Speedmatching First Generation Tsunami Decoders The Easier Way

Those model railroaders that own locomotives containing first generation Tsunami decoders know that they are not the easiest to speed match due to not supporting CVs 5 and 6. This means you have to resort to the full speed table to match to a lot of locomotives. Many times this is not easy BUT there is an easier way to implement the speed table and simulate the 3-point speed curve.

This refers to the post on ESU decoders this author made in October of 2025 located here. This post also applies to any other decoders that do not support the CVs  but do have the speed table capability.

Some people, after reading that article, may have realized this by now but this is just a reminder that it can be used as advertised on just about any decoder as necessary.

Try it out. This can be a good time saver.

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If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it. 

Plug for Keep Alives on Soundtraxx Decoders

Figure 1 Digikey keep alive plug

Digikey has female plugs that will work with the keep alive male plugs on Soundtraxx decoders. These are shown in figure 1. Go to Digikey.com and search for part# 455-3001-ND. If you buy more than one they are less than a dollar apiece.

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If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it

Starting A Model Railroad Club In The 21st Century

Model Railroader just published an article on how to start a model railroad club. It is spot on! Some of it is stated in a funny manner but is the absolute truth. In our club, The Hostlers Model Railroad Club of Ogden Utah, this author has seen a lot of what is discussed first hand. Give it a read and if you are already in a club he thinks you'll agree with what is discussed. 

If you're thinking about starting one, definitely give it a read. It will help you out immeasurably!

Read the article here.

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If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it.

Keeping the DT602 Screen On As Long As Possible

By now 99% of Digitrax's DT602 throttle owners realize that the Screen On time is a huge pain. Well Jon Jet of the Digitrax groups.io forum has figured out how to get a max of about 23 minutes of active screen time before it wants to shut down. There are three settings you have to make in the Throttle Options and they are:

ID13=On  

ID14=On  

ID18=0

You can get to them and their explanation here. This is the best we can do to keep the display on.

Hope this settles some nerves with the display. Remember, the batteries won't last as long with these settings.

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If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it.

Possibly Revive A "Bricked" ESU Decoder?

The Indian Rail Modeler of the LokSound groups.io forum summarized a procedure that was originally presented by Peteski of the same group. It involved the possible revival of an apparently "bricked" V5 ESU Decoder. What the word apparently means is that it may be just scrambled not completely unusable.

To accomplish this you will need another known good decoder of the same type i.e. for a micro you'll need another micro, for a 21 pin you'll need another 21 pin, etc. (same version also v4, v5) Also, you'll need to load the sound project into the Programmer. Given these requirements, the procedure consists of the following 5 steps.

1. Take out the non-responsive decoder from the locomotive (or decoder test card)

2. Put a good decoder of the same type into the locomotive (or decoder test card)

3. Read decoder into the lokprogrammer project

4. Switch the good decoder with the non-responsive decoder

5. With the same project open, Re-write the firmware (Tools Menu - Update decoder firmware)

 Try 2 or 3 times if necessary. If it doesnt work after a third try it is probably "bricked".

This procedure is worth a try. At the cost of decoders today, if you can recover one or two you've saved a fair amount of money.

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If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it.