One of my goals this weekend was to add a Soundtrax DSD-LL100/110/080LC for LLP2K decoder to one of my SD-60s. I’ve previously added Digitrax non-sound decoders with no problems except getting the shell off/on. So after spending the last 2.5 hrs on it, my results are less than satsifactory.
I’ve got everything installed but the sound quality and volume arre nowhere near that of an Atlas Gold or BLI system. I suspect in part due to the tiny .63 diameter speaker and enxlosure. P2Ks have next to no room in them and this is all that would fit. Even with this speaker and decoder I cannot get the shell all of the way on yet. Has anyone else had any luck with these units or should I resolve myself to no sound and work on something else ?
Jeff,
I took the weight off and milled the area behind the cab where the see through screens are so that it was about 1.125" long and flat on the bottom. Don’t know what to call the area. It’s where you have your speaker now. Reinstall the weight. In the shell, there is a piece of plastic that simulates a fan motor. Take that out; it’s just a snap fit. I purchased 10 28x40 speakers from Digikey. They are the same ones Sountraxx sells(same part number) for about 1/3 the price and they came in a plastic tray with individual indentations for each speaker which make easy speaker enclosures. Cut out the tray for the speaker, install some spacers(I used the plastic insulators Life Like uses on their boards to hold the wires on), solder a couple of wires on the speaker, and install it in the tray. Then put the tray in the milled out portion of the weight, and connect the speaker to the board. If you milled the area the right length, the speaker and tray should be a snug fit. You may have to trim the sides of the tray a little bit so it clears the shell. Hope this helps you.
I’ll look over your idea. Three questions. First, how is the sound quality fter all the work ? Is it near the quality and volume of BLI or Atlas ? Second, how do you remove the weight ? Third, did you mill the top or the side of the weight ? You say 28x40 but there isn’t 28 (I am assuming millimeters here) millimeters of width under the shell.
The sound isn’t as loud as my BLI AC6000, but the AC6000 is, in my opinion, too loud. I don’t have a sound equiped Atlas.
To remove the weight, pry off the plastic fuel tank. It’s just held on with double sided tape. Remove the two brass screws and the screws on each end just behind the coupler mounting screw. You’ll have to disconnect the wires from the NMRA plug.
I got the speaker size wrong; it should be 14x25mm, 8 ohms, 1 watt, Digikey part number GC0251K-ND.
MAXIMIZE THE SOUND: via Improving the speaker & baffle.
Remove the speaker from a any ‘bottle cap’ type baffle that cancels the back wave. Bigger is better.
Mount the speaker / speakers in the top - under a see-thru fan,
Seal so the front wave exhausts through the top, and the back wave thru the bottom.
Broadway maximixes their sound by maximizing Baffling and employing 2 speakers.
I recommend rectangular speakers and using the whole body this way.
SOUND QUALITY boils down to the amount of air that can be moved, and the amount of ‘baffle’ separating the front and back waves.
Sounds good but have you seen the inside of a P2K SD-60? There isn’t a lot of room unless you start triming away the weight. I am getting ready to go on vacation but I will sacrifice one of my SD-60s to this experiment.
Unless you sound equip both/all of your P2K SD60s you will probably have to fiddle with programming your speed tables to get them to MU together since the sound equipped unit will probably need more voltage to start the motor.
