I am interested in adding Church Bells to some nice Church Kits & I like the sound of the ITT Sound Generators. The ones I like are; (in Walthers Numbers): #4 349-65491 #6 349-65691
My most Challenging question is: Is there a clock device (Real Time) that can ring in the actual Hour tones?
Seriously, I would like to have a clock in my model Church Ring the Bell tone on the hour & be on the appropriate hour. If it were 4pm I want to hear 4 bell chimes, etc…
I do not know of a way to program this to do so, I would also want an appropriate real-time piece, that I could have on the china cabinet or dining room table to ring in an accurate time.
I can model the bell, & the astethics, but I want the ‘Full Effect’ from this model.
Has anoyone endeavored in such a task?
Please share, & convey your experiences & thoughts.
I Thank You Forward!!!
Chadley
PS: Lets vote on it… How do you feel???
A) Totally Asinine
B) Worth Bringing to discussion
C) Coolest new idea I heard lately
Go to a clock shop and look for an electronic clock that chimes the hours. We have one on our wall that is battery powered and fed to a small speaker, It generates the sounds of church bells every fifteen minutes, and rings out the hour.
Great suggeations, thanks for the Ideas & support!!
If I could only HACK that clock sound programming, hmmmm…
Thanks! & Keep the ideas coming!!!
PS: Michael wins the ‘first responder award’ -if this gets done I will send him a ‘C’ -the Coolest Church Bell Time Piece on ‘his’ block!!! That’s how I roll! & Reward!
Thanks everyone, Please Keep the Ideas & Support coming!
If there is an answer, & a solution, I will share it!!!
Cuz, from the feedback I see, this may be another odd, but very unique & enjoyable acheivement.
It was about a year & a half ago I wanted to ask this question, but was a little timid on it…
(I want a Time Clock Bell, not a Religion)… Thanks for keeping that in focus…
Over here, we do have one remaining active Time Bell in a Church, & I really pay attention to that bell, I dig it, you can even tell the wind direction from the tone of it in the middle of the night.
So yes, I want that…
For speaker placement, I’d suggest close to or in the church. I’d argue that most bell sounds are not at the low frequency where it’s bass, rather that most of the bell sound is at frequencies high enough to be directional.
Now, if anyone wants an actual swinging bell, versus just the sound, let me know and I’ll point you toward info on a friend doing that. It’s possible to squeeze it in a Blackstone C-19, so no problem fitting it into a church…[swg]
Actually when I was unemployed, I almost approched the Church to be a time keeper, as it was Never Ever the correct time, Ever, Never Ever… enough said.
However that would have interfered with my modelling & I would have had to go through a hiring process, of which I am sure I would not be qualified for, as I have a cell fon witht he correct time, & also posess the knowledge of reading a Sun Dial, etc…, but I chose modelling. A better reward!
As said, I would like my Church to Ring out, on time, & on the top of each hour. If I knew a way to HACK those other clocks that make noise, I would love to Program in the appropriate tones, & that would be easy & excellent!
But, I do not have that ability, at the moment…
Please Keep the ideas & suggestions coming, Thank You Forward!!!
I’m with Mark on this one. In today’s “electronic age” there has to be something out there (an app for that) that will easily handle this and not cost a fortune. Even if you go buy a used/worn old cell phone, program the sounds/chimes and place it under the church, it should sound just great…
All of the little towns have multiple churches (Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist…) Every one has a bell symphony every 15 minutes. Then I rig all of them to run on my 5:1 fast clock…
Happily all of MY little towns are in Japan, and the only bell symphony occurs at Midnight as the calendar rolls over into the New Year, 108 strokes on the big temple gong. Three months before that, the model empire time-loops back to the First of September.
Slightly [#offtopic] My godparents had a big over-the-mantel clock that rang the quarters and hours. Uncle Harold hated that thing, but Aunt Anna wouldn’t let him kill the bells…
Let’s go with B & C. A cool idea worth discusssing.
If you can find a clock that sounds as you want, could you mount a small analog watch face in your church tower and install the sound mechanism under the building? The hard thing these days is finding an analog watch face, kids today can’t tell time on a round circle with no numbers. Even if it has numbers they have a hard time.
At the bottom of the entry are links to resources with church and carillon bells. The “Sounddogs” link is free.
You would need a way to play an MP3 file, perhaps an old computer with external speakers, or an inexpensive MP3 player with external powered speakers in place of the ear buds. May need to do some prowling at computer swap meets, or visit a local computer “screwdriver shop” if you can find one, to see if they have old junk that was traded in.
On the Boothbay Railway Village layout, we have a church and wedding scene. We used one of the ITTC bell modules connected to a motion detector. WHen museum visitors pass by the detector, the bells turn on, then times and stop out after 15 or 20 seconds when no motion. It was someone elses project, so I do not have details.
We have a similar setup on the other side of the pennsula near a lighthouse - water sounds, foghorn and seagulls
