SoundTraxx SurroundTraxx - Manual (Page 43)

SurroundTraxx User’s Guide Configuration Guide Page 2:14 SurroundTraxx User’s Guide Configuration Guide Page 2:15
sounds will come on a few seconds after the locomotive is dispatched.
A value between 1 and 255 will direct the sounds to become active
only when the locomotive is addressed. When the locomotive has been
stopped and all functions have been turned off, the sound effects will turn
off automatically by the time elapsed as set by this setting.
The Timeout Period equals the Value selected times 0.25 - therefore
if you wish to have a 15 second timeout period, divide 15 by 0.25 to
arrive at a value of 60, which you will then choose as the value in Sound
Channel 2. Once this value is selected, it will take 15 seconds after the
locomotive has stopped and all functions have been turned off, for the
sound effects to go silent.
Exhaust Control
The Exhaust Control menu item has different characteristics depending
on your selection of a steam or diesel engine. Exhaust Control (EX CTL)
allows you to set up the auto exhaust chuff rate on a steam locomotive
and the notching rate on a diesel locomotive.
Auto Exhaust Rate (Steam)
Auto-Exhaust automatically generates an exhaust chuff rate proportional
to the throttle setting. Since every locomotive is different, EX CTL is used
to match up the Auto-Exhaust rate to the locomotive speed and may be
loaded with any value between 0 and 255. Higher values will yield faster
chuff rates for a given throttle setting.
There are several ways you can determine this value. The easiest may
in fact, just be to adjust the rate while your engine is moving at a typical
speed. You can also compute a rate by using the following formula:
SPD
Value = 115.9 X ——— X Gear Ratio
DIA
SPD is the locomotive’s top speed in scale miles-per-hour at full throttle
and DIA is the locomotive’s driver wheel diameter in scale inches.
Gear Ratio is the gear ratio for shays and other geared engines. For
conventional steam engines, use a Gear Ratio = 1. The driver diameter
can be easily measured with a scale ruler but remember to convert the
measurement to scale inches.
If you don’t know your locomotive’s top speed, you can also estimate it
and still get pretty good results. A good rule of thumb is to use 45 MPH
for freight locomotives and 70 MPH for passenger engines. You can
enter a value from 0-255, whereby 0 = no chuff and 255 = fastest chuff.
Automatic Notching (Diesel)
Setting EX CTL (Exhaust Control) between 1 and 15 enables Automatic
Engine Notching Mode. Automatic notching causes the engine RPMs to
change in proportion to the throttle setting. Pressing emergency stop will
cause the engine to shut down.
Configuration Guide