I received this from Trainworld about a month ago but have been so busy with other tasks that this was my first trip to the train room since I got this loco. That was made clear to me when I started down the basement steps and got a face full of cobweb.
I had the Hudson and a new Bachmann K-4 Pacific to check out. The first thing I did was put the Hudson on the programming track but it wouldn't take a new address. I checked my programming track with an existing loco and I had no trouble addressing it and later was able to do the same with the new K-4. Rather than deal with that right now, I decided to just leave the address at 3. This loco doesn't have the roadnumber on the cab so I was going to have to remember it is 5344 anyway and it is just as eacy to remember 3 as 5344.
I put the Hudson on the engine terminal track and it lit up. It ran smoothly in both directions at slow speed and discovered that it was preloaded with smoke oil and began to puff. I have a couple steamers with the capability but have never bothered with it because the smell isn't worth the added bit of realism and I probably won't bother refilling the oil. The engine chuff was synced to the speed of the loco and I liked the sound of it. It was then that a tried the bell and the whistle. Neither sounded. When the loco was stationary, both function keys 1 and 2 produced what sounded like couplers connecting. When the loco was moving I didn't hear anything at all although I might not have been able to hear the coupler sound with the chuffing. I checked the manual and it indicated function keys 1 and 2 control bell and whistle just like every sound loco on my roster. I skimmed through the manual looking to see if there was anything I needed to do to activate the bell and whistle but couldn't find anything.
Does anyone have any ideas about things I should check or CVs I should adjust. I can live without the bell but I like my steamers to be able to sound the whistle as needed.
I was a bit hesitant about purchasing yet another Broadway Paragon locomotive. When I evaluate my total investment I figure in a replacement sound decoder, if not right away, I'm usually certain that in the not too distant future I'll be performing a decoder AND speaker upgrade.
My Commodore Vanderbilt Hudson also came from TrainWorld. I don't often 'preorder' locomotives but in this case I did do the preorder thing some years ago when the BLI engine was announced. Then maybe a year ago TrainWorld called and asked me if I still wanted to keep the engine on order, they would honor the original price. Sure, why not.
NYC_Commodore-3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Using Decoder Pro I have made several changes to the Paragon 4 'chip' including alternate whistles and bells plus a variety of addresses. I have the earlier 5344 unstreamlined Hudson as well. I gave the engine an address of 534 but then quickly discovered that I had a Nickel Plate GP7 with that address so presently I have the Commodore Vanderbilt running with the address of 44. Hopefully easy to remember.
If your F1 and F2 keys sound anything other than the bell and whistle it sounds like something got scrambled and my suggestion would be to perform the BLI "hard Reset" by physically pressing the rubbery button on the decoder itself.
Then try a few basic changes such as address and overall volume.
Hopefully that gets you back in the ballpark.
Good Luck, Ed
Yes, do a factory re-set. I suspect when you tried to change the engine ID you changed something that re-mapped the function buttons. I believe F1 is controlled by CV 34 and F2 by CV 35. The setting to change the function to the coupler sound is "4". Lots of 5s, 3s and 4s in there, so perhaps when trying to enter 5344 in the ID CVs you affected those CVs by mistake. (I've done stuff like that plenty of times when setting CVs!)
p.s. I believe entering 2 in CV 34 makes that the bell, and entering 3 in CV 35 makes that the whistle. But I'd do the reset first and see if that works.....
I wonder if the OP has made any progress on his Vanderbilt Hudson. I recently noticed that on mine the headlight has now decided not to illuminate.
After several more 'running sessions' with the engine I have bumped it up on the list of decoder replacement therapy. A WOWsound steam decoder and SSS speakers.
This recvent video I made gives the viewer an idea of the monotonous exhaust sound from the Paragon decoder ant the tinny BLI speakers. Compared to the pair of Niagaras that have had an upgrade. Motor response is greatly improved as well.
The Mohawk shown in the video still has its Paragon 2 decoder and it will also get upgraded soon. It also has a slipping universal joint on the motor shaft that will need attention.
Regards, Ed
My life has became quite hectic in the past few months with some family issues to deal with. I alluded to that in the OP when I said I hadn't been down to the train room in about a month. I intend to try the factory reset. I believe a wand is included with this Hudson and if I understand how it works, you pass the wand over the decoder. I'm guessing the decoder is in the tender. If I remember right, you can reset to the factory defaults by setting the value of CV8 to 8. I just haven't had a chance to read up on these techniques to verify them. I'm working from a very hazy memory for both of them.
John-NYBW My life has became quite hectic in the past few months with some family issues to deal with. I alluded to that in the OP when I said I hadn't been down to the train room in about a month. I intend to try the factory reset. I believe a wand is included with this Hudson and if I understand how it works, you pass the wand over the decoder. I'm guessing the decoder is in the tender. If I remember right, you can reset to the factory defaults by setting the value of CV8 to 8. I just haven't had a chance to read up on these techniques to verify them. I'm working from a very hazy memory for both of them.