Don't remember seeing a post on this:
According to ST's George, OEM Tsunamis used in Bachmanns and Athearns do not have any provision for a chuff cam. I will have to replace these with the 1000's, unless somebody knows an upgrade procedure.
Hal
Hal, when the MRR world first learned that Bachmann was using a Tsunami in their DCC/Sound Spectrum locomotives, I think we learned via some sleuthing that they were going to be a reduced capacity version. I don't remember all the details and revelations, but what you say above doesn't surprise me. In my own experience, if you can keep the Tsunami's powered consistently, and not shorted now and then, or let the engine run over iffy track where continuity is repeatedly broken forcing restarts, the digitally managed chuff rate does a fairly good and consistent job, although a warmed-up loco will not chuff at the same rate as a cold loco not recently used. But if the decoder is shut down via a short, sometimes the resulting chuff rate is way out of whack.
-Crandell
I saw a recent video of an athearn steam loco with a tsunami and if watching the side rods it was obviously out of synch. It didn't take long to notice. I believe that you can adjust the chuff rate to make it compensate better and there have been posts recently about this. My understanding is that you can get it pretty close and more acceptable.
Springfield PA
With a standard Tsunami you can adjust the chuff rate using CV116.
CV116 for the bachmann also.
Just maybe someone might hack the factory decoder to use a sound cam but I would not hold my breath.
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The Manuals for the Bachmann factory sound equipped locos clearly says:
Steam Sound Specifications
Adjustable Volume Controls
!-Watt Audio Amplifier
Auto-Exhaust allows chuff to be synchronized to the loco speed without the complexity of a synchronizing cam.
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SoundTraxx site has the manuals for factory Bachmann equipped and the Tsunami you install yourself.
Many issues crop up in DCC today because people make assumptions on what is in a DCC product.
Many will not look and read the manuals especially when it comes to the SoundTraxx products.
The same issue is with the Athearn/Roundhouse steamers that are now with factory equipped with sound.
Athearn has the manuals for their sound decoders the last time I looked at their site.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
I have found after a dozen or so Tsunami installs and rounds of adjustments with them and some OEM'd Bachmanns, and now my new Athearn MT-4, that I am just not satisfied with a non-synchronized chuff. My newer BLI's and (horrors) MTH's look really good when starting off , but my Tsunami-equipped engines usually don't, regardless of adjustment, even using the custom speed table. Sort of like a watch that's exactly right twice a day, the CV 116 adjustment really only works in a limited speed range with a certain load, grade and motor temperature, and variations of these throw the chuff off, often ridiculously.
For example, my small Bachmanns w/OEM Tsunamis are rather underpowered. I can adjust the chuff for 20 mph after the engine has been running for awhile. Looks fine. Later, if I try to start one up cold, the engine starts chuffing way before it starts moving. My favorite Frisco Decapod looks absurd. And loads and grades just make things worse. So I'm willing to bite the bullet and install cams where possible.
Talking Tsunamis, I find that they just don't sound good in articulateds at speeds over about 20-30 mph when set up for double chuff. At higher speeds, they start sounding to me like threshing machines, and the chuff effect is lost. Worse, in the "slip" mode, they take on a "flanging" sound at higher speeds which is obnoxious. Soundtraxx agrees that this is a familiar complaint with no cure, and explained that it is because high-rate chuffs cut off each previous chuff before it can decay. I assume that some redesign is needed, or even a special unit for articulateds. Randy at Grizzly Mountain sez that the best fix is to put in TWO tsunamis, but that gets pretty expensive. The Tsunami is great in other respects, and I'd love to see this improved.
Try adding alittle momentum. Dunno what it is with these Tsunamis but my Loksound equipped locos have very well synched chuffs, fresh out of the box or after runnign for a while, and there are no cams involved. At any speed up to where I can still see the rods moving it's a nice steady 4 chuffs per revolution. I dunno how close it is at higher speeds but since you can't possibly count the wheel revolutions anyway it's not critical.
The more gets posted about Tsunamis, the more I wonder why everyone thinks they are so awesome.
Tsunami Pros: Great sound
Tsunami Cons: Poor chuff sync without cam
Need program track booster to read/write CVs on program track (can program in Ops Mode just fine)
No start/mid/max CVs for speed matching, have to use a speed table
Stuck with whatever sound combinations come in the particular SKU number you buy (not that making your own sounds is easy - but just being able to load any sound set offered by the manufacturer into a given decoder is a HUGE plus. No waiting if they are out of stock on "medium steam with 5 chime whistle" if there's only 1 decoder that can handle any downloadable sound file)
ANy more?
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy, don't know how Loksound is doing that, but it may be the same as what Loco Lee told me about QSI's, namely that the BEMF signal is used to trigger the chuff.
hdtvnut Randy, don't know how Loksound is doing that, but it may be the same as what Loco Lee told me about QSI's, namely that the BEMF signal is used to trigger the chuff. Hal
Far as I know, that's exactly how they do it. There is an adjustment CV to tweak it, but mine were good right out of the box as fas as chuff sync. However they do it, it works.