Hi

I found this video on line:

and although i understand the "how to" program part, i would like to learn a bit more about the 2e part of the video where additional addresses are added to the ICE so additional functions can be called up....

I have a BR212 (product#37000) MFX lok that has a total of 10 functions, but as i only have the 6021 controller only 4 are available to me....
Do i understand correctly that if you add a second (and third) address, the other functions become available to?

Is there somewhere a writing (or video) on this in English?

I can not really find in dept programming instructions (using 6021) for MLD decoders on line..... ESU write up on the lokpilot decoder is a lot more comprehensive so i used that one as a starting point.....

Regards

Jean-Pierre

There are CVs defined for programming second and third addresses (and fourth address in mld/3-msd/3 decoders).

Early decoders had a second address already set up as the factory default address +1. Try that on your 6021 for functions 4-8.

Thanks guys!

Success!
It did not work "out of the box", so i programmed cv-75 for address #2 one higher then the main address and can now access F5 ~ F8

Have a few more MFX loks to try this with now!

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Dunno about that - you use up addresses fast when doing this. You could rapidly drop your 80 loco possible to 20 locos available if they all need 4 addresses to cover all the functions.

But there is another trick with the 6021 and control 80f units, but I need to go and look it up first.

Wow! Those look like all 6021's with keyboards. So you have many seperated blocks.

If you look closer, you will see that there is only one 6021 approx. in the middle. The rest to the right are 6036s (Control 80f).

Regards
Tor

I believe there was a way to extend loco address with a 6021, although I may be getting confused on that. It’s been a while.

One of the reasons I say the 6021 is the best controller is that over the years I’ve used almost all the Märklin controllers to differing degrees, and I always find myself coming back to the 6021 because it is fast, logical, reliable and predictable.

Surprised no-one has chased to ask what the neat trick is, or maybe everyone knows.

I was shown this trick by Dieter Lorenz from Marklin when the first 37990 Insider Big Boy came out, it was one of the first locos with more than four functions + lights.

On the keyboard of the 6021 and control 80f there are two buttons beside the '0' button, one labelled 'L' and the other labelled 'F'. The controllers power up with the 'L' button as the active function, and so when you enter a loco address you can control the loco speed and the five available functions.

But if you have a decoder where the function numbers greater than 4 can be mapped to additional loco addresses (both Marklin and ESU decoders can do this) then push the 'F' button and enter the additional address (it has to be in the 1-80 range, it won't accept 81-255). Now you can control an additional four functions using the F1-F4 function keys.

But here is the sneaky part of the trick - the speed knob still controls the speed of the address entered on the 'L' side. So it is possible to switch back and forth between the two sets of functions just by using the 'L' and 'F' keys, making 8 functions easily available, but the speed knob is always controlling the speed on the 'L' side.

if you have more than eight functions then you could program the 'F' side of an additional control 80f to another additional address, even if it is controlling a different loco, and have more than 8 functions readily available.

So have fun folks with all those functions you have available.

Bigdaddynz may like to put a link to this post from his useful permanent links pages.

You can find a description of this trick if you click the link in post #4.
The old 6021 is an efficient and versatile controller.

Fascinating trick! I have to say the object my 6021 has consistently rendered useless to me is actually the mobile station. I find it to be mildly annoying, and everything takes longer than just punching buttons on a 6021. That joined with this MFX function hack really makes me find the MS2 to be more hassle than helpful - at least to advanced hobbyists. The MS2 is of course a great starter set inclusion and way to get going.