Following with interest!

Hi Chris,

This hobby is so diverse that it's easy to get off on a tangent and loose a thread.  I was thinking about function mapping last winter and not again until right now.  I have an NCE and LokSound through Full Throttle also.  (To be honest I had to go and get my PROCAB to remember what buttons it had on it!)

I wondered about putting the audible and visual functions up a decade or into the teens.  I do headlight, ditch lights forward and back and number boards forward and back so it would be nice to group them "up there" because I can see wether they are on or off.  Sounds are the same and can be heard if they are on or off.  Couple/uncouple and any other momentary on/off sounds could be assigned to 7-9 making the single button push do the job.  The subtle "running" features like drive hold, cruise, run, independent brake and switching mode might be better placed in the first six slots so that their state could be determined easily.  Not unlike driving your car with the emergency brake on when the light is burned out or worse than that driving away without putting your seat belt on!?!?!,,,

I did get as far as making cheat sheats for the three types of locomotives I'm running, SD70 ACes, GP38/40 with dynamic brakes and GP38/40 without dynamic brakes.  There are lighting differences in the locomotives so a cheat sheet for each one or each group will probably be the final organization.

Thanks for reminding me to think about this some more.  I'll follow along with interest for sure.

Nick

Function mapping

Hi Chris!  I'm not sure how useful this will be since I'm on Lenz, currently with CVP wireless throttles (different keypad layout than the NCE throttles I believe), but here's what I used:

• F0 - Headlight
• F1 - Bell
• F2 - Horn
• F3 - Dim
• F4 - Drive Hold
• F5 - Cab swap (toggles F0-F3 and F6 between ends)
• F6 - Ditch lights (dependent on F0 being on and F3 being off)
• F7 - Independent brake
• F8 - Mute

I don't like using any functions that require more than one keystroke, so I ignored everything above F8.

I'm currently beta testing the ProtoThrottle, which does away with a lot of the need for thinking through the mapping, since most functions just map to their specific prototype control.  However, things like Drive Hold can still be moved between various extra buttons depending on user preference.  I chose to map Drive Hold to the button at the top of the PT that's currently marked "Dyna Brake", allowing the engineer to tell by touch whether it's engaged or not.

Frequency of Use drives function placement

I've played with this a bit. I've been on the fence about moving a few common things that "most people" would expect vs. putting everything where I think it should be.

My current opinion is that things I use a lot, especially while the engine is moving, need to be on un-shifted keys. 

Functions relating to consists need to be between f0 and f15, because those are the only functions you can control via CV21-22.

So - the big changes:

     Move Startup/Shutdown from F8 to a shifted key. It's not used a lot.

     Move the Independent brake to F8.

Also, I assigned the Volume Control to a Function key. That's much more convenient the setting a CV to change the volume.

The biggest change was to the momentum button. I've mentioned this in other threads. As delivered, momentum 9 (the max) will only set the momentum CVs to 63.  That's not much for an ESU decoder. I changed the momentum multiplier from 7 to 25. That makes momentum 9 set the CVs to a more appropriate 225.

You can also choose to have the momentum button set Deceleration to be half of Acceleration, or equal to Acceleration. I set them to be equal. Braking works better with a lot of momentum.

Check your manual for details on changing the momentum stuff.  It's not difficult, but it's too much to type from memory.

gs

My Set Up

I too am using an NCE system. I've played around with various ways to use the Full Throttle features of my LokSound decoders and have settled on mapping the functions as follows:

F0 - Lights
F1 - Bell
F2 - Horn
F3 - Independent Brake
F4 - Dynamic Brake
F5 - Manual Notch Up
F6 - Manual Notch Down
F7 - Run 8
F8 - Coast
F9 - Start Up/Mute Prime Mover Sound

Shift Functions:
F10 - Dim Lights
F11 - Compressor
F12 - Short air letoff
F13 - Sanding valve
F14 - Slow spitter valve
F15 - Fade out sound

You'll notice Drive Hold is not mapped. I've chosen not to use drive hold because when I turned drive hold off the speed of the loco would sometimes change to match the sound which I didn't like. I tend to operate the sound and speed independently, and that has had a lot of impact on my function mapping.

To help me remember the setting I tried to map like functions together in a group. F3 & F4 keeps the braking functions together. The second row of buttons on my NCE throttle has all the prime mover sound buttons F5-F8 grouped together. The other sound functions I use on a regular basis are grouped together F11-14. 

I don't install special lighting on my locos, so there are no additional lighting functions mapped. But if I did I would probably make them the second row of shift buttons on my NCE throttle which would be F15-18.

What I use..

I simplified things quit a bit.  After figuring out what was used most on my layout, I decided to move those thing to non shift positions 1-6. I left F8 as a shift as it really isn't used more than start up and such. The rest of the functions other that what is listed, I would have to look up since they are not used...Here is what I do use  (besides F8):

• F0 - Headlight
• F1 - Bell
• F2 - Horn
• F3 - Coupler (not sure if I will keep this here, may put F8 ?)
• F4 - Dynamic Brake
• F5 - Independent Brake
• F6 - Drive Hold

I do have a large sign on the wall for those who need a refresher on the buttons.. (including me ) . 

@Paul

Hi Paul,

Just something to think about....

Drive hold sets the speed of the locomotive.  Bumping it on and off does move the speed toward the sound setting (1 through 128) so if you start off with a heavy train and go toward notch 8 then you can control the acceleration by bumping the Drive Hold on and then off (and setting the acceleration and deceleration rates helps too by dampening th rate of speed change.)  The same is true with deceleration you can go to drift, notch 1, and slow the train down by bumping the Drive Hold on and off and if I understand it right slow it down quicker with the independent brake.  I'm not totally fluent with it yet but I did get the Drive Hold to work for my sense of the real locomotives.

@Tony,

Writing is on the wall, I have to write my name on my glasses lens so I can remember it. ;> )

Hope this helps.

Nick

@ Nick

Nick,

You are correct about bumping the Drive Hold on and off in acceleration and deceleration. I just got tired of doing that all the time. Thanks for the suggestion though!