Hi!
About a month ago I did a posting about the New BLI Paragon ATSF RSD-15 I bought via Internet that had no sound. As you may or may not know, the Paragon locos have decoders & sound and will run on DCC or DC. Anyway, I was forced to return it to BLI, and they promised it back “within 5 weeks”.
Well, UPS brought it to my door yesterday (5 weeks later) and I quickly hooked it up. And, all I can say is WOW !!! At this point it is on a DC layout with the Quantum Engineer to operate the sounds. It is my first Diesel sound loco, and I am really impressed! I can see that my upcoming conversion to DCC is going to call for some sound decoders in various ABBA consists and will be even more expensive than I planned.
Oh, the question I had - “what was wrong with the loco” - was answered by BLI. It seems that the sound mechanism was not installed at the factory. Yikes, that’s a real jab at quality control - but BLI did take care of the problem, and I am a happy diesel engineer this morning.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
Glad that you’re happy with your unit. My wife’s cousin has ordered a paragon unit (SD40-2, I’m not sure) but is concerned about some of the complaints that have been showing up on forums about them. He currently runs DC but plans on switching to DCC by next summer.
Guys, can you confirm or rebutt the following:
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I told him that some forum members stated that in DC mode, these units require a higher starting voltage to get them moving. That’s been posted inspite of BLI’s advertisement of “low voltage” starting.
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When Paragons are coupled with Atlas and Kato units, there may be some bucking between them due to the higher voltage demands, whearas Atlas and Kato units will take off with 1 ot 2 volts.
Comments?
Hi!
While the sound is really nice, it definitely takes a higher voltage to get them moving. Slow speed is really good with them, but again, in DC you need a higher voltage to move them.
Consisting them with other types (mfg) of locos in DC doesn’t work well (in my experience) due to the differences in starting voltage. This of course is one of the advantages of DCC, in that you can program each loco in a consist to start and run and the same speeds.
Mobilman44
Thanks Mobilman,
I’ll pass your comments on to him. It may act as an incentive to get into DCC sooner, especially since he purchased an EZ system over a year ago. It’s new in the box still sitting underneath his layout.