Intelligent consisting
This is another feature that I didn’t get when I saw it on paper.
It took some playing to fully comprehend the genius of this.
Here is why you want to mount the decoder in the ceiling of
the car and in a consistent location throughout your fleet.
Let me walk you through it. You are making up a mainline
freight and have several cars that will be in the freight that
are SoundCar equipped. You work around in the yard until
you have your consist ready, including, perhaps, a caboose.
Simulate a brake test go down the line and hold a mag-
net to the top of the SoundCar-equipped units. They will
respond with the sound of the hand brake being untied.
Then you press F8 on the loco’s throttle four times within
one minute of when you waved the magnet over the first
SoundCar. You will get a brake bleed-off sound from the
consisted cars.
DCC Impulses Column - 5
Now every SoundCar will react to whatever DCC commands
it is programmed to understand: speed, functions, etc.
Yes, you can remap the F8 enable within each SoundCar
decoder, if you so desire.
Say you get to the ice house and set out a string of reefers
for icing. When you spot the cars, wave the magnet over
the decoder-equipped ones. You will get the sound of a
hand brake being tied down, and the car will stop respond-
ing to the loco’s address.
CurrentKeeper support
Most easily achievable power pickup methods will only have 2
or 3 wheel contacts per rail. In the real world, the result will be
erratic operation in the real world. So, here comes SoundTraxx’
energy storage module, the CurrentKeeper.
4. SoundTraxx CurrentKeeper energy storage module.
SoundTraxx photo.
4
MRH-Sep 2014
