10-13-2010, 05:27 PM
Hi Guys,
Some interesting points, but 1st, the isolation - line the interior of the shell with electrical tape. Cheap, thin, and sound-deadening (prevents ringing).
Second, I can program Tsunamis on the main with my MRC Prodigy Advanced2 and Wireless... I've never had a problem with them there. Not having tried to match loco speeds, I've found the Tsunami motor control excellent, and the choice of speed tables sufficient for good performance. I've never tried MU-ing locos of different manufacturers, so I can't say how much of a bother this is.
As for the Micro, I wouldn't, for a couple of reasons. 1st, it is only 3/4 of an amp. Second, there's no extra lighting outputs. F0 front and rear is all you get. No extras for strobes, fireboxes, markers, ditchlights, etc.
Both the Tsunami AT and the Micro come with a stay-alive capacitor, so no worries there. In the case of the AT decoder, it's already hard-wired to the board.
As far as the QSI's go, their sound is good, but a miggle I have with them is the song-and-dance I've needed to do to program a long address. Unlike the Tsunami where I can change the long address in ops mode, every QSI I've used I've had to go through the change CV49/50/56 (or whatever, I always have to pull out the manual to do it) to the value for CV 17, then the value for CV 18. All the Tsunami's I've used have taken long-addresses in ops mode direct from the Prodigy.
I agree that Soundtraxx missed the boat by not making the decoders programmable, but given their other strengths, it's a weakness I'm willing to accept.
Some interesting points, but 1st, the isolation - line the interior of the shell with electrical tape. Cheap, thin, and sound-deadening (prevents ringing).
Second, I can program Tsunamis on the main with my MRC Prodigy Advanced2 and Wireless... I've never had a problem with them there. Not having tried to match loco speeds, I've found the Tsunami motor control excellent, and the choice of speed tables sufficient for good performance. I've never tried MU-ing locos of different manufacturers, so I can't say how much of a bother this is.
As for the Micro, I wouldn't, for a couple of reasons. 1st, it is only 3/4 of an amp. Second, there's no extra lighting outputs. F0 front and rear is all you get. No extras for strobes, fireboxes, markers, ditchlights, etc.
Both the Tsunami AT and the Micro come with a stay-alive capacitor, so no worries there. In the case of the AT decoder, it's already hard-wired to the board.
As far as the QSI's go, their sound is good, but a miggle I have with them is the song-and-dance I've needed to do to program a long address. Unlike the Tsunami where I can change the long address in ops mode, every QSI I've used I've had to go through the change CV49/50/56 (or whatever, I always have to pull out the manual to do it) to the value for CV 17, then the value for CV 18. All the Tsunami's I've used have taken long-addresses in ops mode direct from the Prodigy.
I agree that Soundtraxx missed the boat by not making the decoders programmable, but given their other strengths, it's a weakness I'm willing to accept.