Hi,
can me anybody says step by step how can I program the Soundtraxx sound decoder to start slower like the ESU sound decoder.
Thank you very munch!
Christian!
Hate to say it, but you'll have better luck programming the ESU decoder to run like the Soundtraxx. ESU is at the top of the heap when it comes to superior motor control. You can get the Soundtraxx close, but you won't get it to match.
Adding progressively larger amounts of momentum to the Soundtraxx decoder is a good start. You can also tweak the parameters of the BEMF as well. BEMF is very dependant on the efficiency of the motor itself, and every engine will be different, so expect to spend some time experimenting.
The Soundtraxx decoders have a distinct lurge between speed steps. It's not all that noticeable until you run them side by side with an ESU decoder. I have managed to get a Soundtraxx and ESU decoder to run perfectly together in every speed step (about four hours of tweaking), but at every speed step increase, the Soundtraxx engine would lurch about half an inch ahead of the ESU engine - there was just no getting rid of that.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Christian Hcan me anybody says step by step how can I program the Soundtraxx sound decoder to start slower like the ESU sound decoder.
If you have access to JMRI, the easiest thing to do would be to program the Tsunami using the speed tables. When I've done it, I make up a custom speed curve. I don't use one of the built in speed curves.
Speed tables won;t help the starting speed, you need to mess around with the BEMF configuration to optimize it for the motor you have. Mostly trial and error, ESU has an automatic configuration but Tsunamis don't.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
i got an intermountain es44ac witch i thought it had soundtraxx decoder but it has loksound decoder. so the engine start up differnt. i been looking around for factory default cv settings for sountraxx decoder so i can program the loksound engine to match the soundtraxx engine. all my engines have factory soundtraxx decoders in them.
raptorengineer i got an intermountain es44ac witch i thought it had soundtraxx decoder but it has loksound decoder. so the engine start up differnt. i been looking around for factory default cv settings for sountraxx decoder so i can program the loksound engine to match the soundtraxx engine. all my engines have factory soundtraxx decoders in them.
Getting the CV values for the Soundtraxx decoder isn't going to be of any help in the Loksound decoder. The motor control in the two decoders is entirely different. You are just going to have to start by making adjustments to the Loksound until you can match it up. CV's 2 (start),5 (Top speed) and 6 (mid speed) will probably be where you want to start. Loksound decoders also have a start delay feature that you might want to turn off - this prevents the engine from moving until the engine revs up. You may even find you might have to turn off the BEMF and even the forward and reverse trim in order to get it to match up with your Tsunami.
Start with the basics, and see how close you can get, then start turning features off until you get it as close as possible without disabling more than you have to of the decoder's fine running characteristics,
ok. so i been working on speed and there pretty much at same speed just the notching. like both engines start off the same at notch 1 but when i hit notch 2 the soundtraxx engine gose faster to the notch. then i go to notch 3 and soundtraxx engine gose faster to that notch. the loksound engine is slow to get up speed to the notching. both engines i trying is athearn and intermountain es44ac.
Just like someone else said. No getting rid of that.
All you can do is speed up the Loksound. At the low end, you can't make the fasters loco at 'slow' speed go any slower, just like at full throttle, you can't make the slowest one go any faster. You can only slow down the fastest one.
ok i should try slowing down faster one. i was also thinking about replacing bored on intermountain es44ac to soundtraxx one.
So what you're saying is that you got the physical speed matched between the two, but you are trying to match the engine notching sound ?
If that's the case, you can only adjust the engine notching sound if you are using the Loksound 4.0 decoders .... and you need their programmer to do so as you need to access the prime mover flow chart. If you have a Select decoder - which is probably what you have if it is factory installed - you can't adjust the notch rate.
You can adjust the notch rate in the Soundtraxx decoder though. CV116 will change the notching rate. Read the value in CV116 first so you have a reference. Lower or raise the value by one at a time to change the notching rate until it matches the Loksound decoder.
raptorengineer ok i should try slowing down faster one. i was also thinking about replacing bored on intermountain es44ac to soundtraxx one.
i have mostly soundtraxx tsunamis as well but also a couple if esus too. I recently picked up a Ho IM heritage NS es40ac with an esu in it. Fell in love with it and run it with a IM es40dc with a tsunami all the time. I have no problems running the two together. if you want to get these two near perfect, work on adjusting the esu equipped one to the tsunami. You may want to disable the startup sequence on the esu equipped loco otherwise you have to wait about 30 secs before it is ready to roll with your tsunami equipped.
As as an aside, besides the superior speed control, my favorite feature on the esu is the simultaneous bell/horn enabling. Also, I think the horn on the esu equipped is spot on for the Gevo.
Brad
cool. ya i found the bell/horn enable neat when you have engine on mute.. but ya i did disable the startup sequence on intermountain es44ac. can i ask what was your cv settings for esu to tsunami engine?
There are ways to slow the Tsunami down. I had a problem with a Bachmann Spectum FM H16-44 where it would move before the engine ramped up.
If you read the thread at the link below you will find a solution. It may not be perfect. Scroll down to 'Selector's post and read the details about what CVs need to be adjusted.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/216137.aspx
To get the link to work, highlight it, right click on it and then click on the appropriate command like "Open Link" (varies with what system you are using).
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
What a lot of people fail to understand - probably because very few have run a real engine - is that the engine RPM does not change when going from idle to notch one. All that happens at notch one is engaging the circuitry that connects the main generator to the traction motors. There is a barely perceptible change in engine sound as it loads, but the engine does not rev up until you go to notch 2.
