Kato Big Boy with Factory Sound Wired Wrong

[peteski]

I think Ian was trying to ask why Kato doesn't just put a normal motor and and function decoder in the engine, which you say can be done, and then add a sound ONLY decoder in the tender for sound units.
I'm sure it could be done that way but one thing I think may be difficult to overcome would be syncing the chuffs to at least one set of drivers. It would be impossible to sync it to both without the use of mechanical system to send a pulse from each driver set to the decoder, but to have it even be remotely close without having a BEMF readback to the decoder from the motor might ruin the effect for those who are interested in sound.

Why? IMO, it is because Kato does their own "thing".  I think most of us realize that by now.  They march to the beat of their president's drummer. Usually that is not a bad thing (and can even be innovative), but sometimes they make moves which seem not to make much sense.  And of course the Kato quality is excellent (barring the latest decoder installs, which do no appear to be done by fastidious Kato employes).

As for chuffing, that as you mentioned is not an issue.  Pretty much every N scale steam uses a virtual cam (not a cam synced with the drivers) to produce chuffing.  Some decoder brands are better than others at this. Besides, with 2 separate engines, there are no decoders out there I know of which could handle dual sync.

[peteski]

Right...

The dual motor design is innovative but if your in the market for a DCC/Sound Big Boy.. the Broadway Limited or Athearn examples look very tempting in comparison.

You'd have to work with a DCC mfg to design a custom decoder, but what if you did a small chip like the LL SW1200 right under each motor..

I wonder if the locomotive is designed with the Japanese market in mind where DCC Ready may not be as important.

Yes, I'm sure it was designed with Japanese market in mind.  But I really think they wanted to just make a "different" model that has a well balanced weight distribution over the drivers. and engines which can go out of sync.  If you look the write-up I started about installing a decoder (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=56254.0), you will see that they make allowance for DCC installs, but the articulated dual motors make this challenging.

I don't see how you could split a sound decoder in 2 like you can with non-sound decoders. Even if you did, you would have to connect them with multiple wires (not just 2 or 4).  Plus, there really isn't any room in that loco.  Clearances are tight and you woudl  not want to remove any weight.  As I see it a tender based decoder is really the best solution for N scale steam  locos.

And for a reference, here is a write-up of a sound decoder install by Kato USA's former installer. https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=56917.0

[u18b]

Why? IMO, it is because Kato does their own "thing".  I think most of us realize that by now.  They march to the beat of their president's drummer.

I second Pete. 
As a CSX fan, Kato used to drive me crazy (they are vastly better now).  I used to keep track when it was bad (I have since stopped) but at one point, something like 7 out of 10 CSX releases had something wrong with the painting. (their CSX releases have been great for a while now).

Some of this was poor research.  And/or failing to reach out to fans for help.  And maybe there were fewer photos on the internet back then (but I doubt this one).

But one case in point:  When they did the CSX Transportation scheme on the SD40 in the first run years ago, they used the wrong road number (8323).   There were only about 11 locomotives painted with the word TRANSPORTATION spelled out and only one of them was painted on an SD40 (number 8310). 

When I pointed this out to a Kato rep, he told me the boss had picked the road number.

OK.  When the boss wants something, it happens.
 

[R L Smith]

OK.  When the boss wants something, it happens.
 

My wife feels the same way.  Which usually results in a discussion of which one of us is the boss...