BLI Mikado is a winner

[bbussey]

As disappointing as the P5a performance is, the Mikado that hit the market simultaneously has outstanding performance ... helped no doubt by the all-wheel pickup design.  More people will notice after the P5a disappointment starts to ebb.

I shot two quick videos last night.  The first is the P5a and the speed it took to run reliably, 30 notches on the throttle.

The second is the Mikado on the same track, running at the first notch on the throttle.  It took 2 minutes to traverse the distance that the P5a did in about 15 seconds.  Much more impressive.

The sound portfolio in both models is acceptable, but it goes unnoticed in the P5a due to unreliable performance.  It stands out on the Mikado.

I wouldn't have chosen the Mike to tool with the Kato version still being out there.  But I guess the twist is the good sound package to go with the performance.  It runs as well as Bachmann and Model Power steam, even with the BLI decoder.

[jdcolombo]

And even nicer with a Loksound decoder . . .

John C.

[peteski]

LOL!

[squirrelhunter]

I mentioned on the other thread, but they seem to have improved the keep alive capacity on the new decoders.

I think ESU is a better overall decoder (they are in all my hood units) but I think the operating characteristics of the steam versions of the Paragon 3 and Paragon 4 are generally pretty good, excluding the weird headlight behavior on the Paragon 3 units.

[bbussey]

The ESU line definitely is better, but the Paragon4 is a vast improvement over previous BLI decoders.

[peteski]

Yes, the new 2-8-2's run very well, better than the Paragon 3 run. There are several spots where my Paragon 3 mike stalls, but the Paragon 4 cruises right through on speed step 1.

The keep alives seem to be improved, but comparing the Paragon 4 (top) to the Paragon 3 (bottom), the tan cubes I think are the capacitors look to be the same size.

The above quote was from a message posted in the BLI P5A thread, but I think it is a better fit here.

@squirrelhunter :  You mention that the above photo shows shows Paragon 4 and Paragon 3 decoders.  But the circuit boards look identical. The components, and even the silk-screened part number seem identical from what I can tell (BLI ?-400-C).  If these are really different generation decoders then the difference must be in the microcontroller's firmware?

The "keep-alive" capacitors also seem to be identical between Paragon 3 and 4.  It is surprising that there is a difference in handling power dropouts, unless there are some internal programming changes which make the decoder recover quicker.

Or maybe the newer run of Mikes has  better electric pickup?  The pickups are adjusted more precisely or the chemical blackening of the wheels produces surface that conducts electricity better?

[mike_lawyer]

How does a Paragon 4 decoder compare as far as motor control to say a Zimo MX decoder?  I love the Zimos, they are just so smooth.

[squirrelhunter]

Peteski, I'll double check but the only difference i noted in wheel blacking was the pilot truck on the Paragon 4 2-8-2 wasn't blackened at all, but that truck doesn't pick up power anyway.

As a side note, I called BLI today at lunch and asked if they had any Paragon 4 decoders available for sale to replace the Paragon 3 board in my other 2-8-2. They said they did not at this time but suggested I check back in 6 months or so.

[peteski]

Peteski, I'll double check but the only difference i noted in wheel blacking was the pilot truck on the Paragon 4 2-8-2 wasn't blackened at all, but that truck doesn't pick up power anyway.

Thanks  @squirrelhunter
But you can confirm that the seemingly identical decoders in your photo are in fact Paragon 3 and 4?  Like I mentioned, the components on the board look identical (along with those capacitors).  That would indicate that Paragon 4 does not have any more "keep-alive"  caps than Paragon 3. Or does the Paragon 4 board have some additional caps on the bottom side (not shown in the photo)?

[squirrelhunter]

Yes, the upper decoder is a Paragon 4 that I got last week and the lower one is a Paragon 3 decoder I pulled out of a light 4-6-2.

[peteski]

Yes, the upper decoder is a Paragon 4 that I got last week and the lower one is a Paragon 3 decoder I pulled out of a light 4-6-2.

Ok then, there are no additional keep-alive caps on version 4 (and basically the same other components too).  I wonder where the rumor about more caps originated?

[squirrelhunter]

Ok then, there are no additional keep-alive caps on version 4 (and basically the same other components too).  I wonder where the rumor about more caps originated?

I think BLI said in their marketing that the Paragon 4 would have an improved keep alive, and everyone logically assumed that meant more/bigger caps when it seems to be a firmware improvement.

[peteski]

I think BLI said in their marketing that the Paragon 4 would have an improved keep alive, and everyone logically assumed that meant more/bigger caps when it seems to be a firmware improvement.

Thanks!  The firmware is only my assumption based on the photos of both decoder versions.

[squirrelhunter]

Yep, and that makes the performance of the Paragon 3 even more disappointing, it had the hardware to do what it needed to do, but the firmware was so bad it couldn't. If I was BLI I'd offer a trade in program of some sort to get those decoders off the streets.

[reinhardtjh]

I bet the firmware is in some sort of NVM EEPROM which could be re-programmed if the decoder was set up for it like the ESU and Zimo decoders.  It's too bad since I now have 16 P3 decoders that will become surplus once I replace them with ESU LS5's.