Regarding notch one, you may often hear a locomotive rev up slightly about the time it is placed in run 1. This is because many units have low idle features that cause the idle to drop when reverser is centered. To save fuel (or hearing) an engineer will often keep the reverser centered unless he/she is ready to move the throttle. So at trackside you will hear a short rev then see the engine move.
Us modelers are the reason the sound decoders actually rev up in notch one because we all "thought" they should - and the manufacturers listened to us, because we're the ones buying the product. If you ever get an opportunity to run a real engine, by all means jump at the opportunity. I had the chance a couple years ago to run an engine on a full shift. It was a real eye-opener .... things worked and reacted completely different than I had assumed all these years.
I now run my models completely different than I had previously.
Hi Mark:
What you say makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If you compare it to driving a standard shift car, any experienced driver knows how to apply the power as the clutch is let out so the revs don't change until you are underway.
So, Tsunami has it right and Loksound doesn't! How very interesting. Now I will have to decide if I want to re-calibrate all my Loksound decoders to run like the real thing.
Still think Loksound is easier to make work properly - the default method with Tsunami is that the loco moves before the sound even starts, with the startup being triggered by speed step 1. Yes, a light loco does not rev up when going to notch 1 - but one pulling a large train does, which is super easy to simulate on Loksound (and QSI) simply by adding some momentum and controlling how you adjust the throttle. Gradually satrt off - no revving. Crank it open - still moves out slowly, but with the revving you get under heavy load. I got a cab ride in an SD50 a couple of years ago, pulling a passenger excursion, and I got to stay on throughout the switching moves to rearrange the train for the return trip - quite an interesting learning experience. I have another coming up in a week and a half, not sure what loco it will be on.
I think the thing that left the biggest impression on me was how much slower everything happens .... and not just running the engine. For example - I pulled up past the switch to spot a car on the siding, then hung out the window while I watched the brakeman walk back to the turnout, unlock it, throw the points and wave me back.
This didn't happen in an instant like we do on our layouts ! Now when I operate my models, I find myself pulling past the switch and visualizing a little HO guy walking back to unlock and throw the points. Really adds to the time factor. Also don't forget to stop and allow the little guy to close the points, lock the switchstand and walk back to the engine (or caboose if equipped)
Simple things like that was just as much of an eye opener as realizing how to control the engine itself .... NOTHING happens instantly. I've attended a few operating sessions where my brakeman was already in the next town aligning turnouts for me ! I've also been brakeman where the engineer would just use the direction switch to switch cars relying solely on the momentum to slow / stop / move. These are the guys who treat it like a game - get the job done as fast as you can so you can get on to the next run ....
raptorengineer cool. ya i found the bell/horn enable neat when you have engine on mute.. but ya i did disable the startup sequence on intermountain es44ac. can i ask what was your cv settings for esu to tsunami engine?
i don't think I modified any of the motion/speed cvs, just the volume ones on both. As usual, i find the factory default volume settings entirely too loud. I think I cut all down except the horn down to like 50% and the horn to %75% of max.
brad
Yup. You can get a sense of it by watching a train switch while standing on the ground, but it REALLY hits home when you are sitting in the cab. And in my case, there were 3 guys on the ground to help with the air hoses and switch throwing, and still it was an interesting pace that is hard to get a sense of unless you are there. There were only 2 available tracks, plus another stub. We pulled the whole train, dropped the last car short of the switch, pulled the rest clear, waitied for the switch to be thrown, backed the dome car into the stud then went back and repeated it for the observation. Then shoved the train back in the siding, then pulled the two rear end cars, shoved them back on to the rest of the train, and then ran around it. Final operation was to switch the lead loco to trailing and set up the former trailing loco as lead. It took me longer to type than many do actually makign the moves on a model railroad - it actually took over a half hour - agian, with more crew on the ground than you typically have, so no one had to walk far. To be honest, it didn't seem like it took that long while I was in the cab, and I was kind of amazed at how long it actually was.
Upcoming trip won;t have any switching,but it's a rare mileage excursion where the only way you could have seen this in the past 50 years wouldbe to work for the railroad or a prior fan trip. SHould be neat as they are running a mixed train, for photo runbys they are going to drop the passenger cars and add a caboose. I should taken a caboose ticket for one leg as well as the cab ride, but two of the three segments I've been on before, the one I tookt he cab ride for is one I've never been on before.
I really want to get to one of the museums out west where you get to run the locomotive. I'd do both steam and diesel. Steam loco should be a very interesting experience to operate. There's one not too far from me that supposedly lets ou even pull a train, I have to check that out.
Mark R. I think the thing that left the biggest impression on me was how much slower everything happens .... and not just running the engine. For example - I pulled up past the switch to spot a car on the siding, then hung out the window while I watched the brakeman walk back to the turnout, unlock it, throw the points and wave me back. This didn't happen in an instant like we do on our layouts ! Now when I operate my models, I find myself pulling past the switch and visualizing a little HO guy walking back to unlock and throw the points. Really adds to the time factor. Also don't forget to stop and allow the little guy to close the points, lock the switchstand and walk back to the engine (or caboose if equipped) Simple things like that was just as much of an eye opener as realizing how to control the engine itself .... NOTHING happens instantly. I've attended a few operating sessions where my brakeman was already in the next town aligning turnouts for me ! I've also been brakeman where the engineer would just use the direction switch to switch cars relying solely on the momentum to slow / stop / move. These are the guys who treat it like a game - get the job done as fast as you can so you can get on to the next run .... Mark.