I just finished installing a TCS WOW 1511 Steam decoder in my P2K Heritage 2-8-8-2 and it really does deserve the WOW name. I have one problem with it though; the engine doesn't stop when turned down to '0' speed step. It keeps creeping along at about 5 mph (?). I have to kill the power and restart, then I can reverse direction. Everything else seems to work fine. I use Decoder Pro and have the latest update (today) and there are so many settings (I thought the Tsunami had a lot of settings?). I don't have any momentum set on it. Not sure what is keeping it from coming to a stop? It will creep at speed step 1 when starting off but never comes to a stop. Don''t know if many out there have the WOW decoder to have first hand knowledge of them, but I am asuming the problem isn't really unique to these decoders, just something I have overlooked.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Bob,
Do you have CV 2 set to 1? You might try bumping it up a couple of notches and see how it behaves.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehman Bob, Do you have CV 2 set to 1? You might try bumping it up a couple of notches and see how it behaves.
If you have the original WOW decoder with Keep Alive circuitry, you probably need to download their technical reference and look for CV settings to adjust the keep alive, as well as CV2.
Bob.
The decoder is waiting for you to hit the brakes with F6. This can be disabled using the 3 CV deal on the TCS web site. There was quite a lot of hoopla about using decoder pro on these very compllicated decoders. Some have been so scrambled that a complete reset was the only way to fix them. My advise is to use the TCS web site to adjust your decoder.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
farrellaa mlehman Bob, Do you have CV 2 set to 1? You might try bumping it up a couple of notches and see how it behaves. I will give it a try tonight. -Bob
I will give it a try tonight.
Did you use JMRI, or just use the voice assist? If you used JMRI - reset the decoder snd start over using the voice assist.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Did you use JMRI, or just use the voice assist? If you used JMRI - reset the decoder snd start over using the voice assist. --Randy
I did use JMRI to originally program it. I reset it to default and used the Audio Asist today. I have most of the functions working now but the bell is activated on F1 and F3, so I have to try to fix that. Otherwise it is working OK and just needs some volume adjustments (chuff is not loud enough).
When I first started this I downloaded the latest version (6.3) of JMRI and it had the WOW decoders in it. Things worked OK at first but then I had the issue with no chuff and that became a downhill run! I had to work with the AudioAssist a few times before I understood how the menu driven system works. I am still not 100% comfortable with it, but at this point I don't want to mess it up again.
Is JMRI not reliable for programming the TCS WOW decoders?
I'm not yet involved with JMRI, but know some folks who are and some folks who were beta testers for the WOW. My guesstimate is that with the various versions everybody had as they were testing, some initial revisions, and the newness of it all, JMRI/D-Pro maybe isn't up to speed on everything. As a volunteer-driven organization, it takes a little time to get all the details, bells, and whistles working reflected in the software.
The Voice is built in to your version of the decoder, so is concurrent with the build of it, if I'm understanding what's going on. I've just been following along with things and certainly don't have anything on-hand to experiment with myself. Plus what I need decoders for is diesel...
My steam already all has sound.
From what I've been following, I don;t think JMRI is quite ready yet to access all the features on the WOWSound decoders, but they are working on it. Also the function remapping for Loksound V4 is not ready for prime time yet, still best to use Lokprogrammer for that. There's just too many options, since you cna map anything to anything using CVs. Any function or event to any function output, sound sample, or action.
A problem I have encountered with the WOW sound decoder is that the documentation doesn't match the decoder version.
The documentaiton that came with my decoder, Version 2, shows an Option 5 for the Audio Assist tree that is supposed to access Quick Configurations, but the decoder itself doesn't have an Option 5.
TCS apparently provided documentation for Version 3 in the Version 2 package.
JMRI is great for the simple non sound decoders and decoders that do not use indexed CVs. Since the WOW uses not one but three indexed CVs for changes this opens up a large can of worms. I have had to reset some Loksound and QSI decoders messed up by JMRI/DP because sometimes an indexed CV did not get changed. It could be that the computer is changing CVs too quickly that the decoder can not keep up with the changes or just the wheels touching the rails is not enough contact or any other variable that can scramble a simple change of CVs.
