Jacktal Factory installed decoders are known to have differences with the "after-market" ones.However,I don't believe this is one. I have a theory I haven't had a chance to test by myself but seriously think it should work.Disable the time-out packet by setting CV11=0 (default).Then set CV25=16 to activate the speed curve if it's not already set.Then set CV67=0 so that no voltage is sent to the motor on speed step 1. My un-proven theory is that turning the throttle knob to speed step 1 will initiate engine start-up & idling without any movement of the loco wich should start moving at speed step 2.Turning back to speed step 0 should initiate the shut down sequence to a final stop.Not perfect I know.It seems to be an oversight from Soundtraxx engineers who have designed otherwise good decoders. I should receive my decoders by next week and I'll then let you know my findings,until then what I say is theoretical.
Factory installed decoders are known to have differences with the "after-market" ones.However,I don't believe this is one.
I have a theory I haven't had a chance to test by myself but seriously think it should work.Disable the time-out packet by setting CV11=0 (default).Then set CV25=16 to activate the speed curve if it's not already set.Then set CV67=0 so that no voltage is sent to the motor on speed step 1.
My un-proven theory is that turning the throttle knob to speed step 1 will initiate engine start-up & idling without any movement of the loco wich should start moving at speed step 2.Turning back to speed step 0 should initiate the shut down sequence to a final stop.Not perfect I know.It seems to be an oversight from Soundtraxx engineers who have designed otherwise good decoders.
I should receive my decoders by next week and I'll then let you know my findings,until then what I say is theoretical.
Jack,
I tried your suggestions, and they work somewhat. The only issue is that the engine will not shut down when setting back to speed step 0. Keep in mind though I am running a Digitrax Big Boy system, which is kind of out dated so I do not know if that could be the problem. Like I said previously I just hit the stop button and the engine does its shut down sequence. I am still going tot have to tweak the speed curve to my liking.
Paul
Living in Fernley Nevada, about 30 miles east of Reno, also lived in Oregon and California, but born In Brooklyn NY and raised on Long Island NY
I suspected turning the throttle knob back to 0 would initiate the shut-down sequence so I also expected to have to keep a throttle setting of at least 1 to keep the engine idling indefinitely.It doesn't shut down...good...no need to constantly care about the throttle setting...better than I'd expected in a way.
So...if I understand well...the loco stays silent when you put it on the track,then again stays silent when you "select" it meaning you can turn the lights on or activate another function without triggering the engine start sequence....that was my first goal.
Then,when you feel like it,you initiate the engine start-up sequence with a click of the throttle knob,then back off to 0 and engine keeps idling indefinitely...very good.Then,when again you feel like it,you can initiate the shut down sequence by pressing "EM. Stop" without shutting down the whole layout.I call this quite satisfactory....I could live with this.Thanks for letting us know your results.
Jacktal So...if I understand well...the loco stays silent when you put it on the track,then again stays silent when you "select" it meaning you can turn the lights on or activate another function without triggering the engine start sequence....that was my first goal.
I'm not sure he exactly said all that. If he did, I'd like to know what values he put in which CVs.
I should receive my decoders this week so I'll have a chance of doing my own testing.In the meanwhile,I've tried understanding how the appropriate CV's work and I've suggested what I believe should work.If he confirms these settings work as per my theory,I'll still try to find a simpler way,though this wouldn't be so bad.To be confirmed.....
OK so here is what I did: CV 11 = 0 CV 25 = 16 CV 67 = 0
Speed curve CV 67 = 0 CV 68 = 4 then the rest really do not matter for this experiment.
What this did was: power on the layout, no sound. Turned on headlight, no sound. Turn speed control one step, engine start up sequence and idles. Turn speed control to step two, engine starts to move. Bell set to go on automatically at step three. Run engine. Turn speed control to 0, engine stops but engine idle sounds. Turn off light, engine still idles. Hit stop button, engine shut down sequence, but rest of layout still has power.
I did not like the speed curve so I went back to standard 28 / 128 speed steps, with CV 3 = 15 and CV 4 = 15 What this did was: power on the layout, no sound. Turned on headlight, no sound. Turn speed control one step, engine start up sequence and engine idles, but gave me time to turn speed control back to 0. Turn speed control to step one engine starts to move. Bell set to go on automatically at step three. Run engine. Turn speed control to 0, engine stops but engine idle sounds. Turn off light, engine still idles. Hit stop button, engine shut down sequence, but rest of layout still has power.
I hope this helps.
According to Soundtraxx's "Diesel sound user's guide" release 1.08 page 3 & 4,your decoder is doing exactly as it should do.If mine react this way,I'll be satisfied and won't tinker with CV's to change this.
