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Soundtraxx Tsunami Decoder Questions

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  • Member since
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  • From: Southeast Texas
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Soundtraxx Tsunami Decoder Questions
Posted by mobilman44 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 7:24 AM

Hi again!

I'm on a roll here (CV wise) and had one more area of questions pop up..........

I have a Stewart FT ABBA consist in which I placed powered sound units in each of the Bs.  They are from the Bowser Executive line and are Tsunamis.  

The "manual" that came with the units is a one page deal that gives the function key purposes, but tells nothing about which CVs control the various sounds or overall sound level.  The sounds are great, but with the exception of the horns, they are too loud. 

So I end up with two questions...........

Where can I get a list of the applicable sound CVs?

How do I know what the range of values are for each CV?

Thanks again for your help - and patience!

Mobilman44 

ENJOY  !

 

Mobilman44

 

Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central 

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Posted by simon1966 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 7:39 AM

You could check out the Bowser web site for documentation, which has a nice convenient link to Soundtraxx which in turn has the expanded manuals for the products such as this one  http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/Users%20Guide%20Diesel.pdf

Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum

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Posted by BIG JERR on Saturday, February 25, 2012 7:40 AM

I beleive you san down load from soundtraxx site or get it free on cd from some vendors ,but note its big down load to PRINT out... but you need to adjust equilizer and such ...Jerry

  • Member since
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  • From: Southeast Texas
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Posted by mobilman44 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 8:50 AM

Thank you guys!

And you are right, it is a long complicated document.   Later today I will try to just reduce the overall sound and jack up the horns.

As an aside, I am a huge fan of sound locos (have 13 units), but if they are too loud they can get to you after awhile in a closed room - like my 11x15 layout area.  So I've gone thru and reduced the overall sound on all (except these Tsunamis - all the others are QSI) and raised it on the horns and other infrequent sounds. 

Thanks again for all your help and patience - I think I've learned enough to almost not be dangerous!

ENJOY  !

 

Mobilman44

 

Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central 

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Metro East St. Louis
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Posted by simon1966 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:00 AM

I agree, out of the box factory sound is always too loud.  It is really noticable at the train club when the room is full of them blasting away.

Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum

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Posted by richg1998 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:07 AM

The manual is not complicated. Just take your time. Stepping from the DC era into the DCC era is a big steam and since we are still kids playing with toys, we are always in a hurry.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by PennCentral99 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:37 AM

Here's another link to another CV manual for Soundtraxx.  Although it appears to be complicated, it's not.  I like using this manual because it includes the default value, in case I mess up I can reset that particular CV without resetting the whole decoder.

http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/Tsunami%20Diesel%20Technical%20Reference_1.13.pdf

Yes, the one provided a few replies up and this one are quite lengthy, but I have printed each and keep them in a binder next to the command station fo quick reference instead of getting on the computer all the time.  I also highlight those pages/CV's that I use frequently.

Inspired by Addiction

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Posted by richg1998 on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:44 AM

A couple years ago, Lee English of Bowser told me in an email that Bowser uses the same decoder we buy from SoundTraxx so the CV's should be the same, not stripped down versions that a couple other companies use.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by rrinker on Saturday, February 25, 2012 10:15 AM

 I know the Bowser power chassis I got for my FT with a Tsunami is the full Tsunami, and not a limited feature one like Bachmann uses.

Mobileman, this is REALLY where JMRI would help - a LOT. Besides the volume CVs in the Tsunami, which aren't terribly difficult to adjust, there is also a full equalizer built in, as well a reverb options. JMRI makes adjusting this stuff easy. If your computer is in a totally different room, probably the best option for you would be the SPROG device, which connects to your computer and makes a complete standalone program and test system - it can program as well as run a loco, so when you make adjustments you don;t have to carry it back to the layout, test it out, carry it back and make more tweaks, etc. The SPROG does NOT interface to Digitrax, s it can't be used for layout control, but then I wouldn;t want to run trains on my layotu fron another room where I can't see anything anyway (ok I confess I did try it using my iPhone, but I didn't actually move the train, just hit the whistles and other sounds).

                            --Randy

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

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