Ah yes. The anticipation of sound.
You will probably take the engine out of the box.. perhaps a QSI DCC and Sound engine factory equipted Atlas, PRoto, BLI (NOT Blueline.. disregard for now) etc..
With the power off, place engine on track.
Power up your power pack... now here is the magic.
If it is a regular trainset power pack, you will need to advance the throttle and "load" the engine with about... 8 volts. Once that engine has the voltage, it will boot up like your computer does and go into it's sound files and start sounding like an engine at idle.
If you advance the trainset power pack throttle just a little bit more. By now you realized that you only have the top half of the throttle to drive it with. The engine will start off with wheels turning and appropriate sounds.
Very exciting.
With DCC...
Put engine on track, power up DCC and select Locomotive address 03 on your system. All DCC Factory equipped engines USUALLY respond to Address 03. Immediately your engine will fire up and make appropriate idle noises.
But beware.. once you go sound... you probably will never go back.
Enjoy!
Thanks Guys for the help. and especially TOM. I went to your site! Beautiful! Lots of information. When I saw that you were modeling the New York Central, I thought for a sec you mioght have been from New York. I was born and raised in Utica, New York. The NYC is my railroad LOL
I am now retired and living in Bradenton, Fl. Been down here about 12 years now and love it.
By the way, I am still wondering since I never had sound before - when you buy a loco with dcc and sound already installed, will you have sound the minute you put it on the track with EZ Command without having to press any sound buttons. Is it already built in.???
Thanks again for your help! DON
And Climate Control.
If all ye ever going to run is one engine on a shelf layout... it's good.
But all things mature eventually and you will want bigger and better things.
DONFLA wrote:I know about EZ command, cheap but works decent with a small or first time layout or somebody that wants to try DCC.
Don, that's exactly what I did. For $53 I picked up a E-Z Command and used it for a little over a year before buying my NCE Power Cab. I have no qualms for going that route.
Question I have, for a small shelf layout, will it run an engine that you can buy with DCC and Sound? Does it have the voltage to do that? and would the engines sound good enough with what they come with.
Yes. The E-Z Command will handle up to 8 sound functions (F1-F8) plus lights. It should handle at least one sound locomotive. Two is possible. I ran 3 locomotives simultaneously with my E-Z Command: One sound; two non-sound.
Don, just a slight correction in terminology. All DCC systems will have enough voltage. It's the amperage (amps) that determines how many trains you can run on your layout at any given time.
I know with more upscale units like Zepher etc. you can change things. Anyone know if the built in sound is neat and will the EZ Command have the power to run one maybe two engines with sound at the same time. No more than that. Thanks for you help! DON
DON
More sophisticated DCC systems like the Digitrax Zephyr and NCE Power Cab allow you to adjust or alter CVs or configuration variables. These are handy if you want to fine tune your locomotive(s) or speed match them for running two or more together in a consist.
The E-Z Command only comes with 1A(mp) of total output. Since sound locomotives draw more current than non-sound locomotives, you won't be able to run as many sound units as you would non-sound.
However, the 8 sound functions that you can get with the E-Z Command will be the 8 most commonly used - e.g. horn, whistle, coupler clash, Doppler, flange squeal, mute, etc. The sound quality is really more influenced by what type sound decoder and speaker is installed in your locomotive vs. what DCC system you are using. F9-F12 sound functions will not be accessible but they aren't used as much.
Don, if price is a real concern (i.e. limiting factor) and you're wanting to get into/try DCC, the E-Z Command is not a bad way to get your feet wet. I enjoyed it - even though it was a limited system. (But I knew that going into it.) If you can spring for something a little more, the Zephyr or Power Cab are terrific choices. I really like my Power Cab.
Hope that helps...
Tom
P.S. Don, by your profile name, I'm assuming you're from the Sunshine state. What part are you located? I grew up in Jacksonville but live in OH now.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I know about EZ command, cheap but works decent with a small or first time layout or somebody that wants to try DCC. Question I have, for a small shelf layout, will it run an engine that you can buy with DCC and Sound? Does it have the voltage to do that? and would the engines sound good enough with what they come with. I know with more upscale units like Zepher etc. you can change things. Anyone know if the built in sound is neat and will the EZ Command have the power to run one maybe two engines with sound at the same time. No more than that. Thanks for you help!