I have a kato sd80mac dcc ready and installed an 8 pin decoder. I have several harnessed speakers from 28mm, 22 and 18 having a heck of a time getting anything to fit. I just ordered a 13mm out of frustration and am ready to go to 10 if that doesn’t work. The smaller sizes do not have a baffle, not sure if that’s even important. I’m looking to stay away away from bone surgery, my talent ends with 2 sided tape. Any suggestions ? Thank you.
I can’t offer a specific solution as I don’t know exactly how much space is available, how a sound version Kato would place a speaker (and whether the same room is not provided in the non-sounds). I did look at the TCS site to see what installation photos they show and saw a non-sound decoder install.
Given what I see, my comments. Does the Kato weight provide space in the fuel tank for a speaker? Are you willing to modify and have access to tools to modify the weight? How much are you willing to tackle custom speaker making (enclosure, etc)?
I’ll offer what I would do, though that might be more than you want to tackle. I’ve done a number of P2K locos, and a few Katos, including two C44-9Ws which have some similarities. I take out the existing circuit board and hard wire a LokSound Select 6Aux, and put new LEDs at headlight lenses or at the end of sometimes shortened light tubes. For speakers, I use 13x18mm sugarcubes in 0.040" styrene boxes that I superglue. On these larger diesels, I usually use 2-4 sugarcubes, often in pairs of enclosures, one at each end. I often mill down the weight height where the enclosure(s) will go, as enclosure volume enhances sound (but there’s a traction tradeoff). On the TCS photos, it appears to me that a 2-speaker (i.e., about 18mm wide by 26mm long) could be placed over the drive mechanism at the non-hood end, if the weight could be milled accordingly.
You are likely after a simpler solution, but I don’t have the measurements of your model to work from. Does your Kato diagram show where a speaker would go on a sound version of your model?
Hi Dashingdan:
Paul’s suggestion of using so called “sugar cube” speakers (also called iPhone 5 speakers) is definitely worth exploring. Here is some information which will give you a pretty good idea of what they are all about:
http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/sugarcubespeakernotes.html
http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/sugarcubespeakernotes.html
Even a single sugar cube speaker will work well. They MUST have enclosures tightly attached to them or all you will get is static. Interestingly, to mount the speakers ideally you want to glue the enclosure, not the speaker, to the shell.
Don’t let their size fool you. They work extremely well.
Dave
Thanks guys - Great help. I was somewhat hesitant on the sugarcubes, seems my initial research showed them as bluetooth items. I was also concerned about wiring them up having been spoiled by the 2 pin mrc speaker harness plug in. I called SBS4DCC and was blown away with the owner. The guy has written technical volumes on this and was able to converse in lay terms. Not only were the cubes specifically adapted to this application but they have teminals to soder the harness wire (sodering is another dilema). He was also able to find me the 2 pin harness to plug into the decoder (tcs1660) for mrc. I did order the 13mm baffless speaker from ebay (lesson learned) but I also am anxiously awaiting the sugarcube 8x12mm and harness. I might even be able to handle this one and would have never even ventured into this area and for that I am very grateful. Thanks again, we’ll see soon.
On a general note, I’ve found it best to establish a supply of things I will need for loco DCC conversions so all I need is the decoder when I acquire a loco that I would convert.
So I have a supply of 13x18 and 11x15(??, I forget) speakers on hand (I get Knowles types at DigiKey. And 0.040" styrene, which is handily cut with my paper cutter (scissors will do). And CA, which I first use to connect adjacent speakers if in 2-4 tandems (they tend to repel, but the CA overcomes that). I then assemble the styrene pieces to the speakers with CA to form the enclosure. Note you can make the assembly as small in dimension as the speakers themselves by CA gluing the styrene edge to the plastic frame of the speaker that is outside the diaphragm. This allows, for instance, using the 18mm width of the larger speaker(s) across the width of a HO hood unit internal space, in groups of 1-4. The last enclosure styrene part I usually cut and sand to fit nicely within the 4 walls as a floor (or roof, if the speakers will face down). Another item to have on hand is a small tube of silicone. I use a toothpick (or my finger on external edges) to spread some across the joints of the enclosure box before adding the floor. The purpose it to create a good seal in case the CA joints have any gaps. Then the floor/roof gets added with CA, and silicone sealer. It’s important that the sugarcubes have a sealed enclosure, otherwise you can get some horrible distortion. I like making a custom speaker/enclosure setup for each type loco as it’s pretty easy and allows mazimizing the enclosure volume for best results in sound.
EDIT: note that it is recommended by the experts that the metal side of the speakers be on the outside of the enclosure; i.e., the diaphgram side faces in. Tony’s Trains site, in particular, notes much less distortion