8 in the sound decoder tells you who makes the decoder. For more information, go here. Consult the documentation that came with the locomotive for this information or the manufacturer's website. Once you know which Function key activates or adjusts what sound on the locomotive, read this article for instructions on the Function keys F0-F28
To make changes to the sounds, you will need to know the CVs you need to change and what you need to change in their values too. This is based on the manufacturer of the locomotive sound decoder and not the system you use.
Once you know what CVs to change and what to change them to, this article will tell you how to change a CV with your NCE system: https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205053429-How-to-read-or-change-a-CV.
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https://soundtraxx.com/ SoundTraxx 970-259-0690
https://www.esu.eu/en/start/ ESU Loksound Tue/Th 9-12 pm 570-980-1982
https://www.tcsdcc.com/ TCS 215-453-9145
Digitrax https://helpdesk.digitrax.com/
MTH 410-381-2580
BLI 386-673-8900
Bachmann 800-356-3910
Walthers 800-487-2467
Atlas 908-687-0880
Kato 847-781-9500
Scale Trains 844-987-2467
TCS - http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Literature/Literature.htm
Soundtraxx - http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals.php
ESU / Loksound - http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/instruction-manuals/
Digitrax - http://www.digitrax.com/support/manuals/#sound-decoders
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