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A little decoder help PLEASE!!!

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  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: central Ohio
  • 478 posts
A little decoder help PLEASE!!!
Posted by tinman1 on Sunday, November 14, 2010 1:09 AM

I  caved in and purchased a Digitrax Zephyr Xtra along with a DH165AO decoder and a soundbug decoder a few weeks ago. Today I went and changed over an Allegheny to give it a spin, and right off the bat it was fine. I went back, forward, operated all the sounds, and then dove into the manuals to change a few CV's.  That's when the problems started. At first, I tried changing the address and I had issues with the soundbug not changing over. A few tries finally got the decoder and sound decoder on the same address. Then I started with a few other CV's, mostly in the sound since that's the book I had and it was mostly volumes. I had a few issues and had to set CV08 to 08 to reset the chip. The whole time there was a noticable backround noise from the speaker, not loud, but almost like a static sound and I thought nothing of it since the bell/whistle/chuffs were loud and not bad sounding. After the last reset, that static, or possibly a blowdown sound has gone full volume and no reset of CV08 will change it. The bell/whistle/chuffs are barely audible. Anybody have any ideas?

Tom "dust is not weathering"
  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Denver, CO
  • 3,576 posts
Posted by Motley on Sunday, November 14, 2010 2:02 AM

You're best bet is to reset the decoder back to factory defaults. It should be in the manual.

Edit: Oh wait, you already tried resetting the decoder. Hmm, I dunno, maybe try calling the manufacturer for technical support.

Michael


CEO-
Mile-HI-Railroad
Prototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: central Ohio
  • 478 posts
Posted by tinman1 on Sunday, November 14, 2010 9:50 AM

Well, at least I think I'm doing this right. I started doing that hex stuff a long time ago and ran away screaming.  I open up the book and there it is, tormenting me. I think the book makes it look harder than it is but I'm still missing it. Here are my keystrokes, am I right?

 

PWR ON, -   LOCO,  03  ,LOCO (train is controllable, sound starts)  PROG>OPS,    CV, 008, CV,  08, CVW, EXIT.

That was for the reset, a value given of CV8 is 008x08. Now, is the first value given the CV?, and the second the value?

Tom "dust is not weathering"
  • Member since
    September 2007
  • From: Charlotte, NC
  • 6,099 posts
Posted by Phoebe Vet on Sunday, November 14, 2010 10:18 AM

Ignore the hex stuff.  Just use the decimal numbers (the number before the /)  Decimal numbers will never have a letter in them. The number right of the / are hex.  You don't need them.

Dave

Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: central Ohio
  • 478 posts
Posted by tinman1 on Sunday, November 14, 2010 11:08 AM

I went down and stared at the manuals, flirting with an aneurism, when it popped back into my head. ( now that I remember that, I forget where I live) It's been over a decade when I had to dabble into the hex stuff for an electronics class. Not only do I understand that 010 hex is equal to 16 in decimal, I also got the noise to go away. It was the blowdown that was on, or at least thats what it sounded like, and pushing just the function keys did no good (even cutting power). In the end, it was holding the function key and pushing exit that seemed to do the trick.

Thanks for the help. While you might not have had the answer, it sure helps me to think different ways to get a solution.

Tom "dust is not weathering"

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