Model Railroading > New CV Setting Options for Athearn SD70ACe locomotives

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share with you a letter that is going out to those customers who bought SD70ACes from the first production run.
The folks at Soundtraxx worked with Athearn engineers and as a result, evolved thinking that includes new CV settings that may enhance your satisfaction of the sounds.

In addition, future runs (including the second run of SD70ACe and the SD70M-2) will have revised CV settings and will also have the tooling altered on the speaker (hole closed and two baffles factory installed)

We are working to bring in retrofit kits and to make them available to anyone who requests one, or alternatively, will install those retrofit kits at our Long Beach facility. We will keep everyone posted as to availability.

All the best,
Gwen Mueller, Director of Proprietary Model Railroading, Horizon Hobby



Here is the letter regarding CV settings:


Dear Athearn Customers,

We believe the Athearn Genesis SD70ACe locomotive model represents the pinnacle of model locomotive development. This achievement is thanks to countless hours of R&D and graphic design work, as well as the hard work of our friends at Soundtraxx in developing the sound recordings for the model, recorded from real SD70ACe locomotives. While many are satisfied with the performance and sound of this fine model, some enthusiasts have expressed a desire for increased volume from their SD70ACe model, in particular the horn. Adjusting the following CVs can help in this regard, as listed below:

• CV 128 = 230 Master Volume
• CV 129 = 255 Horn Volume
• CV 130 = 80 Bell Volume
• CV 131 = 150 Prime Mover Volume
• CV 143 = 50 Channel 14 Mixer (Poppet)
• CV 153 = 7 Equalizer Control
• CV 156 = 165 250Hz Cut/Boost
• CV 157 = 140 500Hz Cut/Boost
• CV 158 = 160 1 KHz Cut/Boost
• CV 159 = 145 2 KHz Cut/Boost:
• CV 160 = 200 4 KHz Cut/Boost
• CV 161 = 7 Reverb Control Register
• CV 162 = 180 Reverb Level
• CV 163 = 32 Reverb Delay Time
• CV 164 = 32 Reverb F.B. Gain Level
• CV 169 = 10 Reverb Ch. 7 Mixer Level

If necessary, please refer to the user manual of your DCC system in regard to reprogramming CVs. Also, if an error is made when changing CVs, or if the new CVs listed above are still not satisfactory, setting CV 8 to a value of 8 will restore the model to its factory default CV settings. Regardless, we hope these revised CVs can further enhance your enjoyment of this fine model.


Sincerely

Athearn, Inc.

Thank you for the update this makes a big difference on the horn. Thanks for a great product, this a great locomotive unlike some other people on this website I have no complaints and I know there might be things to work out on the locomotive.

One thing that all of us on this forum have in common, whether we currently offer praise or criticism for Athearn, is a genuinely high expectation for Athearn and it's products. I believe that those offering criticism are very valuable to Athearn in a "tough love" sort of way. Most have bypassed the offering from MTH, waited longer, and are now a bit frustrated to find out that the Athearn SD70ACe has a few foibles to work out. In the bigger picture, the Athearn Model is so, so close to being one of the best HO scale diesel models ever produced. As a group, we are ready to adorn Athearn's new ACe with that title. OK, so here we are. The model still has a few bugs to work out. If Athearn fixes those issues, we'll have one heck of a model. My money's on the side-lines cheering Athearn on to make those fixes. When that happens, I'll bite.

Athearn, it's tough having pleased us so many times, that we have grown accustomed to having such high expectations for you. We'll keep you in check however. If you want our business, we'll tell you how to get it, even if we're frustrated at the time we tell you how. I know you don't want to thank the people who criticize you, but they're on your side. It's very difficult having an overseas builder, but it looks like a closer relationship may be necessary with your builder...ie, more trips to China. Good luck. We're counting on you...

Gwen, thank you for your posts.

Cheers! MARK

Just changed the settings to match and it really does sound much, much better, I am extremely pleased now, my SD70ACe is a fantastic HO Model

Wow, what a difference. The horn no longer sounds muted. One thing I'm going to do is print the CV's and tape them under the lid of each box so that I don't have to look for the CV's in the future.

Also, I get more of sync from the sound if I change the following CV's:

CV29=50 (Sets to Speed table)
CV25=11 (Sets predefined speed curve). There CV values for 25 are from 0-15, please check the Soundtraxx manual for more info.

Santiago

Dear Ms Mueller;

Thank you for that fix....and I do appreciate it....but there are other urgent things needing to be fixed in this second run...will the faulty trucks with wheels that do not touch the ground be fixed? ... will the headlights be changed to LED's or at the very least, bulbs that last longer than an hour?...or even just fit the oversize openings in the shell instead of hang out of them? Better yet.....lenses?...like you had years ago? Will the globs of glue, the ill-fitting parts and assemblies?.....be fixed?

In so many ways it is a beautiful model....but it is far from being a quality model in all respects. I run my power...not sit it on the shelf to admire...so please...in the future....give running and operating quality more than a passing glance? Not everyone wants a desk trophy....

Bob



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/10 20:21 by navarch1.