m83 Special Advanced Functions Controlled With...

Tip: - m83 Special Advanced Functions Controlled With TrainController Date: 18-05-2017 Link 21-06-2017, 01-03-2018

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rossstew/rms/marklin.html 1

Hi All,

I’ve had the m83 decoders since Märklin introduced them and only used them for switching points,

signals and uncoupling tracks. I experimented with the special advanced functions where it is possible to

use the 8 outputs as individual lighting functions but I didn’t implement the use of the special functions as

the m83 doesn’t have a memory function. This means that every time the central unit has a short circuit or

the stop button is used any light functions that are switched by the m83(s) will be lost and the functions

will have to be switched on again which isn’t very convenient if you have to do this by manually

switching the functions with the central unit.

Several people have asked me if I used the special functions so I decided to set up an experiment to see if

I could implement TrainController to overcome the lack of m83 memory and have some useful special

functions that I could use on my layout. Below on the left I have an m83 switching the signal light with

bulbs and the standard Märklin 728xx light masts with LED lights.

Please read the 60831 Operations Manual to help understanding of this text.

Please note you will find YouTube video links to illustrate the features of this text below.

m83 with 7 Special Functions Demonstration Video Time 0:35

Functions Selected

m83 Port Function Set

1R Zoom (Soft turning on/off)

1G Dimmer

2R + 2G* Alternate Blinking

2R + 2G* Simultaneous Blinking

3R Fluorescent Tube

3G Random Flickering

4R Low Energy

4G Gyra

* Special control with TrainController depends on time intervals for both ports (see page 7)

See configuration of the outputs on page 3.

1G

1R 2R + 2G

3R

3G

4R 4G

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rossstew/rms/pdf/60831_operation.pdf

https://youtu.be/QNVIfcnhdEM



Required Setup

ECoS/Central Station and m83 Settings

For the m83(s) I wanted to set them up as DCC protocol with the address switch 10 switched on. Since I

have an ECoS I needed to setup the four accessories as light switches.

For this experiment I chose address range 113-116

which is the same address range I set on the m83

with the following switch settings on 1,3,4,5,10.

Below you can see the four accessories where the

protocol has been set to DCC. Each accessory has a

unique name and address and the switching duration

is set for 100ms.



Configuration of the Outputs for DCC address 113-116, m83 switch address ‘1, 3, 4, 5, 10’

To be safe use the programming track to configure the following options.

CV Meaning Value

Range

Value

Set

Comment Function

112 POM Switching Function Turnout 1 0-142 136 Switches the ‘red’ output for Turnout 1 Zoom

113 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%

114 POM Period 0-255 40 Time interval between the pauses; 1=0,05 sec. 1R

115 POM Switching Function Turnout 1 0-142 129 Switches the ‘green’ output for Turnout 1 Dimmer

116 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%

117 POM Period 0-255 255 Time interval between the pauses; 1=0,05 sec. 1G

118 POM Switching Function Turnout 2 0-142 130 Switches the ‘red’ output for Turnout 2 Flash

119 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100% Alt/Sim

120 POM Period 0-255 20 Time interval between the pauses; 1=0,05 sec. 2R + 2G

121 POM Switching Function Turnout 2 0-142 131 Switches the ‘green’ output for Turnout 2 Flash



124 POM Switching Function Turnout 3 0-142 141 Switches the ‘red’ output for Turnout 3 F. Tubes

125 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%


127 POM Switching Function Turnout 3 0-142 134 Switches the ‘green’ output for Turnout 3 Random

128 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%


130 POM Switching Function Turnout 4 0-142 142 Switches the ‘red’ output for Turnout 4 Low Energy

131 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%


133 POM Switching Function Turnout 4 0-142 138 Switches the ‘green’ output for Turnout 4 Gyra

134 POM Pulse Width 0-255 255 255 = 100%


Possible Switching Functions Value Function Name Comment

Touch- Switch

0 128 Everything off

1 129 Dimmer

2 130 Blinking light 1

3 131 Blinking light 2 Parallel blinking light to blinking light 1

4 132 Flash 1 Flashing light

5 133 Flash 2 Double flashing light

6 134 Random task/flickering light Random sequence of pause/pulse

7 ---

8 136 Zoom Soft turning on/off

9 137 Mars Specific blinking light

10 138 Gyra Specific blinking light

11 ---

12 ---

13 141 Tubes Simulates fluorescent tube lights

14 142 Low energy lamp Simulates energy-saving lamps

15 ---

16 --- Max. switching “Period” indicates the Max. Switching time

17 --- Min. switching “Period” indicates the Min. Switching time

18* --- Min. Switching with end switch Switching time is “period” or until the end position is reached

