DCC Smiple ?

woodone

Member
Well I made the big junp into DCC the other day. I went with a NCE Power Cab. Picked up two decoders ( hard wire). Installed them into two older Atlas GP35 units. I got them both running, no problems. :thumb:
So I thought it was time to try a sound unit. I installed a LokSound decoder into a Kato Mikado unit. What a tght fit. 5 lbs of stuff into a 2 lb box. I had to put the decoder and the speaker into the tender.
Got her done- after many hours of fitting and such. The thing works- sound quailty not so good, Bell is ok, whistle not so good. Chuff noise when running is very hard to here. Need more volume! The randum compressor noise and such is OK. Still looking to get more sound out but have done every thing that I know to do with the size of speaker you can get into N scale.
Now onto the real problem- DCC simpler than DC?
Not for me! When I had blocks and I had a problem I was able to find the problem and fix it with out to much of a problem.
DCC never able to see what is the problem- every thing is in a black box with some numbers you enter in to make some think work?
I have a second cab that I got so I could run two locos at the same time. CAB -14e by NCE I have yet to make it work- can't make the any of the three locos run on the second cab.
Any one out there with a NCE system using a second cab?
Need help in making the CAb-04E work
Thanks in advance.
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
woodone:wav: , i am guessing you DID NOT designate your second cab as cab #2:winki: . I'm sorry, am not familiar with NCE equipment:eek:ops: , but i am sure if you look in your booklet that came with the system, or go to their website, it will explain how to designate your other cab to "Cab#2":winki: . at least now you know what to look for:winki: , hope this helped:smilie: . :deano: -Deano
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
As far as the Loksound sound decoder goes, my ONLY complaint with Loksound is the horn/whistle volume:frowns: , other then that i TOTALLY am happy with the Loksound sound decoders i have(i am HO) :thumb: . have you tried adjusting the CV for volume? it should be CV#63 set the value to 64, that is max volume for all sounds:winki: . also, is their a baffle around your speaker?, believe it or not, if you have a baffle around the speaker, it will become louder. hope some of this might help:winki: .
:deano: -Deano
 

woodone

Member
woodone:wav: , i am guessing you DID NOT designate your second cab as cab #2:winki: . I'm sorry, am not familiar with NCE equipment:eek:ops: , but i am sure if you look in your booklet that came with the system, or go to their website, it will explain how to designate your other cab to "Cab#2":winki: . at least now you know what to look for:winki: , hope this helped:smilie: . :deano: -Deano
Thanks Deano,
Yes, I did set up the second cab. The instructions said that the default was an address of 5. You can change that, but I don't need to for right now.
I did that, but when I select a loco, the cab controler should flash a red led on the cab- that is not happening?
The instruction book is only about 4 pages- not very much information on the use of the second cab. Never does tell you how to set up the second locomotive number or when to enter it ?
Will look at the support page for NCE.
Here is hopeing!
 

woodone

Member
As far as the Loksound sound decoder goes, my ONLY complaint with Loksound is the horn/whistle volume:frowns: , other then that i TOTALLY am happy with the Loksound sound decoders i have(i am HO) :thumb: . have you tried adjusting the CV for volume? it should be CV#63 set the value to 64, that is max volume for all sounds:winki: . also, is their a baffle around your speaker?, believe it or not, if you have a baffle around the speaker, it will become louder. hope some of this might help:winki: .
:deano: -Deano
I have the CV#63 set to the max, 64
The bell is loud, the whistle is weak, and the chuff noise is very hard to hear. The randum noise, compressor, steam hiss is very loud .
As this is N scale the speaker is very small- so the tender shell is the baffle or enclosure.
Not to much room for anything, as the decoder is in the tender as well.
Thanks for the reply.:thumb:
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
woodone:wav: , i'm sorry, i was really hoping it would be an easy fix, the symptoms sounded like that was your problem. well, if you cant find what your looking for on their website, don't loose hope:winki: , there are some on here that ARE using NCE systems:thumb: , hopefully they will chime in with a fix:smilie: .
:deano: -Deano
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
I have the CV#63 set to the max, 64
The bell is loud, the whistle is weak, and the chuff noise is very hard to hear. The randum noise, compressor, steam hiss is very loud .
As this is N scale the speaker is very small- so the tender shell is the baffle or enclosure.
Not to much room for anything, as the decoder is in the tender as well.
Thanks for the reply.:thumb:
i was afraid of that:frowns: . i have SEVERAL Loksound decoders in my engines, only one in a steamer, but i found ALL the sounds(even the chuff) was pretty loud:thumb: ....EXCEPT the horns/whistles:frowns:, for the life of me i don't understand why this is:confused: , EVERYTHING ELSE(in HO) is fine:thumb: . other then that, i am REAL HAPPY with the Loksound decoders:winki: . Honestly, another good sound decoder is the MRC Brilliance line:thumb: , these are VERY LOUD, and give you MANY different sound choices, some are REAL GOOD:thumb: . the ONLY two sound decoder brands i buy are Loksound, and the MRC Brilliance line:winki: . currently, i have MORE Brilliance sound decoders installed in my engines then Loksound, if Loksound would fix their horn/whistle volume issue, it would be the other way around:winki: .
:deano: -Deano
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sorry to hear of your issues with your new system. I have not had those types of problems with Digitrax (yet!) and so have nothing to relate to. Keep fishing... eventually somebody on here who knows about your system will bite! If not, send Bruce (Mr. DCC) an email.
 