The idea behind CV67=0 is because I noticed on some Youtube videos that some locos did jump forward a bit even before the prime mover had finished its starting sequence.I know now that it was likely due to an improperly set CV116 bit 4.However,the original post was about having the prime mover idling upon powering the track,wich is taken care of by CV116 bit 5.
So...for me...CV116 will be set this way:
I want manual notching so bits 0 through 3=0.I don't want the loco to move before the prime mover is actually running so bit 4=1.Then having speed step 1 initiate the diesel start sequence is OK with me so bit 5=0.And last,I want the diesel throttle set at notch 4 (approx. 50% throttle) when dynamic brakes are applied so bit 6=0 and bit 7=1.Total CV116=144.If this works as I expect it to do I'll be very happy.
Using manual notching means I'll lose F9 & F10 to control the air compressor and the radiator fans manually so I'll have to have them automatically controlled by setting CV112 bit 0=1 and bit 1=1.Total CV112=3
It's me again...but with some "hands on" experience now.I've received my decoders and have had a chance to verify my theories.Well...a good part of them verified true but I also found some interesting features incorporated into these decoders.
As much as I like to know how to do things I also make it a point to understand why...generally it helps a lot in understanding how.I will not attempt to teach as I believe most modelers do know this.I just want to tell what I found and what my findings tell me,so that my comments may trigger comments from other modelers...great if they do...I'll learn that much more.
In prototype locos,the diesel engine has to deliver power first so that it becomes available to drive the traction motors,so the train engineer has two throttles to handle to operate the loco.First,the prime mover to build up sufficient power then some sort of rheostat control to energize the traction.What I understand is that these throttles are not linear to eachother as they are continously adjusted to every different situations.Accelerating,climbing and/or pulling a heavy load at slow speed,for example,will need the traction set for lower speeds while in return,the high energy needed will require the diesel engine's RPMs to be raised (notching) sometimes to full throttle to deliver enough current.On the other hand,when a train has reached its speed,or is "coasting" on level grounds,the traction likely needs a lot less energy to keep up even higher speeds,so the engineer will reduce the diesel's RPMs,thus reducing both noise and fuel consumption.
Now,my other findings...first the decoder is a Tsunami KT1000(FDL16),the loco is a brand new Kato AC4400CW and the DCC set is a DCS200/DT400R combo.
The TSU KT1000 offers two options to suit everyone's taste...automatic and manual notching.The "automatic" settings allow the modeler to operate his loco without having to care for matching the prime mover's sound with the loco speed,just that simple.On the other hand,"manual" notching requires that the modeler constantly adjusts the prime mover's sounds to the loco's speed.However,the loco will run just the same if he doesn't...the sound just won't follow.
The intriguing "bits" in CV116...what I've found...
Automatic notching settings...first...bits 0-3 have to be set to a value of 1-15.A value of 1 (in bit 1) will activate automatic notching.Then the other values will set how many speed steps per notch the engine sound will increase/decrease.If one sets a value of 15,the prime mover will accelerate one notch at every 15 speed steps.Since there are eight notches,the diesel would reach full RPM at 120 speed steps(15X8=120.This means that the diesel will be practically linear with the loco's 128 speed steps.Then if a setting of say 7 is in,the diesel will accelerate a notch every seven speed steps.Simple math...8 notches X 7 speed steps=56 speed steps meaning the diesel will reach full RPM at approx. half speed of the loco...somewhat prototypical under high loads but noisy and wasting fuel the rest of the time.
Bit 4 is not used with automatic notching...set to 0
New decoders come with bit 5 set to 1 so the diesel sounds come on with track power.Then one can shut it down with Em.Stop and restart it with speed step 1.Slightly diverging from the instructions but it works.
I haven't tried setting notching while dynamic brakes are on.I didn't need it and suspect it wouldn't work.
Manual notching...prototypical...my choice.Setting is short...Bits 0-3=0.Then set bit 4=1.It keeps the loco stand still until prime mover has completed its start-up sequence even if the throttle knob is turned a few clicks.With manual notching selected,I've found that:diesel sound WILL NOT come on with track power,WILL NOT shut down with EM.Stop and WILL NOT restart with speed step 1.Instead,pressing F9 (double click) starts the prime mover and every other double click cranks the RPM an extra notch.Then every double clicking F10 will slow the diesel sound a notch down to complete stop.I also found that at notch 0 (diesel sound off),turning the throttle knob won't move the loco and the directional lights will not "shift"
My loco has dynamic brakes so I chose to have them bring the diesel sounds to notch 4 when used.so I've set bit 7=1 for a total CV setting of 16+128=144.It works great,I love it.Just hoping this wasn't too painful to read...I'm open to comments...in fact I expect some....
Thanks Jacques for the update.
Jack W.