Hi John, I can't imagine what it is but you loco is definitely changing directions if it clunks and the rear light goes on. There is not enough electrical power getting to the motor. My Athearn diesel was not crawling to my satisfaction and was stopping abruptly. I reprogrammed the start voltage and now it does crawl but it will not go into reverse motion until I hit the increase button 3 times. Still, start and stop is more realistic this way, so I am leaving it. It seems Athearn had a problem with start stop on this one so they boosted the start voltage at the factory.
Hi wozzek, I maxxed out the throttle in reverse and nothing. I'm taking it to the train shop tomorrow to see if it works on their Digitrax system. John
You just know it's going to work fine when you get there, don't you? As well my N Scale Challengers, I've also got 3 DCC Sound HO locos - my BLI SD40-2 wouldn't do a damn thing when hooked up to my PowerCab v1.28, but worked on DC and when using my friends' PowerCabs (one has v1.28c - but is upgrading, the other has v1.65); the BLI manual did warn that NCE systems may need an upgrade. Now I've upgraded my EPROM to v1.65, I've no issues with any of my sound locos - in fact my Challengers seem to be running even better - and I can now program my Roster using the USB Interface and DecoderPro
This morning I popped by my LHS and ran the Challenger on their systems - Digitrax and NCE. Wouldn't run in reverse on either DCC system. Can't figure out why it ran fine on Athearn's MRC system. The owner called Tsunami and was told it is a bad decoder. I just emailed Athearn about sending the loco to them again for decoder replacement, but they are closed until December 2nd. I also phoned NCE and ordered the 1.65 upgrade. Larry at NCE also said it is a bad decoder. The saga continues..... John
Update: just spoke with Athearn and the Challenger is on it's way back to sunny California for a new decoder. I must say the folks at Athearn have been very nice. John
What a frustrating saga! Do you have it fixed now? I just got mine for Christmas, and luckily, it's running fine, in both directions. A bit disappointed in the sound quality, very tinny compared to my other Tsunami installs....I'm thinking the speaker and baffle need replacement. Has anyone done this, and did I miss it? Otto K.
Otto, ya gotta mess with the CV's, including the "equalizer" which is a big plus for Soundtraxx TSU decoders. J.D. Columbo has his settings, and I've used them for some of my Big Boys and Challengers. For shows I tweak them a bit differently, but the decoder's good, it's just that the stock settings are bad. Luckily those can be adjusted, along with the running characteristics too, which also are not optimal for my tastes as it comes from Athearn. I'd let you know which CV's to change, but I'm in a big hurry right now. I'll post them later when I've got a little time.
Thanks Bob, that would be a good start to see if the sound can be improved. I got her running fine so I don't want to mess with that ... for road engines I like lots and lots of momentum, even on CV 4 so one has to use the brake to stop.When you have time....Best, Otto K.
My Challenger arrived from Athearn Friday. The note says it still and fine in reverse on their system, but they installed a new decoder and on my NCE Power Cab it runs super in both directions! Athearn customer support is really great. John
I really like the way it runs and sounds. I've just stripped the lettering and will decal it for SP&S. John
Tsunami 4664N I sure wish I could find a TSU 4664N sound decoder for the one remaining MRC/POS Challenger loco I have. Looked everywhere...no luck. Any ideas, anybody, other than hardwiring another Tsunami...? Thanks, Otto K.
Just finished applying the SP&S decals and the air compressors on the front of the boiler on my Challenger. John
Otto, I agree. They are extremely difficult to find, although the ones my friends have won on eBay are going for good prices. I don't spend a lot of time on eBay, but that's about the only place where they consistently appear. You and I will probably have a bidding war 'cause I need five of 'em, and I'll probably just end up soldering connectors to TSU-750's and plugging them in after removing the MRC POS decoders. Big Boys and Challengers sounded virtually the same, used the same bells and whistles (as did FEF-2's and FEF-3's), so the TSU-750 "Heavy Steam" decoder would sound appropriate for both Big Boys and Challengers with its sound files coming from the 4018, although the whistle is too low IMO. Another possibility is the ESU LokSound Micro V4.0 (when playing the sound samples, I like this deocoder better than the less expensive LokSound Select Micro) and I'm very happy with both the sound and operation of these in some of my diesels. There are several ESU users out there who I am aware of who really like the sound that comes out of these decoders and say that the steam sound is "more complete" than Soundtraxx. However, I really like the ability to fiddle with the sound in the Sountraxx TSU using the "Sound Equalizer" function, and I am satisfied with the sound in both my Big Boys and Challengers as well as how they operate. The only thing I don't like about Soundtraxx decoders is that the sound files cannot be changed, so you're stuck with what they give you, which is (fortunately) generally very good. So, at least there's a choice that's still available for your Challenger, although in the end, you might want to just bite the bullet and hardwire up a non-dedicated sound decoder. Mo' work, but still great sound and operation. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
