DCC Decoder Function Cheat Sheets

I had this blog post drafted since 2017, but never posted it.  I wanted to document and standardize things on my DCC Decoder fleet to make it easy to remember what functions do what and minimize troubleshooting as I grew my fleet of locomotives.  This initial decoder sheet was my attempt to build a framework that I would reuse as I installed new decoders.

My plans changed shortly after I created it as I left QSI decoders for Loksound. I've left some exceptions such as the Southern E8's since the QSI decoders provide real stereo sound and EMD E8's had dual prime movers, so the stereo sound is a must. Maybe when the QSI patent expires, and the feature is offered, I'll look to replace them for better interoperability.

The full throttle capability of the Loksound sold me years ago, along with a large and varied library of prime movers. Way more than QSI at the time.  Their horns still need work though, even with Loksound 5. I don't know why QSI stopped investing in their product to bring these realistic features to market, but Loksound makes a very solid decoder and had become and still is a clear market leader.  Yes Blunami is a hot ticket now, but I still don't see anything that will make me want to switch away from Loksound.

I do use a few other decoders on the layout for various things, but they are not on this decoder sheet, as they will more or less be on/off type decoders for lighting. The SoundCar decoder is an exception and is on the cheat sheet.

• Soundtraxx Soundcar - installed in a few freight cars
• Various Digitrax/NCE decoders - installed in passenger cars and cabooses for lighting control

 Below was what I was going to do for QSI and MTH.

My sheet reflects my exclusive use of first and second generation diesels from the 40s to the early 70's.  There is no steam. There are no ditch lights, and I've decided to not install step lights for the most part. The two middle (modified) columns show how I was going to configure my MTH and QSI decoders going forward.  The SoundCar column is the factory setting.  The orange/yellow cells are the cells I modified from the factory columns to get my desired settings.

Below was an initial draft of what my Loksound decoders will do across all 28 functions. I've yet to merge them together with a column for QSI. Originally, I was going to keep the MTH PS3 decoders since it worked well enough and there was a cost to upgrade, but again, for the sake of standardization and consisting, I replaced them all with Loksound.

The next step here would be consolidate the information here and merge in the QSI decoder column for my one set of E8's that will most likely remain together as they are run. That is below: