I've yet to find anything in the Bachmann Tsunami that works differently than the stadard versions. The only CV guide I have ever used is the Tsunami Tech Reference guide that you can download from the Soundtraxx website. If you can give me a specific value or range, I'll try it on one of mine and give you my results.

Used use a Prodigy Advance on our HO scale layout at the store, and I would bet you that's where the problem lies. I have had locomotives become unresponsive to certain inputs, and only after deleting the locomotive from the throttles recall stack (press and hold delete once the address has been selected), and then re-adding it back to the throttle will it work. I don't know why this is the case, but I fear it has something to do with the way the Prodigy "looks" at the locomotives stored in the stack in the throttle. The MRC system stores these much differently than most of the other DCC systems, and I think it just gets confused sometimes.

We have sold quite a few of these and different lights including sunlight will have an effect on the range of the handheld.

The steam locomotives are all the same. Here is the list:

STEAM LOCOMOTIVES

•(F0) Headlight on/off
•(F1) Bell on/off
•(F2) Whistle/Horn on/off
•(F3) Start-up/Shut-down
•(F4) PFA initiate and advance
•(F5) Cab Light on/off
•(F6) Engine Sounds on/off
•(F7) Volume low, med, high, off
•(F8) Smoke on/off
•(F9) Forward Signal Sound
•(F10) Reverse Signal Sound
•(F11) Coupler Slack Sound
•(F12) Grade Crossing
•(F13) One-Shot Doppler on/off
•(F14) Extended Start Up
•(F15) Extended Shut Down
•(F16) Labor Chuff
•(F17) Drift Chuff
•(F18) Smoke Volume low, med, high
•(F19) Single short whistle toot
•(F20) Coupler Close
•(F21) Feature Reset
•(F22) Idle Sequence 1
•(F23) Idle Sequence 2
•(F24) Idle Sequence 3
•(F25) Idle Sequence 4
•(F26) Brakes auto/off
•(F27) Cab Chatter auto/off
•(F28) Clickety-Clack auto/off

Hope that helps!

I actually prefer the little MRC Syncro sound box for this and have sold a bunch of them in our store. Not only does it have sounds for individual locomotive types, it also has a built in DC throttle for control and is less than $60.00 street price.

Here's a link if your interested:

http://www.modelrectifier.com/search/product-view.asp?ID=7739

I doubt it, but hopefully one day. Keep in mind the 2-6-0 can be retrofitted with DCC and sound, but it's not easy to do and certainly not a locomotive you would want to "learn" on.

You can use virtually any HO or N scale decoder in these. Just make sure you get a decoder with an 8-pin NMRA plug on it and you will be good to go. As an FYI, I have been using a lot of ESU Lokpilot series motor decoders in these with great success. The adjustable motor voltage parameters and super high PWM make these a smooth a quiet operator in any of the Spectrum models.

Good luck!

The Tsunami Micro isn't a bad choice, but I actually prefer the ESU Loksound v3.5 for the Climax and Shay. While the Tsunami's are wonderful decoders, I find the chuff to be very bland (read generic) and the lack of gear noise unforgivable. I also like the premade logging whistles ESU has "recorded" as they have a ton of character. From an installation standpoint, the ESU decoder comes with a 1" speaker and NMRA 8 pin plug making it plug and play. Also keep in mind the Tsunami (even the Micro) gets very warm while running whereas the ESU decoders use a 100 ohm speaker for cooler running. I appreciate this in the small space the decoders must be confined in with these installations.

Jeff

This installation takes about 15 minutes to do, and is as straight forward as a sound system installation in a model can be. My suggestion would be to pick up a 8 pin NMRA to 9 pin JST harness for the Tsunami so that you can plug the decoder in with no modifications to the existing harness. Digitrax and several other DCC companies sell these and they are very inexpensive.

Good luck!

This can be done, but I will warn you this install is not for the faint of heart. The DCC part of things is pretty straight forward and many of the smaller N or Z scale decoders will work. For sound, I recommend the ESU Loksound Micro or one of the new Soundtraxx Micro-Tsunami decoders. Good luck!

PS> The 0-4-2 porter is much simpler as the speaker and decoder can be hidden in the load behind the cab.

Jeff