OK - Yes, this was an eBay purchase, labeled "new, never out of the package, etc., etc.)... Of course, it doesn't work, and the symptoms have me stumped... It failed to do anything one either DCC or DC, so I checked the decoder CV settings. And, of course, someone has been playing with the decoder, because DC conversion was turned off, and the address had be reprogrammed "long" (with a value of 1512 for what it's worth)...
Armed with the value of the active address (1512), etc., I tried again, and on DCC, when track power is turned on, the engine "start-up" begins just fine -- but that is it... It does not respond to throttle, the lights, bell, and horn all fail to respond...Ideas? Suggestions?
Now that you've changed the settings re dual-mode, does it run on DC? If so, then apparently the motor and wiring are OK.
I like to start with the simplest fix first and work towards the more complicated, so first thing I'd do is change the long and short addresses to 03 and see if it works on that ID. If not, then do a factory re-set and try operating it on DCC on address 03 and see if that works.
Maybe the decoder is responding to the long address you added and turning on sound OK, but isn't otherwise recognizing the long address. It could be CV29 hasn't been adjusted to allow long addresses? Some DCC systems change that automatically when you're programming a new long ID number, some don't.
p.s. I'm assuming this engine isn't a "Blue Line" BLI engine? The Blue Line ones came with a sound-only decoder, so were set up from the factory to run on DC. You had to add a separate non-sound motion and light decoder to get the engine to operate on DCC.
As Stix mentioned, a decoder reset to factory settings should fix your issues. Look in your manual (if you got one... ). I did one and I though setting CV8 to 8 worked, but this link says otherwise. Try both, or use JMRI is you have it.
To be honest QSI decoders are kind of out dated, and the sounds aren’t exactly at modern standards. I‘m not even certain if they still make them! You may just want to replace the decoder anyway.
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
Thanks - based on your response, etc. I researched and tried to use the "Magnetic Wand" to do a hard manual "reset" - I did not get the verbal response to this process, BUT.. The reset did apparently work, and the engine now operates normally..???
I was pretty worried because the reset process is supposed to get a verbal response of "reset" from the engine, but that didn't happen, but at least it seems to be working now... I have never done the magnetic wand reset on a decoder before, so that was a learning experience...
Thanks again for the input. This was really weird - CV29 had been modified for long address, etc. and JMRI didn't seem to find any thing weird (at least not on the screens I checked)...
Well, at least it now works properly. Maybe the previous owner had turned off the verbal responses. I have no idea how QSI decoders work, as I said, they are a bit out of fashion.
I wonder if the engine was in an advanced consist. If thats the case, the lights and sounds could work, but the speed would be controlled by which ever consist address was stored in CV 19 (and which ever options are set in CVs 21-24).
Yes - the decoder is an early QSI (documentation is dated 2005!), and one of the potential problems in my case is that the magnetic "wand" can be used to do strange things like turn engine completely off or to enable/disable some functions -- things that do NOT show up on JMRI, etc. because they don't affect the CV settings... So it is both old and "strange", but it will work for now and I can eventually replace it with a modern decoder (Tsunami seems pretty popular among the Alco modelers I've found so far)...
OldDBASo it is both old and "strange", but it will work for now and I can eventually replace it with a modern decoder (Tsunami seems pretty popular among the Alco modelers I've found so far)...
ESU Loksound or TCS Wow would also be a good consideration AND give you better motor control.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
There is a setting to turn the voice response off, could be the previous owner had done that, and that's why it didn't say "reset" when you used the wand. Does the voice feedback work now, like when you hit the function button (I think it's F7?) for the speed / ID number?
My old QSI decoders have nice motor control, but even with the manual they were so awful to program that I replaced them.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
wjstix There is a setting to turn the voice response off, could be the previous owner had done that, and that's why it didn't say "reset" when you used the wand. Does the voice feedback work now, like when you hit the function button (I think it's F7?) for the speed / ID number?
A factory reset means the decoder will return to defaults for all CV's, including those not programmable by the operator. In QSI's case, the default is to have the voice read back what the current value is in the CV being polled or programmed, and when 'reset' is stated, it's at the usual programming volume. But, in my experience, that only takes place when the power is removed from the rails and then they are repowered. Upon power-up, the volumes rise immediately and the 'voice' says 'reset' at full volume.
Any consist enabled by the owner would be undone during a reset, and all sound volumes, including the Master Volume, would return to their factory default value (I believe that's a full 15/15 for the QSI individual sounds).