TCS WOW decoders> Photos added

[C&O Fan]

Has anyone received theres yet ?

[gatrhumpy]

I'd be interested to see how these stack up against the gold standard, Tsunami, and ESU LokSound decoders. And if they have the same footprint as the Tsunami micros or the ESU LokSound Select Micro decoders.

[kbkchooch]

Have not seen or heard one yet. I am willing to believe they will be bigger than a micro tsunami or an ESU micro, mainly because of the additional circuitry of the  "keep alive" that is included. Might try one in a Mikado I will be finishing soon!

[cacole]

None of the on-line dealers such as Litchfield Station, Tony's Trains, Ulrich Hobby Shop, etc. have any yet, as near as I know.

[rrinker]

 A few people have been beta testing them. The videos on the TCS site - wow is a good name for them. Actually regulating the chuff sounds via the load on the loco, sensed via BEMF. Awesome. Should have great motor drive, like the regular TCS decoders. I'm waiting for diesel though.

              --Randy

 

[ba&prr]

The TCS website shows delivery now in August some time do to bugs being worked out.   Joe

[woodone]

These were to be released back in May. Now I know why they are called the WOW.

WOW !  It is sure taking along time to get here.

 

[rrinker]

 Soundtraxx took how many YEARS for Tsunami? LOL

 

           --Randy

 

[selector]

Yeah, and I dispute rather emphatically the contention that Tsunami is still included in the 'gold standard'.  Three years ago, maybe...disputably.  No longer.  Take a serious look at the latest ESU and QSI Titan decoders.  THERE's your gold standard, with the drive smoothness nod going to ESU.  Sounds, not so much.*

Crandell

*Tsunami have a rather convoluted, or involved, solution to motor control problems.  The first time I decided to tackle the process, for the sake of a BLI DC J 4-8-4 with a Tsunami installed, it actually worked!  I ended up with a most gratifying and smooth take-off from a standing start, and definitely NOT what came to me.  If anyone is mystified, or just miffed, by the Tsunami's apparent lack of motor control in CV's 2, 5, and 6, give me a PM and I'll email you an attachment with the full instruction.  Better yet, download the full manual and find the instructions on those high 200 CV's and do it yourself.

[MisterBeasley]

They had a demo version of the WOW decoder running at Springfield in January.  It did indeed sound very nice, and I would put it in the same class as the Tsunami.  Of course, the room was kind of big and noisy, and I was more interested in the keep-alive decoders.

The keep-alive was installed in a Thomas engine.  As a demonstration, the TCS guy took the running train (yes, the whole train) off the track and let it run along the plywood.  It ran several feet and he had to stop it when it ran out of room.

[C&O Fan]

MisterBeasley

They had a demo version of the WOW decoder running at Springfield in January.  It did indeed sound very nice, and I would put it in the same class as the Tsunami.  Of course, the room was kind of big and noisy, and I was more interested in the keep-alive decoders.

The keep-alive was installed in a Thomas engine.  As a demonstration, the TCS guy took the running train (yes, the whole train) off the track and let it run along the plywood.  It ran several feet and he had to stop it when it ran out of room.

Yes there are a few demos now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgxM2HDCgug

I like the 0-8-0 that starts about the 4 min mark

and the dynamic chuff sounds good

the audio asst programming feature is nice  so you may not need decoder pro for this one

but i wonder if they will offer a compound steam  version like tsunami does

[mlehman]

A colleague is involved as a beta tester and has nothing but glowing reports on the WOW. Yes, a little delay, but part of it is to install new production equipment. TCS is going for a grandslam on this one and will likely get it. Yes, a delay, but it's because TCS wants the WOW to be ready for primetime when it's released.

Terry,

Yes, AFAIK, the WOW will support all sorts of steam sound.

My friend says these really make clear how badly the Tsunami needs an update. It wouldn't surprise me if the recently-announced Blackstone K-28 and K-36 models arrive in 2014 with an updated Tsunami. The folks in Durango are pretty sharp and they know they need to keep up with, if not lead, the Joneses.

[selector]

I hope they have a library of sounds for the various appliances on a steam locomotive.  Not all air pumps sound the same, and the turbo-generators vary as well.   Chuff sounds differ between steam locos.  Also, the bells' timber varies as does their rate of clap.  This is what I have come to appreciate on the QSI Titan.  Where the Tsunami had different horns and whistles, the other sounds, especially their neutral ones, were soon too generic and disappointing for me.

Crandell

[C&O Fan]

selector

I hope they have a library of sounds for the various appliances on a steam locomotive.  Not all air pumps sound the same, and the turbo-generators vary as well.   Chuff sounds differ between steam locos.  Also, the bells' timber varies as does their rate of clap.  This is what I have come to appreciate on the QSI Titan.  Where the Tsunami had different horns and whistles, the other sounds, especially their neutral ones, were soon too generic and disappointing for me.

Crandell

I love the QSI ver7 Whistle for the C&O T-1

best on the market in my opnion but i got scared off the Titan decoders by reading about all the problems on the news group

[mlehman]

Crandell,

IIRC, I think the plan is to ship with something like two dozen whistles, plus a host of other stock sounds. You'll also be able to upload additional sound files, so there's little chance of these getting "stale" to your ear. I believe there's full EQ on most if not all sounds, so lots of options if something needs a little more to get it right.

