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Quantum Engineer DC Controller Review
by Don Fiehmann
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DCC vs. dc operation
Once upon a time I wrote an short article called
“To DCC or not to DCC”. I was surprised at the number
of comments made about my statement that DCC was becoming a de-facto
standard. There have been polls taken asking modelers if they run
with dc or DCC. In both cases a large number of modelers fit into
the DC FOREVER GROUP. My personal survey shows that there are a
number of modelers that find dc operation meets their needs and
have no plans to convert to DCC. Others are on the fence about converting
to DCC.
Quantum Engineer mounted on a power pack
Even the most faithful of the dc only group seem
to cave in when they hear that whistle blow. This translates to
a market for operating sound on a dc layout. QSI has found a way
to fill this market with controllable sounds in their DCC/dc decoders.
The QSI sound decoders can be controlled either by DCC or dc. On
dc sound control is done by flipping the reversing switch to signal
the locomotive to operate the whistle/horn or bell. I always felt
this was ingenious but still a somewhat awkward way to control sounds.
The first remedy was the QSI Side Kick that gave push button control
of the whistle/horn and bell when operating on dc.
The DCC/dc decoder lets a modeler run a locomotive
at home on dc and at their club on DCC or the other way around.
You could continue to use dc and when you convert to DCC your engines
will work with no conversion.
QSI has expanded on the Side Kick concept with
their new Quantum Engineer™ (QE) add-on control system. The
QE works in conjunction with the newer QSI decoders equipped with
Quantum Analog Remote Control™ (QARC). The QE control box will
even control the bell and horn/whistle of older QSI decoders without
the QARC feature plus the many new features added by QARC. The QE
adds many push buttons to control the new added features of the
QSI QARC decoders.
The QE connects between a standard power pack and
the track. The QE gets its power from the power pack. The decoder
is sent commands from the QE using coded signals. The QSI decoder
can decipher either the QARC commands from the QE or standard DCC
commands. The list of features incorporated in the QE and with locomotives
equipped with the QARC technology is impressive.
Simple wiring to connect the system
to the rails.
One nice feature of the QE is the keys are all
labeled with the functions they control. Easier than the DCC controllers
where the keys are mostly marked only with a number you have to
remember for the function. Presently the highest number of function
keys on any DCC cab is F0 to F19 or 20 functions. There are 28 keys
on the QE. Some of the QE sounds are different depending on whether
the engine is in neutral or moving. Many of the keys have a triangle
in the upper right. This means the key will turn on with a single
key press and off with a double click of the key.
Not all of the QE features are included in all
QSI decoder equipped locomotives. The features depend on the type
of locomotive, like Mars light that may or may not be on the prototype
and the model follows the prototype.
The QE comes with a 24 page instruction manual
and two Velcro to mount the unit in a handy location like the power
pack. You can download the instruction manual for more information
than is in this review. Go to the www.soundsliketrains.com website
to get the manual and other information.
Testing
In my fleet of locomotives I have a couple of engines
that have the Quantum Analog Remote Control feature and one without.
To test the operation of the Quantum Engineer I used two different
power packs. The first was a filtered dc pack and the other was
unfiltered. Both of these packs worked OK with the QE without any
problems. There is a list of acceptable power packs in the QSI dc
manual.
At first neither engine would run on dc. It took
me a bit to remember (senior moment!) that I had set CV 29 (bit
2 off) in both engines so they would not run on dc. (Factory default
has this bit set on for dc operation.) The fix was to use DCC to
turn the bit on. Once on both engines worked on dc and would work
with commands from the QE controller.
The QE was connected between the dc power pack
and the track. The engine sounds started operating at about 4 volts.
At about 6 volts the QE red power light turned on. The QE would
not operate until the light was on. The engines started moving at
about 8 volts.
The new QE controls the many functions
of the QARC decoders on DC power.
A scope was connected to the output of the QE to
look at the commands. The commands are transmitted at a slow speed
using a relay that simulates reversing the polarity like flipping
the reversing switch back and forth. You can hear the relay click
as it sends a command. This is a reliable form of data transmission.
Each command comprises of a start bit followed by 8 data bits and
can be from 270 ms to 510ms long. There is a short delay between
the key operation and the command transmission. On some commands
the decoder acknowledges the command with one of the sounds like
a short air release.
There are two settings for throttle response :
STC for Standard and RTC Regulated. STC gave a quicker response
for switching and RTC a momentum for mainline operation. RTC seemed
to activate the Back-EMF function because the engine would slip
the wheels at low speed if you tried to stall it. The sound volume
could be changed at any time with the up and down volume keys. Handy
if you need to lower the volume when the phone rings or just hit
the mute key for silence.
My Atlas TrainMaster would start at about 8 volts,
but the top speed was only 11 mph. How did I know the speed! I used
the Status Report key on the QE and got a verbal readout of the
speed! The speed problem was corrected by going into the program
mode with the QE and stepping through to the reset command.( Each
step replies with a verbal response.) This reset the decoder to
the default settings and the engine then acted normally. The V-start
and V-max setting can also be adjusted in the program mode.
I wanted to run the two QARC locomotives as a consist.
For consisting there is a Helper step in the programing mode that
sets up an engine as -Normal, Lead, Mid, End or Pusher. The helper
function controls which lights work with direction settings. The
only way to be sure that only one engine decoder is changed when
using the program mode is to removed the other from the rails. The
red power light blinks to indicate that you are in the program mode.
The Brake Set and Brake Release keys do many things.
Tap the set key and the engine will coast to a stop. Hold the key
and the braking rate will increase and you may hear the brakes squealing
as you stop. Once stopped a double click of the release key will
get you going again. The power pack can be left set to the desired
speed setting. When the brake is released the engine will return
to previous speed.
The Load key lets the engine produce a labored
sound when accelerating or drifting sounds when decelerating. This
is a neat feature to use when going up or down a grade or pulling
a long string of cars.
I have a steam engine with a QSI decoder that did
not have the QARC feature. It would correctly respond to the bell
and horn/whistle keys. Any other key pressed the bell would ring.
There are a lot more functions than can be squeezed
into these few pages. The manual that comes with the QE is 24 pages
long. For more information download the manual and other QE information
from Sound-Like-Trains website.
Word from QSI is that QARC technology is in all
Atlas, Life Like, Canadian Hobby Craft, and Intermountain Quantum
equipped locomotives. QARC is in all BLI locomotives from the Pennsy
K4 onward (Software released on August 14, 04). All earlier BLI
engines will not have QARC technology but there will be an upgrade
program through Sounds-Like-Trains available soon.
Conclusion
The Quantum Engineer’s list price of $59.99
fills in the need for DCC like operations with out the cost of a
DCC system. It is a good solution for a small layout and a single
operator and only a few locomotives. This system is not a standard
and it only works with locomotives equipped with QSI decoders. If
you ever convert to DCC the QSI equipped locomotives will operate
with no changes. The QE only works with QSI decoder equipped locomotives.
The graphics in this review were copied from the
QE instruction manual.
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