DCC Sound Value On Board Golden Spike 4-4-0 automatic start stop whistle blasts

[edpb]

Does the Sound Value On Board decoder have a CV for automatically sounding the short whistle blasts when a loco begins to move and when it stops?  On the Bachmann list CV 198 might have something to do with that but the default value 0 does not do it.

[rich1998]

Maybe not. Those are stripped down decoders to cut down on prices.
With SoundTraxx decoders I installed myself I could.

Rich

[Hunt]

Does the Sound Value On Board decoder have a CV for automatically sounding the short whistle blasts when a loco begins to move and when it stops?  On the Bachmann list CV 198 might have something to do with that but the default value 0 does not do it.

Sound Value decoder  - program  CV 198 = 2 to enable Automatic Whistle when using DCC

Whenever the locomotive is stopped or started, the Sound Value will produce the correct whistle signal appropriate for the direction of travel:
  Stop - One short toot
  Forward - Two Medium Toots
  Reverse - Three Short Toots

[Trainman203]

I don't understand why automatic whistles are needed.

[rich1998]

Does the Sound Value On Board decoder have a CV for automatically sounding the short whistle blasts when a loco begins to move and when it stops?  On the Bachmann list CV 198 might have something to do with that but the default value 0 does not do it.

Sound Value decoder  - program  CV 198 = 2 to enable Automatic Whistle when using DCC

Whenever the locomotive is stopped or started, the Sound Value will produce the correct whistle signal appropriate for the direction of travel:
 Stop - One short toot
 Forward - Two Medium Toots
 Reverse - Three Short Toots

That is good to kinow. I just never took time to go through the CV list. Not easy on an iPhone, at least for me.

I am on the PC now.

Rich

[Terry Toenges]

I don't understand why DCC is needed but some people like it because it does thing automatically. 

[edpb]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post.

To Hunt, my CP Jupiter now has automatic start/stop toots and my UP 119 will soon also.  Special thanks to you.

To Trainman203, I suppose the automatic toots are not needed usually -- I could do them manually each time -- but I just wanted them to be automatic so I could run the Jupiter and 119 in an operating diorama of the Golden Spike National Historic Park without having to remember to do it every time.

The diorama does not exist yet, but I do plan to get it built.

There are other things that would be nice to have for the diorama, like the low speed bell.  After reading Hunt's post, I searched Bachmann and Soundtraxx for a users' guide for the new 4-4-0 with no success.  I will keep trying.

Thanks again to everyone.

[Hunt]

. . .

There are other things that would be nice to have for the diorama, like the low speed bell. 
. . .

To have both automatic whistle and bell program CV 198 to 6 plus program CV 193 and CV 194 to control Bell on off points you want.

Automatic Bell Set Points - CV 193 and 194 determine the speed steps (or equivalent throttle voltages when operating in analog mode) at which the automatic bell turns on and off respectively and may be set anywhere between 1 and 126 corresponding to the speed step of the same value.  CV 194, the bell off set point, must be set to a value greater than CV 193 or else the bell will not turn on.

Example: Set CV 193 to 5 and CV 194 to 10. With these settings the bell will initially be off when the engine is stopped. As the locomotive speed is increased, the bell will turn on once the throttle setting reaches speed step 5. The bell will remain on so long as the engine is operated between speed steps 5 and 10. Increasing the throttle beyond speed step 10 or below speed step 5 will turn the bell back off.  Once the bell has been turned off, it can be turned back on by lowering the speed to the same setting as in CV 193



Factory decoder default value
CV 198, Digital Mode Automatic Sound Configuration = 0
CV 193, Automatic Bell On Set Point  = 5
CV 194, Automatic Bell Off Set Point = 10 (documentation for HO 4-4-0 list default value as 12)

[Hunt]

an aside

edpb,

1) Read CV 193 and CV 194 - what is the factory default value of each in the decoder installed in the 4-4-0 locomotive you have?

2) What DCC system did you use to read the CVs?

[edpb]

Hi Hunt -- thank you for all that information.

I'm using a Model Rectifier Corp Tech 6 DC/DCC control.  It does not have a screen for showing CV values.  When I program a CV the loco tells me what value I put in, and sometimes I can understand what it says, but that's all this system can do.  If I had the walk-around plugin control for the Tech 6, it has a screen that I think can show the current value in a CV, but I loaned mine to my son-in-law who is 250 miles away.

Just now I tried to get the value in 193 by going through the programming routine without putting in a value for CV 193 to see if the loco would tell me what is in there.  That did not work.  In programming with the Tech 6, after I press P and enter a CV number  one of the panel LEDs should stay on until I have entered a CV value but instead all LEDs flickered faintly, and I think that may mean that I can't program 193-4 with this loco.

[edpb]

Hi HUnt,

Well, for my last post I relied on my memory.  Bad move.  I think everything was normal when I tried to read the CV contents for 193, it just didn't work.  I will try programming 193-4 as you suggested, and if that works and the factory values are lost, I still have my other 4-4-0 and sometime may be able to read the factory values on that loco.

Later --

Well, I tried that.  For CV 193-4 I put in 5 and 10 and got no bell.  Then I put in 10 and 50 and got no bell.  Funny thing: at the end of each entry of a CV value, the loco always lurches forward, including the times that I did not enter a value to 193 or 194.  This time with 5-10 and 10-50. there was no lurch.  Also the loco did not tell me anything.

[Hunt]

Did you first program CV 198 = 6 then program CV 193 and CV 194?

Suggest you use a real DCC system, which Model Rectifier Corp Tech 6 is not. 

[edpb]

Hi Hunt,

When I tried to program CV 193-4, I kept CV 198 programmed to 2 for the start/stop whistle toots.

Oops -- I just read your instructions which said for both effects that I want I must put 198 at 6.  I'm sorry to make it hard for you to help me.  I will change 198 and let you know how it goes.

I agree that if I'm going to keep on with DCC I need a real DCC control.

[edpb]

Hey Terry, I just read through this thread again and I think that in your post you got it right!  You supplied the perfect answer!

[Terry Toenges]