Yesterday I gave myself an Athearn F7 A/B Genesis set with DC/DCC sound.I shall not tell you the price I paid, import duties and sales tax being what they are the price was horrendous. I could of course have searched e-bay for a better offer but lately I’ve heard so many horror stories about non-delivery,incomplete products etc. that I prefer the safe but more expensive LHS way. But that’s not what my problem is. I still control my layout wirh good old analogue DC and have no intention to change to DCC. With the Athearn Genesis DC/DCC sound series I can still have sound. But it does not work flawlessly: when I open the throttle to about 6-7 V it takes at least 10-15 seconds before the sound starts but half the time it does’nt start at all and I have to open the throttle to the full 12 volts hoping that this will work which it does’nt allways. Another problem is the3 fact that both the A and the B unit are powered and have a sound decoder but a very slight difference in starting voltage. So when the A-unit starts moving the B unit lags a fraction of a second behind The result is a start that isn’t smooth at all. Does anyone have the same experience and if so is there a solution to both problems.
The delay is because the capacitors in the sound modules’ power supplies have to charge up before anything happens.
The sometimes having to go to max voltage is due to one or more of the following:
- dirty track
- dirty wheels
- inadequate wiring between the power pack and the track
- poor continuity along the track, like at rail joiners.
Suggestion: leave 4-5 volts on the track at all times when you are running these so that the capacitors do not have to charge up each time.
Better suggestion: get a DCC system.
Why is it that you don’t want to convert to DCC? I know, lots of folks don’t want DCC, but for various reasons. Some have no use for sound and have already done the extensive, complex wiring for DC cab control, etc.
But if you want sound, you’re not going to get anywhere near the “most” out of an onboard sound system on DC. Some of the units, like the separate QSI sound controller for DC, are pretty good, but still nowhere near what you can get with DCC. This is especially true if you want to run more than one sound engine at a time.
Of course, on DC, running more than one at a time is not real easy, sound-equipped or not!
Nieuweboer,
Sorry to hear of your difficulties, but you’re not alone. Just search “Athearn Genesis DCC problems” on this forum for discussion and suggestions, including mine “ripvanwnkl”. I assume your F7 locos are equipped with MRC decoders. Apparently the problems are primarily due to the MRC decoders used in these locos for both DC and DCC power. I finally had to send my HO Genesis DC/DCC Big Boy back to Athearn for warranty repair. It works now, but still has to “warm up” for a few to several minutes (never predictable how long) before the sound comes on. I have 15 other DC/DCC sound equipped locos from several other manufacturers (Bachmann, Atlas, Broadway Limited, Proto 2K, MTH, and Lionel) and have never had the decoder problems that I had with the Athearn Genesis.
Good Luck!
Dave Van Winkle