After purchasing a DCC sound locomotive, I want to upgrade my existing DCC-Equipped locomotives with a sound board.
I thought I would start with my Bachmann DCC-Equipped EMD GP40 locomotive that came with the Digital Commander set that I bought last year.
Is it as easy as removing the existing DCC board (H633Y+PCB01) and replacing it with a suitable replacement?
I’ve not done anything with a diesel, but don’t forget you need a speaker too!
Keepalives are also nice to have with DCC sound locomotives because any electrical glitches (even tiny) are really noticeable with sound locos.
Also, check the sound decoder makers and see if they (or Youtube) has examples of sound installs in that particular loco model.
I understand that I will need a speaker. I have been to most of the major sound decoder websites and it looks like I need to replace the complete DCC board. I was hoping to only replace the 8-pin plug in decoder since this model is already DCC.
Welcome to the forum, RddMtDave!
The H633Y+PCB01 is not a decoder but rather a light board. The decoder is that black heat shrinked thing on top that is plugged into the light board.
While not exactly the same, this TCS install may help:
https://drupal.tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1213
Peter
This install may be better as the original board looks like what you have.
https://drupal.tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1218
Peter
Hello All,
I have had great success using Digitrax SDXH167D Series 7 Sound Decoders with an 8-pin to 9-pin harness.
Check out this thread for more information on how I accomplished this.
If there is enough space a PX108-10 Power Xtender can be added to this decoder.
Hope this helps.
Easy? Well, that depends. If you are good at soldering, you can remove the board and hard wire a sound decoder and speaker. I wouldn’t call it easy, but it is doable.
Rich