I could be wrong, but it looks like firmware updates will be needed for a number of command stations (minus digitrax).
Darn it, I was hoping to program in a playable whistle with my Lenz control software too.
From the Tsunami reference manual:
Since the analog/playable whistle spec is new, this sounds like a unique command. I was hoping it would have been a fixed CV value that you could just program.
As near as I know, Digitrax is the only DCC manufacturer to incorporate the playable whistle into one of their new throttles, and it is definitely something that requires a firmware upgrade for other systems.
Whether it will ever be offered by other manufacturers is unknown.
Info from either the Soundtraxx site or the Soundtraxx Yahoo list indicates that NCE systems will also be able to play the whistle. i would guess, though, that due to the “fun factor” of being able to play the whistle, not even considering its value to increase the prototypic flavor of operations, that most DCC manufacturers will soon be working on this, if they haven’t started already. The protocol is part of the NMRA DCC working group’s knowledge base, so every manufacturer has access to how to put together the proper data packets.
-Ed
It would have been so much easier to have a constantly updating CV dedciated to analog functions. [:(] That would have maintained backwards compatibility for everyone. The only thing that would be needed would have been new software, or a new cab. Now it looks like everyone will have to update their command station too. (Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’ll find out next week when I get my tsunami and start writing a software driver for it.)
Any idea if the new playable whistle spec is publically available? I would love to know how the packet is formed. I tried to find it on the NMRA site, but it seems to be lacking information.
Okay,
Once again I’m gonna show my ignorance. What exactly is a “playable whistle.”?
An ENGINEER on a prototype could adjust the volume/pitch of his train’s whistle by how much he pulled the chord. Todays sound system just have a canned on/off at 1 constant volume, so we couldn’t simulate that.
The playable whistle feature was supposed to allow you to do that fading on/off whistle the way you like, just like the prototype.
Wow. That sounds way cool. I guess the utlimate would be to have the whistle be a little bit different on each engine - then see who can identify which engine/engineer it is by the sound.
I would assume that the railroaders back when could tell who was at the throttle by the sound of the whistle. Wondering who wants to do that research!
In any event - sounds like a way cool function.
There appears to be more than a ‘CV’ to use this ‘feature’ AJ demo’ed it at the NMRA National this past summer. He mentioned that only the DT400 series throttles had a button that varied with the press of the button.
I suspect that there might need to be keypad upgrades as well…
Jim Bernier
The F2 button on the DT400-series throttles is actually pressure-sensitive, but by default it’s set to on-off operation. My understanding is that this is a “hidden feature” that’s been in the DT400’s all along. You have to change an OPSW (I forget which one) in the throttle itself to make F2 “playable”. No keypad or command station upgrades for Digitrax that I know of, to use this feature. Just change the OPSW in the DT400 and you’re good to go.
Steve
I don’t know whether the analog protocol information is publicly available as yet. It’s not only a whistle/horn protocol, although this appears to be its first use. What’s not clear to me, at this fairly distant vantage point, is how much of the whistle control trick is proprietary or licensed technology, and how much would be clear if you had access to the data packets being sent. Joining the NMRA would be a good idea for a start, if you’re not already a member.
I remember that a number of years ago, the full text of the DCC standards in discussion at that time was published in the NMRA Bulletin before it was voted on, and some number of months before it became available to the general public. I don’t know whether that’s the case with this new trick, since I’m not currently an NMRA member. (I tend to join the NMRA for a while, drop out for a while, and then repeat the sequence.)
Not a great help, I know, but it’s all I’ve got at the moment. These are really just recollections of discussions that occurred on several Yahoo groups in July, when the NMRA National Convention and the DCC Working Group were both meeting in Cincinnati. There wasn’t a lot of specifics being reported that I saw at that time. Mainly just that such a capability was being worked on, and soon to be released.
-Ed
Yup, it’s in the Digitrax DT400 throttles. Just needs a configuration change to the throttle to activate it. I did mine just to see if it was there, and indeed it is - you can see it with some for of packet monitoring such as JMRI. Turning it on seems to not have caused any issues with QSI decoders or an older Soundtraxx DSD.
The only other one I know to have this is NCE, with a firmware update. As far as I know it uses the thrumbwheel on the hammerhead throttles to vary the whistle. Digitrax works by sensing how hard you press the button.
You don’t need the playable whistle to blow the whistle on the Tsunami, it just adds a little extra to the game - closer to the ‘ideal’ of the old PFM sound system.
–Randy
The engineer would taper off the sound at the end and cause the whistle to end softly, not just on and off.
The conductor would probably get his arm broke if he tried to blow the whistle on a steam engine. I take it you are talking about new diesels.
Right you are. I meant engineer. [:I] [banghead] I’m going back to fix it.
A playable Whistle is an Awesome Idea! The Real Artist use the amount of pull in the Handle on the Whistle to effect the pitch and sound volume.
http://www.gottrains.com/steamwhistles/sounds/crosby3chime.mp3
http://gottrains.com/quiz/3chimehm.swf
Rather than posting the text, here’s link that tells how to change F2 on DT400 to “playable”…
It is. Way way cool and I don’t use that word often. That is one of the big reasons I’ve thought the digital sound up until now was sort of toy like. The old PFM sound units have always had the “real” whistle. You can set the whistles pitch, tone, reverb, and a couple other things. Then pull on the lever to make it sound exactly like you, the engineer, want. Of course it also let people do silly things too, like putting an ocean cruise liner sounding whistle on a 4-4-0 American!