woodone

Member
Sorry to hear of your issues with your new system. I have not had those types of problems with Digitrax (yet!) and so have nothing to relate to. Keep fishing... eventually somebody on here who knows about your system will bite! If not, send Bruce (Mr. DCC) an email.

Thanks for the support.
So far I have not had too many problems.
The second cab and making it work is starting to get to me.
Instructions that came with the Cab is only 4 pages- never does address the question of when you select a loco to run off that cab?
When you push the select loco button the status led is suppost to flash- indicating that is is looking for data input? That is not happening?
I will whip it!:thumb: But right now it has me:curse:
 

Fluesheet

Member
woodone,

Give NCE a call, or the vendor that you purchased the system from. Most of the DCC vendors I've worked with (Tonys Trains, Litchfield Station, Loys Toys, Dugan Gorman at the Miniature Locomotive Backshop, etc.) are very willing to walk you through issues, and it will be a much more efficient trouble shooting experience that posting.

Also, join the NCE Yahoo mailing list - there is more help there than you could ever need...

I have an NCE System, but not the Powercab, and only one throttle. I'll look into my documentation tonight and if I spot something obvious, I'll post.
 

woodone

Member
woodone,

Give NCE a call, or the vendor that you purchased the system from. Most of the DCC vendors I've worked with (Tonys Trains, Litchfield Station, Loys Toys, Dugan Gorman at the Miniature Locomotive Backshop, etc.) are very willing to walk you through issues, and it will be a much more efficient trouble shooting experience that posting.

Also, join the NCE Yahoo mailing list - there is more help there than you could ever need...

I have an NCE System, but not the Powercab, and only one throttle. I'll look into my documentation tonight and if I spot something obvious, I'll post.
Thanks, I did give NCE a call. They told me that you must change the cab address. Power cabs will only accept an 03 with the toggle switch to the left. NO WHERE in the instructions did I see or read this. I could be missing it BUT even now that I know what I am looking for I don't see that anywhere. Oh well the NCE pepole got me going. 1 phone call and it was working.:thumb:
When you have a power cab and use a CAB-04e it becomes the third cab? Anyway with the Cab04e you must enter it as an 03 with the toggle switch to the left. 04 with the toggle switch to the right.
The power cab is really two cabs- you can run two locos by switching back and forth between the two.
The system now works:thumb:
No need to look for documation now, but I sure whant to say THANKS!:wave:
 

woodone

Member
As far as the Loksound sound decoder goes, my ONLY complaint with Loksound is the horn/whistle volume:frowns: , other then that i TOTALLY am happy with the Loksound sound decoders i have(i am HO) :thumb: . have you tried adjusting the CV for volume? it should be CV#63 set the value to 64, that is max volume for all sounds:winki: . also, is their a baffle around your speaker?, believe it or not, if you have a baffle around the speaker, it will become louder. hope some of this might help:winki: .
:deano: -Deano
Well I have gotten more sound from my set up.
Keep playing with the CV# s 59 and 60. Chuff noise is now where I can hear it, still not as loud as I would like. But It is much better. :rolleyes:
Whistle still not good.:cry:
 
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