ESU 73100 with sound file 73856 downloaded - chuff problem

[carlso]

I thank you in advance for outstanding help. Here is what I have:

1).  Athearn 4-8-8-4 Big Boy from their most recent run, purchased analog to add my own sound.

2).  ESU 73100 select decoder, with encased 9x16 speaker.

3).  Sound file # 73856 (actually a Challenger sound file).

4).  I use LP and downloaded the sound file myself.

The loco runs beautifully, typical ESU motor control, the sounds are great BUT I can not get the articulation to show up in the chuffs. I have read and re-read user manuals (??) for the sound file bulletin, LP itself, and the full throttle stuff. I have added sound slots #'s 1&2 to the f8 function and nothing. I can get one chuff fairly well set for one engine but I can not get the second engine to chime in with any chuffs.

Any suggestions or comments are very much appreciated,
Carl

[RBrodzinsky]

Carl, there is no “second set” of chuffs. What you have to do is tune the chuff rates so you are getting twice as many per driver revolution. The second set of drivers should be perfectly out of sync with the first.

[peteski]

Carl, there is no “second set” of chuffs. What you have to do is tune the chuff rates so you are getting twice as many per driver revolution. The second set of drivers should be perfectly out of sync with the first.

Isn't there a setting that enables articulated chuffs, or am I confusing ESU with ZIMO decoders?

[reinhardtjh]

3).  Sound file # 73856 (actually a Challenger sound file).

I was going to ask you why the Challenger sound file when ESU had published a BigBoy the same day (http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/search?q=S0516) then I noticed this:

2).  ESU 73100 select decoder, with encased 9x16 speaker.

So that would explain it. The new file is for the V5 only.   Although Why the 73100 long, narrow Select when a new V5 would surely fit in the tender?  Unless you had the 73100 on hand, but still... The V5 would be so much better.

There is a Big Boy Select file (http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/search?q=73416) but I've heard that it's not very good.  I haven't tried it.

[Jbub]

Isn't there a setting that enables articulated chuffs, or am I confusing ESU with ZIMO decoders?

I'm fairly certain esu has this feature.  IIRC it can be activated on all their steam sound files for v4 and select decoder's

[RBrodzinsky]

There is only one "steam chuff generator".  What is there is CV250, which is labeled "Secondary Steam Chuff trigger"   By default, this is on in the Challenger project, but is not on in, for example, the Mikado project.  The description of it reads: Defines the distance between two consecutive steam chuffs for the secondary steam chuff generator. The value indicates the promilles the steam chuff distances of the secondary steam chuff generator ought to be shorter then those of the primary steam chuff generator. It is needed for steam locos with two independent boogies, such as „Big Boy” or „Mallet”.   In other words, it makes every other chuff just a bit shorter, depending on the value (default=10, or 0.01 sec)

You still have to adjust CV57 and CV58 to get double the chuffs per revolution of the driver. But by having every other one be a bit "different", sounds like they are coming from the different boiler systems.

[peteski]

So CV250 is specifically used to set it up for simulated articulated sound. Cool!

But they are incorrect about Mallets (or compound articulated locos) needing that. Those still only produce 4 chuffs per revolution (or both engines).

[Jbub]

This is what I remember seeing. On the downloads page in the description for the FEF and also all other steam sound files (Files with a description) is this "Articulation: Sound Slot 2
By adding Sound Slot 2 to the F8 Function Mapping you can add a second set of drivers making any ESU Steam File articulated"
If you want to do this, you have to use the LokProgrammer.

[carlso]

Thanks guys, I knew that I asked the right sound guys and pretty much everything mentioned I had already read about. HOWEVER, i completely missed the significance of CV250 and 249. I juust tinkered wwith those two and now have " a second chuff sound". Will tweak tomorrow along with CV's 57&58.

Thanks again,
Carl


John R. - Yes, I had this decoder for another dead project so I used it.