2 3
WIRING INSTRUCTIONS
The following diagram will help you to install the decoder. Lighting, volume, and motor wiring instructions are illustrated below.
When connecting wires, use the following considerations and this master wiring diagram as a guide:
• Secure the decoder in place using double-sided foam tape.
• When wiring the decoder, trim all wires to the necessary length. This will prevent wires from interfering with the drive mechanism and being pinched when closing the body shell.
• To ensure long-term reliability, solder all connections.
Note:
The following diagram serves as a general guide for reference.
Use an 8-Ohm speaker rated for 3 watts.
Ring the Bell (Toby Only)
To ring the bell, press F1 on your controller. This is an on/off function, i.e., once on, the bell
will continue to ring the bell sequence until you turn it off by pressing F1 again to turn it off.
Blow the Whistle (For All Characters Except Toby)
To activate the Whistle, press F2 on your controller to blow the whistle. The longer you press
the key, the longer the whistle will blow. While this allows you to make short or long signals,
F3 is designated as a ‘short’ whistle so you can create whistle signals that will have that nice,
crisp, ‘toot’ regardless of how responsive your controller may be.
Blowdown
Press the F4 key to open the blowdown valve (steam hiss). Press the F4 key again to close the
blowdown valve.
Exhaust Chuff
The exhaust chuff and sounds are automatically generated whenever the locomotive is set
into motion.
Mute the Sound
Pressing F8 will gradually mute all sound effects. Pressing it a second time will allow you to
hear the sounds again.
For now, simply set your controller to Locomotive 3, place the locomotive on the
mainline and see what happens!
Sound Features
The volume levels of the individual sound effects have been pre-adjusted to provide the best possible sound for each character when operating in DCC or DC mode.
However you can also adjust the master volume via DCC operation or a customer-installed potentiometer for both DCC and DC operation. See DCC section for adjustment of master and
individual sound effects via CV selection.
Throttle Features
The Digital Sound Decoder has many advanced throttle features as part of SoundTraxx’s Hyperdrive system.
With the addition of these features, you will be able to better control your locomotive speed under varying conditions.
Decoder Specifications
• Supports extended address mode for assigning any locomotive number up to 9,999.
• Supports advanced consist addressing.
• Supports ‘Operation Mode Programming’, allowing CVs to be changed on the mainline without using a programming track.
Throttle Specifications
• Supports 14, 28 and 128 speed step modes.
• Programmable acceleration, deceleration and starting voltage for prototypical starting and stopping.
• Use of standard and alternate speed tables.
Additional information about automatic sound functions can be found in the User’s Guide available on both the Bachmann (www.bachmanntrains.com) and
SoundTraxx (www.soundtraxx.com) websites.
OPERATING WITH DCC
Your locomotive will respond to address 3 as it would if you had just installed any DCC decoder. Your sound decoder has been shipped with all CVs pre-programmed so you can begin using
your locomotive immediately without having to worry about what adjustments to make. The locomotive’s sound decoder is factory-set with the following “default” function assignments:
LH V + LB V + S - S +
+
+
Headlight (LED) (customer supplied)
+
1.2k Ω
Resistor, 1/4 Watt
Backlight (LED) (customer supplied)
GND
VOL
3.3V
98
RL -M +M RR
1.2k Ω
Resistor, 1/4 Watt
Motor - (Gray)
Motor + (Orange)
M2
M1
Left Rail
Right Rail
Existing Polarity
Switch Board
Volume Potentiometer (customer supplied).
Although not required, the Volume Potentiometer will act as an external volume control
in both DC and DCC modes. Use a panel-mount, single-turn 10k Ω potentiometer.
Sound Decoder
Speaker (customer supplied)
Speaker -
Speaker +
F0
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
Function Key
Default Effect
Sound Decoder Function Assignments
Lighting (Lights NOT Factory Installed)
Bell On/Off (Toby Only)
Whistle On/Off (All Characters Except To by)
Short Whistle (All Characters Except To by)
Blowdown
(Not Assigned)
(Not Assigned)
(Not Assigned)
Mute
Programming the CVs
As you see, no programming is necessary to begin enjoying your sound system. However…
after you have had a chance to play with your decoder for a little while, you may wish to
make some changes such as selecting a new address or altering a sound effect. The following
section will introduce you to CVs and how and why you might wish to change them.
What is a CV?
CV stands for Configuration Variable, which is the industry-adopted term for a decoder’s user-
programmable memory locations. CVs allow you to customize individual decoder properties
such as the address, momentum, throttle response, sound volume and much more. Once a CV
has been programmed, the setting will be permanently remembered even after the power
has been turned off. A CV can be modified as often as necessary by simply reprogramming it
with a new value. These adjustments will require an NMRA-compatible DCC system capable
of changing CV values.
