The Home Machinist!

I am interested in installing a sound system such as Soundtrax on my Davenport. Has anyone done this for their project?

This uses a 24v motor and two marine batteries, and a Curtis pulse width controller. As I understand it, the sound system senses the voltage going to the motor to simulate the "reving up" of the engine. Does the sound system need to use 12v? If so, how would I wire it on my system? Would an amplifier be needed to drive the larger speaker for ride-on scale?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

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Dan Watson
Building IC mikado in 1.5" scale

Hey Dan,

Have you tried contacting Duncan Herring direct with this question? He uses a Phoenix sound system on his diesels and it sounds fantastic. He would probably have some pointers for you.
Bobby

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www.BuckinghamCentralRR.com

Dan, I did a little research for sound systems because I'll be putting one in my 3/4" scale F units.... I haven't bought anything yet, but I did talk to the owner of Dallee Electronics at the York, PA. TCA (lionel) meet in April of this year... I will be using his boards and controllers for the F's...
Here's a link to their website, and if you want to come to the TCA show in October of this year and look/listen to his products, just let me know and I'll get you in (it's for TCA members only).....
John
http://www.dallee.com/

Bobby,
I haven't met Duncan but perhaps I can talk to him about this in Florida in February.

John,
Don't think I can make it up to York in Oct but I'll be interested in what you find out. Are you planning to use a 24v system with your F units?

Dan

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Dan Watson
Building IC mikado in 1.5" scale

Dan, That will be discussed here in this forum when I get ready to purchase motors/controllers.... As I really don't know..
John

Dan, Have you deceided on a sound system yet? I've been looking around, but haven't really found anything that I like...
John

John,
No, I haven't gotten that far yet. I've decided to rework the electricals so I can put the controller in the loco, and also need to finish the hood and cab to get rid of the shabby-looking plywood shell. Just haven't gotten to the sound system.
Dan

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Dan Watson
Building IC mikado in 1.5" scale

What ever you do......do not purchase a sound system from "Southern Locomotive Works"

I made the mistake years ago and had en electronic controller built by this guy and it did not work and he never did try to make it right.

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Dennis Blank Jr.
Rdgk1se3019@hotmail.com

Last year I got a deal on a Decho RS-3 unit but I discovered I had a bad amplifier in it when I got to power it up. I stripped out everything and put a Dallee unit in it with their 22 watt amplifier and it sounds good. I hope it will sound better after I replace the aging speakers. All of the sounds are actual digital recordings. The unit will accept up to 24 VDC input.

Installing it was not too terrible after I enlisted the help of someone who is less dangerous with electronics than I. My biggest stumbling block was where to pick up the variable DC voltage. We settled on the tapping the controller power block and it works great now with the variable prime mover sounds.

Regards,

Buddy

I have a very early RMI 25t switcher that I built from a "kit" before they actually had instructions. I ordered it with the "sound" option and it came with a laughably small 3" speaker. I was never able to make the sound work. The RMI sound unit was inside the hand held controller box. I would like to replace it with something that actually works. The Phoenix sound listed installation instructions for ride-on locomotives:

http://www.phoenixsound.com/pdf/Ride_On.pdf

But they are not up-to-date for their current product line. I will poke them to see if they can update the guide or if the existing documentation will be sufficient.

I am thinking that the Phoenix "Plymouth" sound would probably be close enough for a generic 25t switcher, but the peanut whistle that they are using just sounds annoying.

http://www.phoenixsound.com/wav/plym.wav

Anyone else tried this?

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George Erhart
Loveland, CO
www.grotonengine.com

George,
Thanks for posting the link to the pdf, it explains a lot. Let us know what you find from Phoenix about the updated instructions.

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Dan Watson
Building IC mikado in 1.5" scale

Ok so I am looking into a sound system for my Huskie on steroids. The current leader is the RSD set of sounds on the pheonix website. But my question is which one do I buy? My builder stated the system comes with the buttons and switches needed but which one is that? Help?

Jason