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[CBQ] Mars Light Operation

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Subject: [CBQ] Mars Light Operation
From: "Nelson Moyer" <ku0a@mchsi.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:41:03 -0500
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Thank you to those who provided information about the operation of headlights and Mars lights on GP-7 and SD-7 motors. Here’s a summary of what I learned, for those needing to program DCC decoders.

 

Pyle National sealed beam twin headlights were used on both motors. For the GP-7, they were mounted below the Mars light, which was located where the stock headlights would have been. For the SD-7, they were below the elevated twin oscillating Mars lights. Both lenses of the Pyle lights are clear. The top lens of the Mars light in clear and the bottom lens is red. The white Mars light oscillated in the direction of movement and extinguished in the opposite direction. The red Mars light lit and oscillated only when the emergency brake was applied. The headlight dimmed in reverse, and the white Mars light turned off. The oscillating speed of the Mars light was approximately one rotation per 0.75 to 1 second. Speed varied between locomotives due to mechanical issues.

 

I’m still adding details to the GP-7 and SD-7 before painting them, so it will be a while before I get to decoder installation and programming.

 

Meanwhile, I’ve added a QSI Titan-U decoder to the Con Cor Mars light Zephyr. The decoder came programmed with Winton sounds, and was plug and play for the lights, however the lighting effects I get don’t match operation characteristics described above. Here’s how they work now:

 

Front Lights (headlights and Mars Light)

Idle – headlight dim, clear Mars light dim, not oscillating, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

Forward – headlight bright, clear Mars light bright and oscillating, red Mars light bright, not oscillating.

Stop from forward – headlight dim, clear Mars light dim, not oscillating, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

Reverse – headlight bright, clear Mars light dim, not oscillating, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

Stop in reverse – headlight dim, clear Mars light dim, red Mars light dim

 

Rear Lights (Mars light)

Idle – clear Mars light off, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

Forward – clear Mars light off, red Mars light bright, not oscillating.

Stop in forward – clear Mars light off, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

Reverse – clear Mars light bright, not oscillating, red Mars light off.

Stop in reverse – clear Mars light off, red Mars light dim, not oscillating.

 

There seem to be some anomalies compared to GP-7 and SD-7 Mars light operation. I don’t think the front red Mars light should ever light on the model, unless a decoder function is programmed as a manual emergency stop. The headlight should dim in reverse. I think the rear clear mars light should oscillate in reverse. Does anyone know how the front and rear Mars lights operated on the shovelnose Zephyrs? I’d like to know before reprogramming the decoder to make the red Mars light follow prototype practice.

 

While the Winton sounds are recorded from a 248 instead of a 201A, they are better than the available EMD 567 sounds recommended for the Con Cor Zephyrs by other decoder manufacturers. The addition of two speaker stereo sound from the Titan-U is a nice development, as now the horn, bell, fan, motor, etc. sound can be localized in a locomotive to their actual locations. Two speak sound is much richer, especially since there’s room in the Con Cor models for two 1 in. speakers or a 1 in. speaker in the front and a ¾ in. speaker in the back of the powered unit. Now if I can just get the lights working as they should, this will be a truly impressive model.

 

Nelson Moyer

 



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