Has anyone had any problems losing the sounds when consisting two locos nose to nose using the Zephyr.
Happy New Year to all you guys.
"Life without Railroading is misery"
ukrailroader
What brand of sound decoders are you having problems with?
Broadway Limited BlueLine sound decoders can't be consisted like other brands, and sometimes not even with other BlueLine decoders, without going through a long list of CV changes first. Details on consisting these are on the Factory Direct Trains and/or Broadway Limited web sites.
SoundTraxx (DSD, LC, and Tsunami) and Digitrax SoundFX usually accept Advanced Consisting with no problems or loss of sound.
QSI decoders all accept Advanced Consisting readily with no problems.
I can't tell you what happens with MRC because I have only tried one and it was dead on arrival.
The problem is not with the Digitrax Zephyr or any other brand of DCC system, but with the decoders themselves.
Only ones I consisted on my Zephyr were a pair of PCM Reading T-1's with Loksound decoders, and that worked just fine.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Hi David B,
The two locos were British outline 8 wheeler diesel locos by Bachmann with factory fitted sound. When consisting them as the real locos were consisted (one forward, one reverse) the sound turns off and they move in opposite directions. after 5 or 6 attempts I could not get a perfect consist.
As far as direction of movement, if you are using the built-in consisting on the Zephyr, you need to at least crack the throttle on the one that needs to go backwards with the reverse switch in the reverse direction before adding it to the consist. The loco needs to be traveling in the correct physical direction when added to the consist, then it will move with the other loco rather than against it. That applies for sound or non-sound decoders.
I did exactly as you mentioned. Both locos were set to go in the same direction but when the lead loco throttle was activated both locos responded in the same manner (both went in reverse instead of one in reverse and one forward). The locos are similar in design to an SW1500 and were usedin pairs with the cabs at the outer ends.
That seems odd because the default consisting in the Zephyr is controlled byt he commadn station. It just sends appropriate comamdns to each decoder int he consist and the type or capabilities of the decoder shouldn;t matter, at least to have them move int he proper direction.
Exact steps: Select Loco A and run it forward.
Select Loco B and run it backwards
Select Loco A again
Press MU
Enter address of Loco B
Press t/+
Done.
If the last direction A was moving was forward, and the last direction B was moving was reverse, and they are coupled back to back, they should now both move in the same direction and not pull apart.
In fact the sounds should still work fine as well, although you can only control the user-controlled sounds on one unit at a time. Whichever loco's address is displayed is the one that will whistle or ring the bell. Again this really shoudl be decoder independent as nothing is done to the decoders by this procedure that would tell them that they are consisted together. Unless you've edited the settings for your Zephyr and you are doing CV19 advanced consisting - then there are usually a bunch of CVs that configure the decoder for which functions are active when consisted. Direction control is different as well - you have to add 128 to the consist address that goes in CV19 to run a particular unit in reverse. If you have not changed the settings on your Zephyr, you aren't using CV19 for consisting - I would recommend doing a reset of the Zephyr to clear any 'junk' out of memory and try the consist again. See the back of the Zephyr manual for the various OpSw configurations and how to reset the system.
Hi Randy,
I did exactly as you describe so I guess it's possibly a decoder fault. I'll try the Zephyr reset though I have changed nothing since buying it.
BTW I live 30 mins from Reading UK.
As a last resort, if the two engines always will be running together, add 1 to CV29 to the rear one to reverse it's direction - it will think the cab end is now the front and should work with the other one. BTW if they are always going to work together, you can give both the same address and then you won't have to worry about consisting.