Atlas S2 switchers, 2nd release, now shipping to dealers

[Tom L]

I came home from my last day of work after being laid off from my job of nearly 12 years due to "restructuring" and had my Milwaukee Road S-2 waiting for me in the mailbox. Last train purchase for a while, probably, so I had a few vodka drinks and spent an hour or two switching cars around. I am pretty fussy about engine performance and it was awesome! Quiet and smooth, my new favorite engine.

Turned a bad day into a pretty good day.

Tom L
Wellington Co

[Cajonpassfan]

I agree Bruce, I wish I could buy some zebras rather than having to do my own if the undecs ever get here.... These things are phenomenal!
Tonight, I decided to play with my new baby a bit and I'm so impressed with its performance; the little critter has a lot of power for its size. It can comfortably handle 20 40' and 50' cars on yard duty, more than I expected. The factory decoder settings are pretty good, even have decent momentum which I like. I tested the top speed at about 70mph, a bit high (but not as high as most) and I will trim it to about 35-40. The headlight stays on in both directions, as it should on a switcher, one always dims when trailing. The only thing I find annoying is the fact the sound comes on when the power is switched on or reset; I like my locos to come to life only when called upon... otherwise it's a cacophony. I hope ESU has a CV that allows me to do that, like other decoders do. Anyone know off hand what it is?
Anyway, Atlas has brought us a very impressive model!
Otto K.

[Cajonpassfan]

I came home from my last day of work after being laid off from my job of nearly 12 years due to "restructuring" and had my Milwaukee Road S-2 waiting for me in the mailbox. Last train purchase for a while, probably, so I had a few vodka drinks and spent an hour or two switching cars around. I am pretty fussy about engine performance and it was awesome! Quiet and smooth, my new favorite engine.

Turned a bad day into a pretty good day.

Tom L
Wellington Co

Oh, sorry Tom, that is a bummer; thank god for little pleasures like the S2.
Enjoy it, and best to you, looking for gainful employment! Oh, and easy on the vodka
Otto K.

[Cajonpassfan]

..... These things are phenomenal!
..... The only thing I find annoying is the fact the sound comes on when the power is switched on or reset; I like my locos to come to life only when called upon... otherwise it's a cacophony. I hope ESU has a CV that allows me to do that, like other decoders do. Anyone know off hand what it is?
Otto K.

I had a bit of time to play with the S-2 decoder today. I truly like it, but unlike my other ESU sound decoders which stay quiet until receiving a specific command, this one comes to life when the layout power is turned on (or a reset takes place following a short). This is annoying. The Loksound manual (portion reposted below) notes their default setting is quiet (unlike the Atlas decoder) and  has instructions for having the decoder come to life upon power up, but no setting for the default mode. I don't want to reset everything, just this one function. I don't own a Lokprogrammer, and don't want to buy one at this point. Advice, anyone?
Thanks, Otto K.

[peteski]

I had a bit of time to play with the S-2 decoder today. I truly like it, but unlike my other ESU sound decoders which stay quiet until receiving a specific command, this one comes to life when the layout power is turned on (or a reset takes place following a short). This is annoying. The Loksound manual (portion reposted below) notes their default setting is quiet (unlike the Atlas decoder) and  has instructions for having the decoder come to life upon power up, but no setting for the default mode. I don't want to reset everything, just this one function. I don't own a Lokprogrammer, and don't want to buy one at this point. Advice, anyone?
Thanks, Otto K.

Why do you need the ESU programmer?  Sounds like you have to modify couple of CV values and then F8 will activate the sound.  You can do that on any DCC system's programming track. Or am I missing something?

[Cajonpassfan]

Right. So which CV's do I modify to what values?
Otto

[peteski]

Right. So which CV's do I modify to what values?
Otto

Reading the snippet of the manual you provided earlier, here are the steps (on the programming track):

1. Write value of 2 to CV32
2. Write value of 32 to CV403
3. Write value of 0 to CV13 (this seems to be optional to enable sound when running in DC)

All the numbers are in decimal format.

Since this procedure uses indexed CV registers, Steps 1 and 2 above always have to be done in that exact sequence.

[Cajonpassfan]

Peteski, read it again; those values will get me to where I'm at
I want to get to the ESU default, i.e. quiet until called upon....
Otto

[peteski]

Right. So which CV's do I modify to what values?
Otto

LOL, the way I read that snippet is that the default is SOUND OFF and to change it to ON, you need to program those CVs.  Did you try it?

EDIT: nevermind - I'm not confused too. 

[peteski]

Ok, I took a quick read of the manual and I now see why they recommend using the special programmer - the process and all the possible options are somewhat overwhelming. 
Looks like to set the default F8 behavior to the other state you would write value of 16 when writing to CV403, but I'm not familiar with these decoders enough to be 100% sure that is correct.    Maybe someone more familiar with ESU will be able to chime in.

[jdcolombo]

From the ESU Web site:

http://www.esu.eu/en/support/faq/loksound/loksound-select/

PLEASE NOTE:
Some Manufacturers have had our decoders factory equipped in their locomotives and have opted to have the sound ON as a default. If you have a locomotive with these settings and prefer our standard settings above you will need to set index CV 32 to value of 2 then set CV 403 to a Value of 16. After this Change CV32 to a value 0 then change CV 13 to 128.
You can also change this with the LokProgrammer Software by changing the function mapping for “Not F8” to be “F8” in the conditions drop down menu.

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

Ah, now we're talking, Colombo to the rescue! THANK YOU John!
Sounds like "some manufacturers" here means Atlas....
And Peteski, thanks for trying
Otto

[peteski]

That was quick try.
Hey,  I at least got the correct value of CV 403 right! 

[jdcolombo]

I don't know why Atlas decided to do this.  I guess maybe it was to forestall calls to customer service saying "my S-2 doesn't have any sound."  With the Atlas change, you have sound the moment you power up the engine.  I can imagine that with the normal "press F8 for sound" behavior, some folks would set the engine on the track, not hear anything, and instead of consulting a "quick start guide" packaged with the loco that would have something like PRESS F8 FOR SOUND in large black type, would instead call customer service (or worse - return the loco as non-functioning).

Does Intermountain use the default "press F8 for sound" setup?  Or do they do it the Atlas way?

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well John, nothing is simple
I tried multiple times to reset the decoder per instructions, but it won't take CV 403 from my NCE cab. The screen just resets when I hit enter. I even tried a different cab to make sure it's not a faulty button. It seems to take other instructions fine, just doesn't like CV403 WTH:?
Otto