I see some excitement about an MS2 update that allows 32 functions to be controlled.

I am intrigued as to what one would actually do with 32 functions.....

So lets see who can produce the longest list of actual functions that they have in a single loco....

Rules:

1. You must actually own the loco
   
2. You must list the functions and what f number it is assigned to
   

one can add a few Aux functions from Aux 1 - Aux 7 but some of these Aux functions, some can be integrated with sound slot. for instance coal shoveling and the fire box, I think steam locos would take more functions than diesel or electrics.

DB BR 185, SBB Re 486

Electric loco: excluding lights on, you've got under F 1 = sound on, F 2 = high pitched horn, F 3 = low pitched horn, F 4 = short pitched horn low, F 5 = short pitched horn high, F 6 = double horn, F 7 = acceleration, F 8 = fan, F 9 = pantographs up & down, F 10 = open close doors, F 11 = high beam, F 12 = coupling, F 13 = tail light front, F 14 = tail light back, F 15 = cab light front, F 16 = cab light back, F 17 = motor room light, F18 = curve squeal, F 19 = track sound, F 20 = conductors whistle, F 21 = Shunting mode, F 22 = compressor, F 23 = compressed air let off, F 24 = announcement, F 25 = announcement, F 26 = announcement, F 27 = sound fader, F 28 = motor fan, F 29 = Aux 2 - interior lights for carriages, F 30 = Aux 3 = interior lights for carriages, F 31 = release/set brake, F 32 = automatic train control, F 33 = arcing Pantograph, F 34 = arcing brake shoes, F 35 = radio conversation 1 , F 36 = radio conversation 2,

I don't really think that Marklin expect that you will use all of the functions, all of the time.. If you have computer control, then you have the opportunity to create a script that can incorporate most, if not all, of the functions..

yes, I see that since any number of different sounds can be had, one can fill any number of function slots with different sound effects.

I see a lot of sounds effects in locos that have nothing to do with the loco (Eg station announcements, whistles, etc.)
(I run all those sorts of things from the station - so they can be used with all trains, not just those with special sound decoders.)

Brake squeals need not use an actual function slot either, being tied to high decelerations, (apart from switching that effect on or off).

I use the lights - just so I can see which way the loco will go! - basic sound, the horn/whistle and the relex couplers (on one single shunter).

I have been into DCC since around 2007 - when I had a shop selling the stuff - now retired and using a nice ECOS with my Marklin layout.

I'd go lower still. For a steamer, the chuff, the toot, the lights, and maybe as a fourth a sequential melange of injectors, compressor, pumps, generator and safety valve blowing, to remind you that the loco is alive while standing still. i.e. three F buttons and an automatic background.
Jabez
PS. I forgot brake squeal, which is nice, but since I leave it permanently on I hardly think of it as an F function.

Edited by user 26 May 2019 19:00:08(UTC)  | Reason: Forgetfullness

Interesting topic, I held off replying until I saw what the theme of other comments might be.

I have only a very few Loco's with functions and I tend to agree with others here that it does seem some of them are a bit pointless.

I was particularly interested in John's list, and BD's chart of functions on his BR103.

For me, while I do enjoy 'operating' functions, it's all the different sounds I find most irritating, and my own personal feeling is that they don't always reflect real-world operation.

On the prototype, many of these sounds actually take place quite some distance from each other, so you could stand beside the loco say at the center, and although you might hear these actual sounds, some will come from close to you, some will be at one end of the loco, some will come from underneath etc. On a model, they almost always come from a single speaker that more often than not is nowhere near where the sounds actually should come from, and because they come from one source they tend to get lost in a general cacophony of noise.

And more importantly, many of these sounds are not sounds that are turned on or off on a real train, they just happen as a result of it's operation.

For example, "curve squeal" - really?, or how about a Contactor, or Main Relay. I don't have models with these effects so I'm curious, do these functions actually produce the desired sound when activated, or do they simply 'enable' the desired sound but it does not 'play' unless the circumstances require it?

So getting back to curve squeal, is the model sophisticated enough to know it's going around a curve to detect and play the sound if the effect is enabled, or is the modeler expected to be watching the train and activate the curve squeal every time it actually goes around a curve? If it's the former, then yes that's pretty smart and some people might like it, but if you are simply playing the sound manually, then why?? - the real engineer can't do that, the wheels either squeal (on a curve), or they don't (on a straight).

If you enable the Contactor or Main Relay, again, does this simply play the sound, or does it enable the sound ready to be played but only when the Loco starts moving? I think on the G1 models I've seen, sounds match the prototype in that the effect happens only when it's meant to but I don't know about H0 examples?

Synchronized chuff I get, vs a repeated repetitive chuff that does not relate to the wheels, but in a small space it's just another noise quickly lost when there is another effect or Loco also going.

Two models I have with 'operational' functions are the 39970 Catenary Maintenance Railcar and the 46715 Remote Crane.

The Catenary engine has a few sounds, machinery working etc which are ok but I rarely use them, but also movable Pantographs, and the ability to raise, rotate and lower the platform. I like that.

The crane has no sounds, but the crane operation can be controlled. The Boom lifted and lowered, the Hook extended and retracted, and the Crane Turret can rotate, really neat. Telex could have been useful on this model, but of course also added to the cost.

One often overlooked function I do like is the ability to switch on/off the inertia, or prototypical acceleration and braking. When you are positioning or testing a loco, sometimes you want it to respond instantly to the speed control, rather than waiting an age for it to sloooowly speed up and/or stop.

I also have the Observation Car 37850. The interior lights have two levels of brightness. Actually useful, or gimmicky? - I guess some people will have a layout where that option would actually be useful, but not me.

Cookee

I have a sound effect file of flange squeal, which I can play automatically for any train passing any curved track I like. The whole train squeals, not just the loco.

But if one did want to activate that function in a loco, the approach I would use would be to identify which curves should trigger it and when the train passes through those locations, the software triggers the loco functions. I do this for smoke, lights, whistle etc. so curve squeal would be no different.

The most functions one of my models has is 28, it's the Roco Vectron LokRoll/SBBCI.

I'm a huge fan of those digital extras and personally I wouldn't mind getting another 32 functions on top of the ones right now.

That solves the problem with my wife. She says I should get the most functions possible. So I guess I get to buy another lok.

Regards,

gene

I agree with you!
That´s way i only use one locomotive/train set to listen with the sounds playing when the train drives around on the layout.
Just listen a steam locomotive out there in the landscape alone and suddenly a whistle eco in the landscape...
The squel sound when the locomotive/train set arrives to the station area and pass over the turnouts in the slow speed...yeah!
Who needs all 32 functions and 10 trains at the same time??