ZTC 511 Controller & Hornby City Of Sheffield with on board sound

[davem]

I have a ZTC 511 DCC controller and at the moment only one loco with sound which is Hornbys

Duchess class City Of Sheffield. All the various sounds work fine from function 1 to 8.However Fuction 9 on the loco is to activate the short Whistle. I am unable to get this function to work due to the fact that as soon as you press function then 9 on the ZTC 511 controller it then turns on the simulation facility with the green led illuminating on the controller. Has anybody else had this same problem with the ZTC 511 controller and sound decoders? If so would most appreciate your comments on how I can get the F9 short whistle to work.

Dave M

[big jim]

the ztc 511 will only do 8 functions unfortunatly thats why i got rid of mine when i got heavily into sound locos as you can't access the higher functions, unfortunatly there is no way round it

[GoingUnderground]

You could try remapping the functions so that the one you want is on a lower numbered function button, but it will mean mapping one that you don't user very often to F9.

 

As ZTC is in new hands, you could try contacting the new owners to see if they plan to offer an upgrade to the 511 firmware that allows it to operate Functions F9 to F20, and if so when would it be available, how much and whether it would mean a return to them or a chip swapout that you could do yourself.

 

When the 511 was launched, the NMRA standards only allowed for Functions up to F8. The NMRA standards moved on, and I believe they now allow for up to F29, but ZTC didn't move with the standards. The new owners need to move rapidly and fix all the known bugs and update the product range to the latest standards if they want the business to survive.

 

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

......The NMRA standards moved on, and I believe they now allow for up to F29.....

More precisely it's F0 - F28

Most systems today have at least up to F20 (21 functions) and quite a few have the full 29.

 

 

.....The new owners need to move rapidly and fix all the known bugs and update the product range to the latest standards if they want the business to survive.

As it stands now, the re-launched 511 may be considered un-saleable, because it simply isn't up to scratch.

 

I may be wrong, but the way I see it, the new owner (or licensee or whatever) is in a difficult position, as he desperately needs a totally updated or revised product before he can really start selling.

IMHO you'd have to be a real mug to purchase what's on offer at the moment.

 

Did anybody speak to the guy at Warley?

 

.

[davem]

Thanks for replies so far. Disappointing to hear that ZTC 511 will only support up to F8. Hope that ZTC will offer some firmware upgrades as suggested. As soon as ZTC controls web page is properly up and running again I will email the question and comments mentioned to them with hope that they will take a serious look at this problem which will only get worse as technology moves on and on. Perhaps if other ZTC owners who read this problem on this forum could also email ZTC cotrols to try and put pressure on them to think about a solution to resolve this problem. Thanks again.

Dave M