I have just gotten two engine back from the shop with new decoders. When I reprogramed the CV back to the settings they were, they run completly different. Here are the questions. I am running a MRC Advance. One of the engines is the Bachmann Climax that is in this moth MR. He set the starting CV at 60. Mine was set to 2. The other engine is a Broadway Limited E6
1. Is there a range for each decoder? If so,What is it
2. Does this vary with different brands?
3. Is there a good starting point for CV #2,3,4, & 5?
4. Is there an upper limit I should not go over?
5. Is it just trial and error?
6. Where can I find additional CV info?
1. Yes. The range for most CVs is 1 to 255.
2. Yes, different brands sometimes have different ranges.
3. I usually start with CV 2=2; CV 3=4; CV 4=4. These values depend a lot on the brand name and type of locomotive, and quality of the motor and gearing.
4. Yes. But for which CV? Going over CV 2=128, for example, would cause the locomotive to take off like a jackrabbit because that would be half throttle.
5. Yes, most times you have to adjust the CVs to the individual locomotive and decoder.
6. Go to NMRA or any decoder manufacturer's web site and you can download a listing of NMRA Standard CVs and each manufacturer's listing of supported CVs according to the decoder type.
For the Bachmann decoder, you can find the manual on the SoundTraxx web site under their heading for Tsunami manufacturer-specific decoders:
http://www.soundtraxx.com/factory/OEM%20pages/Bachmann/Bachmann.php
and for the Broadway Limited, go to their web site:
http://www.broadway-limited.com/
What decoders did you have installed. You listed the system you installed but not which brand and/or model decoder the shop put in it. That info is needed to answer you question.
Springfield PA
No idea. Whatever Bachmann is using in their new engines .Same for BLI. It seems that Cacole above might know. I am going to check their website.
I have several Broadway Limited and Paragon locos and have to admit you cannot get another loco that will run as slow (maybe an Atlas Gold). I have a Bachrus speedometer to match speeds with locos but have never been able to match anything to a Broadway Limited no matter what decoder and the Paragon II series has its own proprietary DCC system. If anyone out there can advise me on gettiing anything to run with a Paragon II other than another Paragon II I 'd love to know.
cadman