Problem programming Athearn Genesis SD70M-2 on Digitrax super chief xtra

[ShaveB]

I recently got the Digitrax super chief xtra and got it up and running just fine.  I have been running an Athearn Genesis SD70M-2 with tsunami sound under the default address of 03 and loco has worked great.  Of course me and my son wanted to change the loco address to the loco number of 2664 and it went down hill from there. I tried following the instructions and thought I did everything correctly.  I did it on the program track under the pg programming and then tried on the main in ops programming mode and had loco sound but no throttle response both times.  Tried resetting loco back to factory specs on cv8 008x08 and it said good but still no movement from loco, just the startup sounds it has always made.  no lights no bell no horn no throttle.  I hope someone can help.  Thanks ShaveB

[mlehman]

Try the factory reset for the Tsunami first, since you don't have a good address in there. That should get you back to 3. On the programming track -- because you must set the long address there, IIRC -- set the long address. That should fix things. You can do just about everything else in programming in Ops mode, but not long addresses. If you don't have the documentation handy, it's all on the Soundtraxx website.

[selector]

When you applied the new address, had it active on your throttle, did you attempt to ring the bell or blow the horn?  I'll bet you got no response.

The reason is that you did not respond correctly to the prompt, if there was one, to accept a 4 digit address.  It would have prompted you with a "Y", and you were to agree to it. 

All you have to do, still, today, is power up, enter Ops Mode, acquire CV29, and enter a value of either 34 if you want the decoder to respond to DCC current only, or a value of 38 if you want the decoder to sense and to respond to both types of track power, DC and DCC.  CV29, among other things, enables a 'long' or 'extended' address.  Those are any addresses higher than 127.

Acquire the new address, click, and blow the horn.  It'll work.

Crandell

[NP01]

Super Chiefs don't have the problems that the Zephyrs have with inadequate power to program do they?

[mlehman]

I don't know about Digitrax. I run NCE and the PowerCab I use on the programming track has enough punch on it's own to do Tsunamis, etyc However, my understanding is that you need to use a booster with the PowerPro that runs the layout, but I just use the PowerCab instead. It's just the way they're set-up.

I would not be surprised if Digitrax had similar product feature issues when dealing with sound decoders.

[railroady]

You need a PTB100 or a powerpax with 15v supply for your program track. It is a soundtraxx decoder. On the main you must recycle the power to get the change to take (lift the loco to one side then drop back down) If you have decoder pro,a free computer program, it will work much better at changing cv's, but you need a locobuffer usb, about $60  or a PR3 from digitrax to use it. Then join the yahoo groups for soundtraxx, there are alot of knowledgable people and they are there to help. I have all the above listed equipment and I still got help, asked a couple of questions and I now have a loco that runs and sounds like I want. HTH  Dave

[ShaveB]

Thanks, I will try this this afternoon and let you know.  Thanks again, ShaveB

[ShaveB]

Thanks Crandell, I'll give it shot and let you know.  Thanks again, ShaveB

[ShaveB]

Thanks for the info.  Gonna try a couple of these other "non-cost" ideas first and then will take it from there.  Thanks again, ShaveB

[jeffrey-wimberly]

ShaveB: You could have and should have put all three of the 'Thank you' postings above into one post. People find it a bit irritating to find a string of posts that could have easily been consolidated into one post. I know I do.

[ShaveB]

Will do next time.  This is my first time on MR forum. Sorry for the inconvenience. ShaveB

[jrbernier]

NP01

Super Chiefs don't have the problems that the Zephyrs have with inadequate power to program do they?

  The program track on he Chief series is very low power.  Programming power hungry sound decoders can be a problem.  Adding a Soundraxx PTB-100 booster usually resolves these programming problems.  This applies to just about any DCC system with a programming track.  

The Zephyr & the Zephyr Xtra have the same issue.  The advantage of then is that they have a 'Blast Mode' where you can direct what is normally program track only commands to the full power main track. One just has to be careful that you do not accidentally program every engine on the layout if they use 'Blast Mode'!

Jim

[ShaveB]

Thanks to all. Got the problem resolved resetting the loco to soundtraxx specs and reprogramming address. I'm new to DCC and see there is so much to learn.  I appreciate all the help. ShaveB

[rrinker]

 Zephyrs don't have inadewuate power, I can program Tsunamis just fine, no booster, no blast mode. The DCS100 in the Super Chief seems to be low on program track power - but only for sound decoders with capacitors causing too much inrush.

 You can always do Ops Mode. But to do Ops Mode reliably you need to program CV17 and 18 for the long address manually, and THEN set CV29. This calculator will get you the required values: http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/cv29%20calculator.htm

 If the loco already has a short address, default 3 or some other, and the new address will also be a short address (127 or less with Digitrax), you will first need to set a 'dummy' long address and use that to set CV1 to the new short address, then set CV29 appropriately. Many doecoders do not allow Ops Mode changing of the current active address - so if the old and new address will both be short addresses, you have t use a long address temporarily. Or if the current address in a long address and the new address will also be long, you need a temporary short address to work with. All this applies only for Ops Mode.

         --Randy