Thursday, June 17, 2010

SoundBytes, XXIII

Well, we have been busy preparing for and holding our annual Dealer Training. Lots to do in what seems like not enough time! In this edition, we will tell a little about what dealer training is and give you a hint to what we are displaying at this year’s NMRA National Convention and Train Show. For our Tech Tip, we’ll discuss using the custom speed curves available on the Tsunami decoder.

Dealer Training.
This year we held our Dealer Training June 9th thru 12th. This is a 4-day seminar where we invite our dealers out to Durango to learn hands-on from our staff about our DCC products and how to install and use them. This year we had a full curriculum for them as we discussed our company history, product line, how to get the best from the speakers, creative installation techniques, programming, Blackstone Models, and hands-on Tsunami sound installations. In addition to learning, we show them around to some of the fun events in Durango, like the Bar D Chuck Wagon dinner and western music show, a local 55' x 35' layout operating session, and of course, we take a day to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train! In this photo, Jarrette comes in to our car from the locomotive to say "Hi!" to everyone.This year’s attendees included: Lin’s Junction, Lansdale, PA; Mullet River and Southern, Plymouth, WI; EngineHouse Services, LLC, Green Bay, WI, TVW Miniatures, Greendale, WI; Discount Model Trains, Addison, TX; Sounds of Motion, Solon, OH; Central Coast Trains, Atascadero, CA; Mark Twain Hobby Center, St. Charles, MO, DCC Installs and Sales, Martinez, GA, Grizzly Mountain Engineering, Estes Park, CO as well as Representatives from Athearn and Bachmann. It is a fun and educational environment for all who attended. We are appreciative of all who attended and we encourage our customers to lend their support to these shop owners who invested their time and money in order to better serve their customers. With this year’s class done and in the books, we are looking forward to next year!


Blackstone Models:
The Drop Bottom Gondolas have arrived in Durango. This has unfortunately coincided with our dealer training, so we will be getting these out to the dealers as quickly as we can.

NMRA 75th Annual Convention And Train Show NMRA National Convention and the National Train Show are around the corner. This year’s annual event is being held in Milwaukee, WI July 13-18th. Anyone who is attending be sure to stop by to see the pre-production samples of the C-19, K-27s, Double-Deck Stock Cars, Tank Cars and Passenger Cars! Also, Jarrette and George will be giving Clinics Thursday and Friday Evening Covering getting the best from your sound decoders, and steam and diesel Prototype sound and how to set up the decoders to match your prototypes! Be sure to attend and don’t miss out on these informative clinics! Tech Tip:
In every Tsunami is the ability to adjust the speed curve that controls the speed of the motor and locomotive. Tsunami comes with 14 pre-programmed speed curves, along with the ability to adjust and built your own! Let’s take a look at how these are set up.
The speed curves that are pre-loaded into the Tsunami are able to adjust the speed commands to model the prototypical purpose of the locomotive. For example, the exponential curves allow more precise control at the lower end of the speed curve for switching, and the logarithmic curves allow more control at the higher end of the speed table.
To start setting up the speed tables, bit 4 of CV29 (value 16) will need to be active. When figuring the value of CV29, refer to the chart available in the Steam and Diesel User’s Guides. You can find the User’s Guides here: http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals.php
Next, CV25 determines which pre-programmed speed curve that will be used. Looking in the User’s Guide, a value of 2 assigns a linear speed curve, values 3 through 9 assigns a logarithmic curve and values 10 through 15 assign an exponential curve. Assigning a value of 16 to CV 25 allows the modeler to input his own curve, or ‘user adjustable’ to fully customize the curve. We will talk a bit more about the ‘user adjustable’ speed curve in the next edition of SoundBytes’ Tech Tip.