I tried the audio assist but did not get the results I wanted If you hit the wrong button it really messes things up. Then I used the 4 CV tool on the TCS site and never looked back. The 4 CV tool is easier than the audio assist. All I ask is to try it. You may like it. Just make sure you select the tool for the right version of decoder.
http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Technical_Info/WOWSound/guided_programming.php
locoi1sa Bob. JMRI is great for the simple non sound decoders and decoders that do not use indexed CVs. Since the WOW uses not one but three indexed CVs for changes this opens up a large can of worms. I have had to reset some Loksound and QSI decoders messed up by JMRI/DP because sometimes an indexed CV did not get changed. It could be that the computer is changing CVs too quickly that the decoder can not keep up with the changes or just the wheels touching the rails is not enough contact or any other variable that can scramble a simple change of CVs. I tried the audio assist but did not get the results I wanted If you hit the wrong button it really messes things up. Then I used the 4 CV tool on the TCS site and never looked back. The 4 CV tool is easier than the audio assist. All I ask is to try it. You may like it. Just make sure you select the tool for the right version of decoder. http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Technical_Info/WOWSound/guided_programming.php Pete
It sounds like you went through exactly what I am experiencing. I was unaware of the indexed CV's and am starting to see how complex this decoder is. I will look into the 4 CV tool and see what happens. Right now I have the engine running OK? but it sure has degraded from when it first fired up. I had to go back into JMRI to get the function buttons to do what they normally did, but was very careful not to let it do anything else. The chuff sound is very erratic and sounds like it is loosing contact intermittenly, but not all the time??. I think it will be one of my best sound locos once I get all the bugs worked out.,
I looked at the TCS website and watched all their videos related to the WOW decoders and decided to reset the decoder using the AudioAssist which seemed a little easier than the 4-CV method. So far it has worked pretty good and I have my engine sounding and running quite well. I even synchronized the chuff with the wheel rotation. The TCS WOW decoder is really very good but is just a little more complicated to program than the Tsunami. I like the Proto operation that lets you apply the brakes to slow and stop the engine and then release the brakes and the engine starts back up to whatever speed step it was at. Just need to remember this when switching locos.
I appreciate all the helpful info from everyone, it has made this a very educational experience. I have a lot to learn about sound decoders, even after purchasing or upgrading 19 sound locos.
This is not a real big issue but I ran into another problem that I haven't found a solution to and wanted to see if anyone has a suggestion. The F9 button scrolls through the varius whistles and when I accidentally hit it (done this several times; big fingers/little buttons!) I have to scroll through all the whistles to come back to the one I use (approx 20 different whistles?). Is there a way to lock the F9 button from doing this? Didn't see anything in the TCS manual.
Just guessing, there's probably another CV that sets the default whistle. Perhaps buried inside those indexed CVs?
You will have to remap the F9 key to something else such as F29. One thing I don't like about the WOW is the whistle change by function button. It should be a CV selection like the Loksound Select.
Tight balancing act. It's easier for users if it's just a function key. It would be best if it were a high, not often used function instead of one of the base 12. But then some people who still have throttles that only go to F12 and don;t do all 29 current functions couldn;t access the feature.
It always ends up being not perfect for some subset of the user base. Remapping to a high function that you have to deliberately access is probably the best. You won't 'accidently' hit the button and change F28, whereas you might with F9. At least until someone comes out with a throttle that as distinct buttons for F0-F28 so there are no "shift" keys involved. That would be a lot of buttons though.
I was afraid that remapping F9 was going to be the solution. I agree that it should have been assigned a higher number from the factory. I will take your suggestions and do the remap. It is convenient to scroll through the different whistles with F9, and listen to each one, but once I settled on one and saved it with the F8 key, I thought it would remain as default unless I 'saved' another one. That would make sense to me!
Thanks again guys.
I hate to bring back an old topic but I 'm have some weird issues with a WOW sound decoder I installed last week. At first it worked fine, the only thing I did was adjust the volume and tweak the chuff rate using the voice program. Later it started to do something on its own, it will run for about 15 seconds, stop, then start up again. Its stopping as if I notched the throttle down (steam) At first I set up the engine, as I do with all engines, in JMRI, read all sheets, then saved them. Once the decoder started acting wierd I tried to use JMRI to reset it as I had saved it. I downloaded the latest version of JMRI so it will support the decoder, but I'm wondering if I should forgo using it and strictly go with voice programming? Is anyone currently using JMRI Decoder Pro with WOW sucessfully at this time?
Thanks for the feedback.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
WHat DCC system do you use? Your symptoms are classic for having the same loco dialed up on more than one throttle on those systems that support that.
Digitrax Zephyr, problem solved by performing a decoder reset using the audio assist (makes perfect sense now ). Now I'm back to tweaking and will use audio instead of Decoder Pro, with one exception, I never could get it to change the loco address by programming on the main, I used Decoder Pro to set it, and I'm leaving the rest of the non-sound cv's alone, as it seems they have already tweaked to my liking from the factory. I'm enjoying this thing the more I play with it.
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