10-14-2010, 03:42 AM
rrinker Wrote:And as for programming - yes they all work with programmign on the main and no booster, but it does defeat the idea of a low current program track to TEST things before you put it on the full power main track. On the program track, a wiring mistake won't fry that shiny new $100+ sound decoder. Might be a quirk of the MRC system but I've been able to program CV17 and CV18 directly on QSI decoders, no fooling with the index values (at least for address). Plus the Rev-U worked on the programming track, changing the address directly without any CV17/18 calculations. None of the sound decoders are particularly 'easy' to configure, there are just so many options. This is what DecoderPro is for.
Randy,
Fair enough... and my setup isn't typical for most people. I do the smoke test with a USB-2-Rails at the bench, then take the loco to the layout. As for programming the QSI's on the test track, I haven't had much success with the OEM ones using the MRC programming track either... they seem to need the index method regardless of how I try to program them.
Bil,
Yes, it's amazing what those old Klipsch horns could do. Not many people realize that the sound in movie theatres was delivered with a paltry 20 watts or so and some honking big horns. I'm a single-driver bug, so I've built a few folded-horn and TQWP speakers... someday in my copious spare time (
) I'm going to try playing with folded baffle arrangements for DCC speakers to see if I can shape the sound profile a little more... although trying to get any volume at the lower frequencies in HO models is a challenge at the best of times. Heck, I'd be glad to find the time just to put a few of these little speakers on the spectrum analyser just to see what they actually reproduce.