[C&O Fan]

mlehman

Crandell,

IIRC, I think the plan is to ship with something like two dozen whistles, plus a host of other stock sounds. You'll also be able to upload additional sound files, so there's little chance of these getting "stale" to your ear. I believe there's full EQ on most if not all sounds, so lots of options if something needs a little more to get it right.

 

More than 22 accourding to Katie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-aHa-RBtM&feature=player_embedded

 

[selector]

Thanks for your responses, Gentlemen.  I must assume the gold standard for decoders now is a reasonable libarary of sounds, and TCS is aboard.

Crandell

[C&O Fan]

Well they finally started to ship

My local hobby store emailed me that mine has arrived

It will probably take me a couple of weeks to get it installed

and need to check the version of decoder pro needed to program it

[C&O Fan]

Physically its about the same length and width as a tsunami

but double the height due to the stacked capacitors for the stay alive feature

It has an extensive sound library of 24 whistles and 12 bells

much more than the 6 that come with a Tsunami Haven't seen the rest yet

but the only ones i use are the steam blow down and the water fill

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[cacole]

WOW!  The size of that is certainly going to limit what it can be put into when it comes to diesel models.

[C&O Fan]

yes this is their steam decoder

made to go in a tender

i think they will have to do something different for a diesel 

[Geared Steam]

Terry

I was planning on installing this into a PK2 0-8-0, I have seen a demo where this decoder was installed into the exact same model, but by any chance would you give us measurements of the decoder?

Edit: Disregard, I just noticed the dims on the TCS website 

[C&O Fan]

Can't give you the measurements today as it's on the layout and i'm trying to program it

and having problems (more about that later)

The decoder will fit inside the little slope tender of my Bachman 0-6-0 but its tight

and that tender requires a smaller speaker than the high bass i wanted to use

 

 

 

 

I mounted the 1/2 inch speaker face down and cut out hatches in the floor boards

I also used the TCS 6 pin plug to conect loco and tender

 

[Geared Steam]

Thanks Terry

[C&O Fan]

Ok More about the programing problems

I sent this Message to the JMRI Yahoo group

If any one here has any ideas i'm all ears

 

I am Using Decoder Pro Version 3.5.2 to program the decoder  using my digitrax zephyr and powerpax booster
it has some sound and light functions but when I switch from the programing track to the main line power
it takes off running by it's self about 1/4 speed the only way to stop it is to cut the power

 As it's running it has pump sounds and a head light and generator sound but no chuff
 
 
I can not acquire it with any throttle even with it set at the default value of 3

but i can turn on/off the light/bell with a DP throttle on the programing track  but can't control the stop/start or speed on mainline power
 
 

when i started to program it
 i ask DP to ID the decoder and it responded with

"Found Mfg 32 Regal Way Co LTD
No such decoder defined"

so I manually chose TCS Sound Steam from the list and chose program on the programing track

I then Set the road number to 30 and did a write
and the loco lurched forward during the write

after that i switched to main line power and it took off runing on it's own with out being aquired by a throttle

I have tried disabling the analog power but it doesn't help

I've Done several Resets but it doesn't help

since it has  pump sounds and lights and runs but has no chuff
i'm wondering if it is a defective decoder

 Your thoughts ?
Thank You
Terry

PS since the wow sound files are new has anyone else actually used them to program a decoder ?

[rrinker]

 Sounds like the motor drivers are blown. Did it get shorted at any time?

Doubtful you need the PowerPax for this - and I HATE those things.

I don;t think JMRI fully supports the WOW yet, unless someone figured out a way around the apparant hole they programmed themselves into where they can;t set the index CV to a different value for read vs write. It doesn't sound like you need JMRI with these anyway, since there is the audio assist witht he program menus to walk you through the whole sound setup.

               --Randy

 

[C&O Fan]

rrinker

 Sounds like the motor drivers are blown. Did it get shorted at any time?

Doubtful you need the PowerPax for this - and I HATE those things.

I don;t think JMRI fully supports the WOW yet, unless someone figured out a way around the apparant hole they programmed themselves into where they can;t set the index CV to a different value for read vs write. It doesn't sound like you need JMRI with these anyway, since there is the audio assist witht he program menus to walk you through the whole sound setup.

               --Randy

 

Yea Randy i think something is blown in the decoder also

the latest version of Decoder Pro has all the Wow Sound Files

But not sure they've been tested since it's so new

 

i was only going to use Decoder Pro to Change the Road number and do a speed curve

since you can do the speed curve with just a few clicks of the mouse

there are no audio assist features for those nor is there any mention of how to chose between light ,medium and heavy steam

then i was going to play with audio asst for the whistle and bell and chuff rate

 

the other wierd thing is it has pump sound and lights and gen sound but no chuff when running

 

i use the power pax to over come the sound decoder resistance

in the past i've had to disconnect the seperate KA2 Capasitors i've used along with the Tsunami decoders i've installed to get the write to take effect because the

capasitors absorbed the write voltage

[Geared Steam]

Any updates Terry? Did you have to return the decoder? 

Curious as I'm wanting to pull the trigger on one of these, but might wait for JMRI to catch up (if it hasn't been tested with a WOW)

[C&O Fan]

Yes i returned the decoder about a week ago still waiting for a replacement 

 

JMRI's newest test release 3.5,3 has all the files you need

 

[Geared Steam]

Thanks for the quick response, hope you have better luck with #2