* Factory Setting



Controlling the Accessories from the ECoS

With the m83 connected to the ECoS and the outputs configured on the m83 you can see the results on

the m83 port LEDs.

Remember the m83 was designed to control points where each of

the four channels has a red and green component to switch the point

curved or straight. Each channel port operates as a pair.

When you decide to use the

red or green ports of each

channel as individual

special functions then

switching from the ECoS

requires great attention to

be able to switch on the

correct red or green port.

Cyclic switching for individual ports happens in the following sequence.

All light switches are off as a starting point.

a) 1st switch 113 ‘On’ turns on channel 1 red port.

b) 2nd

switch 113 ‘Off’ turns on channel 1 green port as well as leaving channel 1 red port on.

c) 3rd

switch 113 ‘On’ turns off channel 1 red port and leaves channel 1 green port on.

d) 4th

switch 113 ‘Off’ turns off channel 1 green port.

Operating the lights from the ECoS is possible but not very practical as you will soon forget which part of

the switching cycle the m83 is at for each channel.

ECoS Demonstration Video Time 1:17

Wiring the m83 for Different Lighting Options

For the use of light bulbs you can connect direct to the m83 as shown above for channel 1.

For the use of LED lights you will require additional wiring to protect the LEDs and

suppress the LED glowing in the OFF position. In the photo above you will notice I

have a small Vero board circuit which can be seen below in more detail.

Because I’m using the standard Märklin 728xx light masts with LED lights I don’t

require a current limiting resistor for the lights as they are already built in but to

suppress the LED(s) glowing in the OFF position I have used 2x 1k 1206 resistors

soldered across the foils as shown.

The brown and yellow wires are to the light mast for each port for each channel.

R G

https://youtu.be/Pe_JoqvXpvs



Wiring LEDs to the m83

On the 1st of February 2014 I posted this diagram to the marklin-users.net with the link below.

http://www.marklin-users.net/forum/posts/t28608-m83-60831-m84-60841---60821-60822-----light-

reading/page2

I have included it here for completeness.

The 1k resistor across the LED is used to suppress the LED glowing in the OFF position. The value can

vary from 470R up to 1k. Measure the voltage across the LED and vary the resistor value so the voltage is

below the minimum switch on voltage for the LED.

The other 1k resistor connected by the yellow wire is the current limiting resistor.

http://www.marklin-users.net/forum/posts/t28608-m83-60831-m84-60841---60821-60822-----light-reading/page2

http://www.marklin-users.net/forum/posts/t28608-m83-60831-m84-60841---60821-60822-----light-reading/page2



Controlling the m83 Special Functions with TrainController

I created a switchboard named m83 Lights and set it as a Tabbed Document in TrainController.

The top row pushbuttons are labelled with the digital address and

below you can see I have a total of 7 special functions using all

m83 output ports. Note I have repeated (3) for special operations

which will be revelled later in the text.

The bottom on-off switches are used to switch the pushbuttons

above and also act as a visual indicator for what is on or off.

Labels below the switches describe the special functions.

Pushbutton Properties



On-Off Switch Properties

On-Off switches ms114r and ms114g are a special

case as the Conditions are set to allow only one

switch to operate at a time. The operations of

channel-2 red and green ports are used together for

a combined lighting effect. Below is an extract of

the Configuration of the Outputs table and

Possible Switching Functions tables from page 3.

Simultaneous or Alternate Flashing

Video Time 0:55

You will notice CV120 and CV123 are set to a period value of 20 and the Function switch is set to 130

and 131 respectively. I observed that the delay between manually switching on the green and red ports

varied the blinking combination.

