walthers n scale 2-8-8-2 DCC

[propmeup1]

Question : Can this engine be programed to have the whistle and bell sound off like other decoders do during starting and stopping. I have one here with no manual.    Thanks,

KTB

[peteski]

If it is the same as mine, it likely has a QSI Revolution decoder.  Those were (and still are) quite advanced sound decoders.  The manual is over 400 pages long!  I have not tried and serious customization.  There is a group dedicated to these decoders. Unless someone here has done any advanced QSI modifications you might want to join https://groups.io/g/QSIndustries  and ask there.

[propmeup1]

Ok. Thank you.  Now I don’t feel like such a dope. 😆.

[jdcolombo]

To be a little more specific, the decoder in the 2-8-8-2 was a Quantum Revolution, and I'm pretty sure this link will take you to the manual for it (it comes from Quantum's web site):
http://qsindustries.com/manuals/full%20dcc%20manual.pdf

The Quantum decoders were way ahead of their time.  For example, I think they were the first to use BEMF and motor speed for chuff syncing, and it worked amazingly well - so well that I wondered at first if my 2-8-8-2 had a cam!  They also were the first to used indexed CV's, and had voice confirmation of CV changes.  But they also were the most difficult to do any custom programming with.  Even as complicated as the ESU LokSound can be, the QSI was an order of magnitude worse.  I disliked them because of that and because of their weird startup and shutdown sequence.  I finally replaced the decoder (and speaker) in my 2-8-8-2 with an ESU LokSound.  But it was a very-well engineered product and worked very well if you didn't want to mess with the standard programming too much.

John C.

[peteski]

To add to what John mentioned, these have the capability to change (rewrite) complete sound projects just like contemporary decoders from ESU or ZIMO.  Just like with ESU and ZIMO, QSI has their own USB-to-Decoder interface device  (Quantum Programmer) and also Windows-based software to perform the uploads and also to manage all those CVs in a more friendly way (similar in functionality to LokProgrammer).  And that was all over 20 years ago, when other American DCC manufacturers were still making mostly silent decoders. QSI went as far as having custom computer chips made for them.  Unfortunately things happened to bring the company down. There are still QSI decoders to be found (Titan was their latest decoder stereo speaker capability - another QSI innovation).  As I see it, if they were still a viable company, they would be producing one the best decoders available.

That decoder in Walthers 2-8-8-2 Mallet was custom made specifically to fit the tender of that model.