im new to dcc and im having a prob programming my bachman loco. setting all the voltage settings and such.need a little advise
You would need a spec sheet that would go with your decoder. Fiddling with the CV values without it can lead to trouble.
hello.there wasnt any kind of spec sheet with this loco.decoder was factory installed
Which voltage settings do you need?
i need srarting,accel,decel,and top voltage.want loco to run normal
You might want to go to Bachmann’s Website, and see if you can find the information for the decoder that is installed in your loco. You can even send an E-mail to Bachmann- with the model number of your unit, and they might be able to help.
It would be impossible to set CV values without knowing the CV numbers- what they are assigned for, and their values.
It is kind of like driving a car with a blindfold.
I have Prodigy Express and all works fine programming in OPS mode. First you’re going to have to set up your loco (which one by the way?) using cv29 to enable speed curves, that is bit4 on cv29 set to value 1 - see your decoder manual for the proper input # (I’m at my office and my notebook is at the house!) You should be at the default linear speed curve and this is a good place to start. Set cv2 (start voltage) at a low value - my Atlas sd24 used value24 to the point of just moving the engine (with no train) when notched up to the first run notch. You have to play around with this and it will change slightly as you fine tune your settings. Leave the max voltage alone for now. Try setting your CV3 and CV4 (accel and decel both to pretty high values at first (i used 200 for both) Open the throttle and see if you get a hesitation before the loco starts moving (I got my SD24 set so the engine revs BEFORE the loco starts moving (too cool!). Using a linear speed curve would probably not be your best setting at this point but is better for setting up your initial values then go back to the speed table that worked the best. My loco would still “jump” a little at startup instead of creeping forward like it should and the cv3 and cv4 values were way too high at this point but that’s still OK for now. You’ll have to experiment with speed tables at this point. Used table 69 first and after applying this to the loco - guess what - she revved, up and slowly crept away. Same with stopping. I ended up with table 70 I think because 69 was a little too unresponsive at this point or it could have been the opposite. Again, my notes are at the house. I would have to use a very high throttle setting to start a train. Part of that was those high cv3 and cv4 settings we talked about earlier. Now comes the time killer. It’s merely a matter of preference on your cv3 and cv4. After being satisfied with the speed table I started adjusting cv3 and cv4 to where I got a pretty good mix of accel a
I think the short answer to your question is the Bachmann decoders have values similiar to a digitrax decoder. Most run from 0 to 255 with the factory setting usually 0. A top speed setting of 175 to 185 would be reasonable.
Dave,
Thanks for the address on the Bachman instructions, it’s a handy couple of pages.
Tilden