With the period set to a value of 20 the total time interval is 1 second. (20x0.05=1)

The highlighted Delays above allow me to have Simultaneous Blinking with the Delay set at 500ms or

Alternate Blinking with a Delay set at 1 second. Two functions for the price of one.

CV Meaning Value

Range

Value

Set

Comment Function

118 POM Switching Function Turnout 2 0-142 130 Switches the ‘red’ output for Turnout 2 Flash



121 POM Switching Function Turnout 2 0-142 131 Switches the ‘green’ output for Turnout 2 Flash



Value Function Name Comment

Touch- Switch

2 130 Blinking light 1

3 131 Blinking light 2 Parallel blinking light to blinking light 1

https://youtu.be/SLHY5vsVnqI

https://youtu.be/SLHY5vsVnqI



On-Off Switch Properties Continued

It should be noted that all On-Off Switches make use of the Off and On Operating States



TrainController to Overcome the Lack of m83 Memory

With all the functions operating well it is time to tackle the lack of m83 memory issue. If you are trying to

use the m83 special functions, switch a few functions on then hit the Stop key on the central station,

pause a few seconds then hit the Go key and you will observe that none of the special functions will

switch back on.

Solution to Monitor all Special m83 Functions

I inserted a Contact Indicator to monitor that the power to the layout was ‘On’ or ‘Off’. This indicator

operates via a relay that switches the indicator ‘On’ when the track power is on.

With the ‘Power On Check’ indicator Off the memory for the m83(s) is indicated by the On-Off switches.

When the ‘Power On Check’ indicator is switched on after a power interruption it will execute a macro

called ‘Power On Check’ that checks all the On-Off switches and all special functions that had been

switched prior to the power interruption will turn back on without any user interaction.

This will also work when powering on the layout for the first time provided the TrainController file is

saved in the frozen state using the ‘Freeze’ button.

To resume operation of the layout hit the ‘Power On’ button.

TrainController Memory for the m83 Video Time 1:24

https://youtu.be/_GfK-Wwo74k



Power On/OFF Relay

The above circuit is shown in the de-energised position. The Red and Brown wires for the track power are

connected to the ~ connections of the bridge rectifier. The 1N4007 diodes reduce the voltage to the non

latching relay close to 12Vdc and the 100uF capacitor smoothes the voltage to the relay so it won’t

chatter or buzz. The common side of the relay change over contact (8) is wired to the track brown

connection. The N.O. contact (6) is wired to an s88 input for monitoring with TrainController.

When the track power is on the relay coil is energised and the N.O. change over contact is closed

switching the s88 input on. When you have a short circuit on your layout or hit the stop/halt button on the

central station the relay will turn off.

It is important to only have 12Vdc supplied to the relay coil as in most cases the relay will be switched on

for a long time when you are operating your layout. Too much over voltage will damage the relay in the

long term. If you measure the voltage at the relay coil and it is too high, add another 1N4007 diode to

each string of diodes to further reduce the voltage.

The relay is mounted on a socket in case it needs to be replaced. The coloured arrows show the location

of the external connections and the dashed lines show the two links required. The red circles indicate

where the copper foils have been cut with a 3mm drill.

100uF

50V

~

12Vdc

+Plus

-Neg

s88 Switched Function

~

1N4007

1N4007

1N4007 1

1N4007

10

1N4007

8

7 6

3

4 5



Macro Power On Check

How the Macro Works

Check the red port at Label

c3rg

The Prerequisite On-Off

Switch ‘ms115r’ is checked

and if it is true (on) Goto label

3rr Else, Goto label c3g

Label 3rr turns on/off m155r

Then Goto Label c3g to check

the green port

Label c3g

The Prerequisite On-Off

Switch ‘ms115g’ is checked

and if it is true (on) Goto label

3gg Else, Goto label c4rg

Label 3gg turns on/off m155g

Then Goto Label c4rg to

check the next channel ports

At the end I issue a few

messages to the Messages

Window to indicate which

m83 modules that have been

checked.

See another similar project.

Vollmer Signal Box 45739 with functional

fibre optic control desk lights.

As always enjoy your model trains.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rossstew/rms/pdf/signal_box_lights.pdf

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