I found a decoder acting strangely, to my understanding. Background-Digitrax DCS-100 Super Chief with DT400D throttles. I was trying to MU a Proto2K loco (road number 3570, this is important later) that has a Tsunami TSU-1000 decider (a DC conversion) with an Athearn Genesis loco with a factory Tsunami2 decoder. I just couldn’t get them to play nice. I would try speed matching with cv’s 2,5,6 and then try speed tables. Neither worked. Then I noticed that when using the throttle any knob or button speed input showed as an incrrecent of 3’s on the display. So I reset the old Tsunami a few times and the throttles responded normally Each time. But when I then changed the address to 3570 it reverted to the 3 increase per input Each time. Then back to address 03 and all’s normal. Then I remembered here a couple of years ago a post about a crazy situation like this where a particular address entered (I don’t remember the system or the decoder) caused unusual activity. So I finally changed the long address to 357 (instead of engine number 3570) and now the throttles and loco perform normally, and both locos are MU’d and play nicely. So what gives?
Somewhere along the line you hot the Status button on the throttle and did a status edit for that loco address and set it to 28 speed steps instead of the default of 128.
The jumping of the numbers by 3's is a dead giveaway. The throttle displays percentage, 0-100, not speed step. So if you slowly click through 128 steps there will be times you will get a click on the knob but the number won't change. In 28 step mode, that's almost 1/3 of 100 - so you get 3 % per step - if you go all the way from stop to full throttle there will be some steps where it jumps by 4 instead of 3 to make up the difference.
SO you just need to set it back to 3750 and then status edit back to 128 steps.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks Randy, but so I fully understand-the Status button links to an address, not a decoder per se? I ask because when I did a rest (more than once) and the address defaulted to 03, it operated normally. Then when I changed the address to 3570 it was back in speed step 28. Thanks.
Yes, the status editing is per address, so if you would take another loco and set it to 3570, it would do the same - even if it is a loco with a totally different decoder in it. Once you status edit address 3570 back to the normal 128 steps, it will work the same as other addresses.
Thanks Randy. As always, you are “The Answer Man”!