Charles.
I have 2 WOW early version (before the banshee whistle) . One is in a brass K5s and the other in a brass long tender. Both have medium sized oval speakers. I did end up stuffing some foam insulation in both to cut down the tinny sound even though they are in enclosures. I also turn the volume down on all my decoders. With some tweaking of some CVs the I1sa sounds darn close to the QSI and BLI decoders in every way except whistle. The Loksound in the other brass decapod sounds to my ears the best of all. Short tender and medium oval speaker gives it a boom boom on throttle up. I just wish they had the shrill banshee whistle.
The WOW, QSI, and BLI decoders even after the drain cock sounds seem to have a saturated (wet) sound where the Loksound has a poof instead of a swoosh sound on working throttle.
It is an awesome sight when they are working together. BLI did a great job detailing them.
Lots of luck in your endeavor.
Pete
wrench567 Not trying to toss a wrench into the gears. I have 4 I1s and I1sa locos. One is the original BLI/PCM, One Paragon 2 and 2 brass. Each one has a different decoder. Besides the shrill whistle they sound great together. Even though they made 598 of them each one would have it's distinctive sound. There are many variables associated. Cut off, boiler pressure, blast pipe wear, and the biggest variable the engineer. Turbo generators were swapped out, not just location but also the maker. Whistles were tuned and swapped out for a chime on some. My old club had a long (30 foot) grade that was great for rear helpers. I would run 2 in front with 2 pushing. Sometimes I would put the cabin behind the pushers. The sound was great even though they were all different decoders. Too bad the layout was dismantled after I had left. Pete.
Not trying to toss a wrench into the gears. I have 4 I1s and I1sa locos. One is the original BLI/PCM, One Paragon 2 and 2 brass. Each one has a different decoder. Besides the shrill whistle they sound great together.
Even though they made 598 of them each one would have it's distinctive sound. There are many variables associated. Cut off, boiler pressure, blast pipe wear, and the biggest variable the engineer. Turbo generators were swapped out, not just location but also the maker. Whistles were tuned and swapped out for a chime on some.
My old club had a long (30 foot) grade that was great for rear helpers. I would run 2 in front with 2 pushing. Sometimes I would put the cabin behind the pushers. The sound was great even though they were all different decoders.
Too bad the layout was dismantled after I had left.
Pete.
Hi, I understand that and considered that, but paragon 2 and TCS WOWsound just sound so different. I could understand if I had P2, P3, and QSI, as they all sound similar to an extent, but WOWsound just sounds so different. Their versions of the infamous pennsy banshee whistle is enough to differentiate the engines drastically.
I lied about the second I1sa, it was actually a PCM DCC ready engine. Same thing!
Its not a big deal, just figured Id save $30 and purchase a used paragon 2 decoder off of someone, as I dont mind the sound.
Paul - yea, the manual doesnt include all CVs. Even the PDF I was using turned out to be an outdated version that didnt include all CVs. The one Overmod shared (thanks btw!) is the latested rendition, with all the CV and info available.
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
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Thanks for the info. I have a Paragon 2 Mikado that I need to check out again. I recall it may have (twice) had a chuff problem. The sensor was replaced once. If still a problem, I will use the tech manual and CVs 233/246 to address that way. I note that my "Operators Manual" included with the loco does not mention those CVs.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
The whole Paragon 2 tech manual (for steam) is here:
https://www.broadway-limited.com/support/manuals/P2techSteam%5B1.10%5D.pdf
This is from the overall support page at BLI (also linking to the exploded-view diagrams):
https://www.broadway-limited.com/supportdocumentation.aspx
Problem solved, I contacted BLI and they actually pulled through with some CV info!
In case other's are curious:
CV246 must be set to 192 to disable chuff sensor, and guess chuff timing. (default 128)
CV 233 is chuff timing (default 150). "Larger values increase time between chuffs while a smaller value decreases the time between chuffs."
wide range of 'potential' technologies to get around a magnetic reed switch, some of which have been mentioned here.
If you are handy, you might be able to use a disk-type optical encoder mounted on the motor shaft/drivetrain or worm, giving you proportionally closer 'count'. You might also use strategic reflective spots on driven gears to give you a count that is lower than a plethora of slots or diffraction-grating lines...
If I remember correctly the decoder lets you 'overclock' the detected magnet signal to do things like emulate 3-cylinder engine sound, and people here know precisely how to tweak this once you have settled on alternate pulse encoding...
This is an odd one. But basically I'd like to install a paragon 2 decoder(purchased used) into a BLI paragon (QSI) loco. Only thing stopping me is that paragon 2 decoders have 8 more wires on the loco-tender socket(smoke, and chuff sensor). It would be very difficult replicating BLI's chuff sensor in the engine, so I was wondering if anyone knew any info (creative solution or possibly a hidden CV?) that could force the decoder to simply play the chuff sound according to speed step.
Additional info: I timed it and the decoder plays a single chuff sound every six passes of the magnet over the reed switch, so 24 passes for a full wheel revolution. So your normal chuff cam on the wheel wouldnt work, unless you install 6 of them. (chuff cams have 4 passes per wheel rev)
Why would I want to add Paragon 2 sound? Long story short, I got two I1sa engines from BLI that I'd like to double head. One is Par 2 and the other is WOWsound. While I can get them speed matched, the fact that they have such different sounds bothers me(same engine should have same sounds right?). While I could just convert the other also to WOWsound, I actually quite like paragon 2's sound, as I find the heavy chuff sound quite fitting for a PRR Hippo. Whatever, personal preference.
Converting the other engine to WOWsound would be my second option.
Thanks!