DCC/Motorola Digital Command Control
Now, if your operating in this mode, you may very well know more about DCC than
we do so, we're going to stick to telling you about our engine in this operating
environment. First of all, in DCC mode, we brought all the features of analog DC
along and of course, added to them. Your new engine has more user features than
any DCC engine ever built. Some of them are even ahead of the world of DCC!!
Running the Engine
Set the engine on the rails, and apply DCC power. Refer to the Set-Up section of
this guide for instructions on how to connect the boiler and tender.
The first thing you will notice is the engine does absolutely nothing! Don't panic.
This is by design. MTH HO engines never do anything in command mode until told
to do so, regardless of what brand DCC controller you use. In this way, you could
have a fleet of MTH HO engines on the rails and they will remain shutdown until
you command them to start up.
F3 Start up/Shut Down
Select engine address 3 (factory default), press the F3 (Start Up/Shut Down) key, and
your engine will start-up. Lights, sounds, smoke, ACTION!!! Roll the throttle and
away you go. Our models are compatible with 14, 28, and 128 speed steps. We
strongly recommend 128 because in this mode, speed steps correspond directly to
scale speeds. That is, speed step 10 = 10 smph, speed step 47 = 47 smph, etc. You
get the idea. When your done, press the F3 key again, your engine will shut down.
To be clear, pressing F3 when the engine is shut down will start it up. Pressing F3
when the engine is started up will shut it down. Pretty clever, eh?
On your HO S3/6 models we have made this even simpler. If you don't want to or
forget to hit F3 to start up the engine all you have to do is make it move and it will
automatically start up for you. This is especially good for you operators that use
auto start/stop blocks in your layout.
Sounds
As in analog DC mode, the default sound arrangement is automatic. So, you can just
run your engine and its sounds will follow the action. But, you operate in DCC for a
reason. You want access to more features, right? Well, depending upon the
capabilities of your DCC controller, you now have access to a range of sound
features including bell, whistle, PFA, engine sounds on/off, master volume, Doppler,
and more.
Here's a brief description of commonly used sound features.
F1 Bell
Toggles bell sounds on/off. Listen to the last half ring of the bell when it stops!
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M.T.H. HO 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone Steam Engine