Broadway Limited Decoder Swap - Video


D&J RailRoad

D&J RailRoad

Professor of HO
I recently bought this Broadway Limited EMD E8 set of two As and a B unit. Running them on my layout brought back the forgotten problems of the QSI decoders. Seems that any little glitch in the DCC signal would cause these to stop and reboot then proceed. Pretty aggravating when doing an op session.
I decided to swap out the QSI decoders with the ESU #58420 sound decoder. This unit is the first one through the trial and error of the swap.
The biggest problem was getting the LED headlights and number board lights working on independent outputs of the decoder.
After the install, I logged onto the ESU project page and downloaded a project file for the EMD E8 and loaded that to the decoder using my LokProggrammer. The prototype horn is a single tone, sorta like a tug boat, but I replaced that with a Leslie RS3L sound.

 
I have a BLI 4-12-2 that is on my 'replace decoder' list. It runs good, but any little thing will cause a reset, just as you mentioned. My favorite sound decoder is Soundtraxx, however.
 
Looks and sounds good.

I have two F7s an A unit and a B unit with QSI decoders. So far no problems. I am hoping it stays that way.
 
Very nice Ken!
I have a BLI SD40-2 that needs a decoder swap, unless I can load a different horn file into it. Right now it sounds like a game show buzzer!
 
Rico said:
Very nice Ken!
I have a BLI SD40-2 that needs a decoder swap, unless I can load a different horn file into it. Right now it sounds like a game show buzzer!
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Can you load ESU files for the LOK decoder? You can go to the ESU web page and download a program file that has been fine tuned for many variations of the SD40-2. You can actually test the sounds on line before downloading them.
 
gjohnston said:
Looks and sounds good.

I have two F7s an A unit and a B unit with QSI decoders. So far no problems. I am hoping it stays that way.
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My local BLI dealer used to tell me that the QSI decoder was designed and manufactured to strict adherence to NMRA standards for decoders. If that's so, why are all other decoders able to handle blips and track problems without rebooting?
I'll have some QSI decoders for sale when I'm done with these swaps.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Running them on my layout brought back the forgotten problems of the QSI decoders.
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That's exactly what Broadway is said to have done. They didn't develop their own decoders, they copied the QSI ones. QSI decoders were very forward-thinking at the time, but poorly executed. Not surprising that BLI has problems constantly...
 
I believe BLI has used at least 4-5 different decoders over the years (maybe more), so that's why I asked.
 
They're using LokSound now, but ESU's attitude toward Americans is pretty condescending. They look down their noses at us because we aren't typically well versed on how the DCC signal works at the computer language level and don't do the programming like they do so our layout operates on its own for us to just watch.
 
The ESU decoder is much more compact than the Tsunami. I have the LokProggramer as well and ESU offers quite a bit of project files with modified sound profiles that can be downloaded. The one drawback to the ESU is how long it takes to change a sound file in the decoder. For a Tsunami, its just a matter of seconds. For the ESU it might take upwards of 10 minutes.
 
beiland said:
What decoder did that 4-12-2 come with?
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Way late here but it depends on the series of engine. That is the way to determine what decoder. If it is an original Paragon (will NOT say Paragon 2,3,4) then it will be QSI or ESU, most used QSI. If a BlueLine, then it used a BlueLine decoder, Paragon 2 a Paragon 2, etc. From BlueLine and up they are all made in house by their own hardware/software developer. So they are NOT QSI/ESU, etc. but their own thing.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
They're using LokSound now, but ESU's attitude toward Americans is pretty condescending. They look down their noses at us because we aren't typically well versed on how the DCC signal works at the computer language level and don't do the programming like they do so our layout operates on its own for us to just watch.
Click to expand...
If talking about BLI, that is quite the opposite. Since BlueLine, which came after the original Paragon series (not to be confused with Paragon 2,3,4) they have been made in house from their own software/hardware developer, who is a direct employee of BLI.

I know these are late to when the last posts are but put them there for future reference if anyone runs into this post.
 
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