I’m looking to add dcc+sound (for relatively low cost and easy installation) to my Intermountain Santa Fe yellowbonnet F7. I did a quick search and found that the Soundtraxx DSD-AT100LC may work.
Is this an easy plug n play type installation? Or will I have to cut the frame [:(] ? I’ve already changed over my Bachmann 2-8-0 with the Soundtraxx DSD-B280LC and my Life-Like P2K GP7 with the Sountraxx DSD-LL110LC. Both are amazing and have changed my layout forever. I’m hooked on sound.
Any insight if Intermountain will (in the future) make a sound+dcc motor/frame to possibly swap with this yellowbonnet I have? I know they are going to be making sound+dcc units, so maybe they’ll sell the frame/motor as a separate item. Just hoping they don’t change the insides of the shells [xx(]
Chief
This is probably totally useless info for you as it does not address your question directly but maybe you can get something out of it. I just put sound in a Life Like FA/B1 set (both powered). I have no idea how similar the F7 is to the F1 but I suspect it is close. I chose to put in a Digitrax 163 for motor control and a DSX for sound. I choose the DSX as it has more sounds than the LC and has better quality. I had plenty of room for both of these decoders and a one inch speaker with baffle. I put the speaker in the rear of the unit facing down. Both sound great. I have several loco’s with the LC decoders and they are real finicky and cut in and out at Turn outs and any dirty spots. The dsx with the capacitor modification is far supierior in sound and reliability. Again this may not be useful info but you may consider a DSX if you have room.
Terry
Thanks for the tip. There is a bunch of room in the F7 compared to the GP7 I just converted. I might look into the DSX.
Although I haven’t run into any problems with sound cut out with my 2 LC’s, thanks for the heads up. Maybe I’ve just been lucky with my track so far [;)]
that’s ironic as I just finished putting sound in a GP-7 and a 9. Used the LC. My train room is in an attached shed to the house. It has window AC units and we live in the Florida Keys. I only turn on the AC when I am in the room so humidity is a major issue. I have to clean my track every day or so if I don’t run trains. I just bought a CMX clean machine and that takes the drugery out of cleaning. I just hook it up and run it around while I am working. After a few laps even the LC decoders work fine. I used a 1/1/2 by 3/4 inch oval in my Geeps just over the front truck facing down. I think they sound better than my QSI GP-9. I just ordered some more oval speakers from Loys toys. I want to see if I can replace the one inch round speaker in the FA unit with an oval. Let me know how yours works out. I am always looking for ideas.
Terry Thatcher
The intermountain has a 120ma lighting circuit and the LC may not hold up as it’s rated for 100 ma. TCS had the same problem until they beefed up their lighting circuits to 200 ma
I’m looking at doing the same thing and i may use an LC with a TCS MC2 for motor and lights. the LC is $48 and will lay flat in the cavity and replace the existing board. A didgitrax or TCS decoder will give better and quieter motor control. to use the LC without motor hookup, you’ll need to put a 100 ohm 1 watt resister across the motot terminals
The sound on the LC is pretty well the same as the DSX, just less features. That’s accordong to Soundtraxx at any rate. the trick is to get a big enough speaker and enclosure. The best route may be Bruce Petrarca’s semi infinite baffle idea at litchfieldstation.com
You could get a 28x35mm over the truck well with a little cutting
I’m looking forward to the new Intermoutain FP7s! Definetly want to get one and paint it in SCL.
Beaser,
You may have read my other thread regarding sound.
I’ve actually heard the LC and DSX decoders. Similar locomotives and similar style baffles. There is a difference in sound quality due to the type of amplifiers used. The LC does sound decent, but if you hear one and then listen to a DSX you’ll notice the difference right away.
It’s surprising that a Soundtraxx rep would tell you that these decoders are the same. As far as the actual sound offereings (horns, prime mover, bells, pop-off) yes, the offerings are the same. But again the difference is the sound’s fidelity - you hear a bit more with the DSX.
Peace.
I have LC and DSX and the end results are more related to quality, size and placement of speaker. the DSX has a better amp that will work under various impedances and more background sounds. You wouldn’t hear subtle differences on any speaker small enough to go into an HO model, for practical purposes there is no difference, just less convenience and choice of background effects.
Update and Installation tips
I got two of the DSD-AT100LC Soudtraxx boards for my passenger and freight yellow bonnet A units. The installation was relatively easy. The end results are excellent, and the price was not exorbitant either.
TIPS:
The Soundtraxx board replaces the entire Intermountain board. It is really very simple. All you have to do is take out the old board and put in the new Soundtraxx board (and wire the speaker too). They both use solderless wire connections with those sometimes troublesome plastic retainer covers.
Everything went fairly well. One thing to look out for though is how to wire the new Soundtraxx board. The two motor wires are reversed. Meaning if you put them they way they were on the Intermountain board to the new Soundtraxx board the loco will operate backwards. A simple flip is all you need. But this is confusing since Intermountain chose to use all black wires. You may want to label them as you do the conversion.
I used an American Hobby Distributors 1.0’’ round speaker with the accompanying 1.0’’ enclosure. This is likely the largest speaker you can easily get under the shell. I did have to make two small holes in the enclosure for the speaker wires. I mounted the speaker in the rear. There is enough space to place it there and the frame does not have to be milled or altered in any way. Plus the shell is hollow and has see through grilles in this area (at least on my F7) and the sound comes out great.
The trickiest part is taking the shell on and off, especially the dang couplers. The Intermountain F’s are very detailed and have coupler cut bars, etc… So these have to be removed most of the time to get the shell off. Plus I put Santa Fe style spark arrestors on my F units so I had to be careful not to brake them off. I did not want to have to re glue them [:(] Once the shell is off it’s super easy.
The decoder worked great and was easy to program (I use a Digitra