Hey everyone! I purchased a Digitrax sdn144 a couple of weeks ago, and I have been having all kinds of issues. I returned it andit was swapped out for another one -- I have the same problems with it as the first. Here is the issue -- I put it into an ho 44 tonner; everything is wired correctly, the capacitor is attached, I can change the CV's, and the loco runs. Here is the issue: whenever I sound the horn or bell the loco slows down. The bell will not shut off right away or until I switch direction, and the 2nd and subsequent horn blasts are only short bursts that blow 3-4 times after the button is pushed. On the Digitrax yahoo group they mention turning off the BEMF feature to solve the slowing down problem. This works, but now the loco jumps when voltage is applied which I cannot seem to make go away no matter how I adjust the CV's. In addition, the horn and bell issues are still present. Is there anyone else having these problems with the sdn144? If so, how did you solve it? Or did I just get hosed for buying a crap decoder and am now stuck with it? Digitrax said I could send it in, but if this is a bad run, another (3rd) decoder is not going to solve the issues. Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated!'
Chuck
Modeling the Motor City
It's hard to imagine that this is anything but a bad decoder, but we should eliminate any other possibilities.
What kind of DCC system do you have? If it has an external power supply, what are you using for that?
If you run another engine at the same time as this one, does it also slow down when you blow the whistle on the 44-ton, or does only the 44-ton slow down? This will tell us if you are close to maxing out your DCC power, which is unlikely, or if the decoder is loading down your track bus when the horn is sounded. If only the 44-ton slows down and the other engine keeps running fine, I think the decoder might be a problem.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Other peopel have them workign just fine -there have been some YouTube videos even,a dn they don;t slow down when the whistle blows. I think the problem is in the particular default sound set that is loaded. If there is one on the Sound Depot that is more specific to your loco, find someone wiht a PR3 that can swap the sounds for you and use a different sound set.
--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 assume they use the standard F8 to mute the sound. Try muting, and then see if the engine still slows when you press F2.
Can you measure your track voltage near the locomotive before and during the horn blast and report the values?
Do you have other locomotives with sound decoders?
Are you using circuit breakers or tail lamps for current limiting?
The more you can tell us, the better the response.
Carl in Florida - - - - - - - - - - We need an HO Amtrak SDP40F and GE U36B oh wait- We GOT THEM!
Thanks for the replies! I use an NCE Powercab for my layout, straight out of the box. I don't have a booster or power districts -- my layout is only a 2x14 switching layout. According the meter on the powercab, the 44 tonner only pulls about .19 to .25 amps. sounding the horn or bell does not seem to change the amount of amps pulled. I have tried running a 2nd loco at the same time; there is no affect on the 2nd engine when I sound the horn or bell -- only the 44 tonner seems to be affected. This is the only sound decoder I currently have. I tried placing the decoder in a proto 2000 sw unit and the decoder acts the same way. I read somewhere that the sound loaded onto the decoder was an issue; that person downloaded a different sound file and it resolved the issues. I'll have to see if anyone around here has the equipment to do that. Once I have tried it I'll post the results. Thanks again for the replies and advice -- I appreciate it!