Help Needed KOBO LokSound Select Start Delay Issue

[Peter Amling]

Hi all,
I'm experiencing a problem with my new Kato Milwaukee Road FP7s. I purchased the A+B set with ESU LokSound preinstalled and they work great. I was so pleased I bought the other A unit, 95C, also with LokSound preinstalled.

They are perfectly speed matched and sound great. With the sound on they all start with the same delay. However, 95C will start with no delay with it's sound off, while the A+B set will still have the same start delay as if their sound was on. I would like 95C to mimic this behavior.

I've done a little digging, and tried a few things already. I have the ECoS command station and have ensured all the visible settings between the locos are the same, these are the settings found in the command station such as starting voltage, sound levels, momentum, speed, etc. That has not helped. I've also checked CV124 and it is at 20, same as the pair. I'm hesitant to do a factory reset until I ask for help here. I've also thought that perhaps the decoders are running different firmware?

Anyway, any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks!

[RBrodzinsky]

It might be a firmware level difference, but you will need access to a LokProgrammer to check and update. I wouldn’t think there would be any major difference on these units, however. I would be more suspecting of the sound project either being different, or an issue when it was loaded.

[tehachapifan]

Out of curiosity, why are you running it with the sound off?


… I reread your post and I see now that your talking about when all the units have their sound off.

[Peter Amling]

Thanks for your replies. I would assume the project should be the same for all of them. I don't have access to a LokProgrammer but was thinking about purchasing one. Do you think it would be best to contact Kato about the unit?

[tehachapifan]

In the Lokprogrammer program on the Driving Characteristics page, there is a checkbox called "delay starting if drive sound is enabled" but I think unchecking it only makes the loco start moving immediately when the sound is on versus making the delay occur with the sound either on or off. Perhaps someone else can confirm this one way or the other but, if not, I can try this out in one of my locos to see what happens.

[RBrodzinsky]

That is what it is supposed to do, but starting delays are also affected by the overall prime mover slot.   Why I wondered on whether they were different projects. I have seen different behavior depending on the project, independent of the CV124 setting.

[tehachapifan]

That is what it is supposed to do, but starting delays are also affected by the overall prime mover slot.   Why I wondered on whether they were different projects. I have seen different behavior depending on the project, independent of the CV124 setting.

I've seen what you're talking about on one of my LokSound-equipped locos that has an automatic cycling between a high and low idle at standstill. If it is in the process of transitioning between the high and lower idle when I hit speed step 1, it sometimes won't start moving for maybe another second or two after where it normally starts. This causes a bit of a herky-jerky start when it's in a lashup. On a sort of related note, I have a couple other locos with another sound file that also cycles between a high and low idle where, if I hit F8 during one of these transitions, the sound will abruptly stop instead of playing the shutdown sequence. Quirky little gadgets, but I love 'em!

[Steveruger45]

Hi Russ,
This fast and slow idle thing is giving me a headache on a couple of gp60 installs I not long ago completed.
Is there a way to turn off fast idle completely or at least assign a function button to switch it off?
At the moment I just let it run up on fast idle and then Turn to speed step one and back to zero again to get rid of it.  For some reason fast idle once on just stays on, well I mean I haven’t let it run for several minutes to find out if it will cycle back again to slow idle.

[tehachapifan]

Steve, I have not run across a way to turn off the automatic cycling of the fast/low idle yet. While I didn't ask about turning it off, I did post a question at the ESU forums about how one might extend the time that it stays at fast and at low idle. While I do like the effect, the constant revving up and down is a bit too frequent for my liking (I would prefer it to stay at high/low idle for minutes versus seconds). I have not rec's a response to my question yet. My hunch is that this might be something that might be adjustable in the V4 Micro but not the Select Micro.

...On a sort of related note, I think that some effects with certain brands of decoders might be affected by the type and or brand of DCC system and/or controller being used. For example, I do have a Digitrax sound decoder installed in a Kato SD70M which, for the life of me, I can't get the sound to shut down in unless I turn off the power to the layout. My understanding is, with at least a Digitrax system/controller, the loco should automatically shut down after a certain amount of time one the loco is deselected. No matter what I do with my MRC Prodigy Express so far, the loco's sound will not shut down.

[Steveruger45]

Russ, thanks for that. Appreciate. At least I now know there isn’t an easy way of adjustment for this that I couldn’t find.