I just picked up two Walthers Northern Pacific 0-8-0 locomotives.
Out of the box, the volume is quite loud. I wanted to lower the volume, and tried doing it through CV programming of CV 49 and CV51. The volume went WAYYYYY down to about 20% of what it was out of the box. I’ve done a complete reset of the locomotive, I’ve tried using the wand with the loco in neutral, and I can increase the volume up to the point that it says “Max, Max, Max”, which is only at 20% of total volume.
I’ve tried doing a compete reset, to no avail.
Does anybody have any ideas on how I can reset the volume to it’s original volume? I bought two of these locomotives, and the other one had the high volume out of the box, and I was able to lower it using the magnetic wand.
regards,
Jerry Zeman
Did you happen to hit the mute key, or to programme the mute (F8) to 20% of the maximum volume? It can be done with a QSI decoder…a nice feature by the way.
What value did you first assign CV51 once you had set CV 49 to access CV 51? I find that it is more logarithmic than linear in terms of the decibel output (that scale, incidentally, is a logarithmic scale if I recall). So, I find that if the max setting is 127 for the master volume, I am most content with CV 51 set near 40-50, not upwards of 64. I learned that by spending some time and playing with the various figures in each scale, for each individual sound, until I was happy with their relative volumes, and with them sounding while the engine was also chuffing under load.
Maybe reset once more, and then go through the programming of CV 51 as per the manual. Try something like 40 for an input and see what that does. Then try 60, then try 30, and you will eventually find the “sweet spot” for that engine. It is how I do it. This assumes, of course, that the speaker is fully serviceable and that the decoder is not defective for some reason.
Finally, is there a potentiometer, a screw device, that can be turned inside the tender? I believe that there is one on many sound decoders. Also, there is usually a reed switch, a tiny black column with what looks like a couple of small staples, sticking up, like a small office tower, near one end of the decoder/circuit board. If you follow the directions for that procedurec (assuming the manual says it can be done), then you may be back in business in terms of getting a hard reset.
Sorry I couldn’t offer you a magic bullet for this one.
I leave the master volume alone and work on one sound at a time.
I knocked my QSI sound engines down this way. Finding a volume for the bell, whistle etc that I can comfortably hear within 6 feet distance. Chuff etc are other sounds.
Then I write down the CV values of that sound item in a small notebook for each and every engine after they are programmed.
I am puzzled by the reset. If it is the QSI three CV group reset that engine should REALLY BE RESET back to factory default.
Im beginning to explore Decoder Pro and a interface with the computer because the CV’s within CV’s are getting too many to keep track.