The factory installed decoders are preset so that they ship with the proper “voices”. Items
such as the exhaust chuff rate have already been calculated and optimized for the locomotive.
The decoder is set to operate immediately using either a 12 Volt DC power pack or NMRA-
compatible DCC command station.
Programming Procedure
As each DCC system is different, the procedure for programming a CV will vary depending
upon the system. Unfortunately, we cannot provide detailed instructions to cover every
command station and have to assume that you have some level of understanding regarding
its capabilities and operating procedures. For specific programming procedures, please
consult your DCC system manual.
Resetting the CVs or Starting Over
Occasionally, something goes wrong and the sound system will not respond as expected.
Usually, this is caused by one or more CVs being programmed to the wrong value. All CVs
can be quickly reset to their factory default values using the following procedure.
1. Program CV 8 to a value of 8 using either Service Mode or Operations Mode.
2. Place the locomotive on a powered section of track. If locomotive is already on the
mainline, turn power to the track off and then back on.
3. After power is restored to the track there should be no indication of activity for a
period of six seconds. If sound comes on immediately upon restoring power, the
decoder did not reset. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
4. Once the six-second period has elapsed, the sound should come on indicating that the
CVs were successfully reset.
5. The decoder will now respond to short address 3 just as it did when it was first used or
installed and all CVs are now reset to original factory-programmed (default) values.
Sound Volume
CV 128 selects the Master Sound Volume for each character. This adjustment will adjust the
overall volume up or down of all the sounds associated with the character.
Note: If your locomotive has a volume control knob, it must be ON. Make sure that it is
turned up enough so that you can hear your changes before entering a value into CV 128.
In addition to the Master Volume CV, the following individual sound volumes can be adjusted:
Selecting a Different Character
Please note that not all characters have all sound effects! If for some reason you wish to
select a different “character”, adjust the value in CV 115 (Character Select CV) as follows:
OPERATING USING A DC POWER PACK
While the sound system installed in your Bachmann model is first and foremost a DCC
decoder, it may be used on a DC powered layout. When operating in analog mode, you
may control your locomotive using an ordinary power-pack though operation will be a bit
different than when running non-decoder equipped locomotives. With the power pack’s
throttle set to zero, the decoder will be silent as it has no power. The throttle must be turned
up to approximately 9 Volts to provide sufficient voltage to power up the internal circuitry of
the decoder. Increasing the throttle further will set the locomotive in motion, increasing speed
as the throttle is increased. Note that the direction can only be changed when the locomotive
128
129
130
131
136
137
Master Volume
Whistle Volume
Bell Volume
Steam Exhaust Volume
Blowdown Volume
Steam Release Volume
0 - 255
0 - 255
0 - 255
0 - 255
0 - 255
0 - 255
Sound Volume CVs
125
195
125
150
135
64
CV Description Range Default
Thomas
Percy
Edward
James
Henry
Gordon
Toby
Spencer
Emily
Character
CV Value
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
(factory setting)
CV 115, Character Selection
Power In
Power In
To Programming Track Output
To Programming Track Output
Programming Track
To Programming Track
POWER
SUPPLY
COMMAND
STATION
PTB-100
ACKN
COMM
FAULT
BLACK
BLACK
ORANGE
ORANGE
YELLOW
YELLOW
Status LEDs
To Power Supply or Power
Inputs on Command Station
General Wiring Diagram for the SoundTraxx PTB-100
PROGRAMMING AND READING CVS
If your decoder is otherwise working properly (i.e., responds properly on the mainline to
speed and direction commands) but your command station is having trouble reading CV data,
it may be due to incompatibilities between the electrical requirements of the decoder (which
are different from conventional decoders due to the added audio circuitry) and the electrical
characteristics of your programming track. In such an event, you will need to use a Program-
ming Track Booster, such as SoundTraxx PTB-100 (P.N. 829002). The PTB-100 amplifies the
programming track signals to levels that work best with Tsunami. It is easy to install
(see diagram to right) and inexpensive. An advantage to using the PTB-100 is that it also
provides short-circuit detection and some helpful diagnostics.
FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS
The custom decoder has been pre-programmed
for a great ready-to-run experience. However,
there are features available that you may wish to
experiment with or adjust to suit your personal
preferences. These adjustments will require the
use of a DCC system capable of changing CV
values (Configuration Variables). Some features
will require a little explanation.
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