I’ve been out of model railroading for about 8 years and I am planning a new layout. I have the Railcommand system from CVP and would like to incorporate the newer locomotives on the market that have sound built in. Since the system isn’t digital, will it be able to support sound and control features such as the horn and bell. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
The answer is Yes and No. First of all, the sound wont start until you introduce about 6 volts or so to the rails (usually about 1/2 of the Rheostat). The horn and bell functions are operable through a control box available from various manufacturs or by flicking the direction switch back and forth.
In reality though, if you want FULL control of the sounds available on newer locomotives with sound systems, you need to consider DCC.
David B
For starters Just because it isn’t DCC doesn’t mean Railcommand is not digital. There is a reason the traces on the recievers for “programming” addresses are 512, 256, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1. There are electronic DC throttles that are digital too. “digital” in and of itself does not imply goodness or badness in any product. It usually means “cheaper for the manufacturer” to produce.
Anyway to the real topic ------------------>>>
To work with Railcommand the new sound unit has to be dual mode. That is the sound must work in “DC” mode. It cannot be a DCC only unit like the old Soundtraxx were.
The simplest way to do this is to put the Railcommand reciever between the locomotive power pick up and the sound unit input. If possible set the sound unit to DC only mode. When configured like this the sound will respond to a Railcommand throttle the same way it would to a DC throttle. It means the locomotive won’t move until almost 1/2 throttle. It takes some practice to get used to not shutting off the power. Be certain to read the units specific manual on how to control the sound via DC before you try it. Otherwise there is a good chance the bell or horn will get stuck onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
How well this works will depend on how the Railcommand system is configured. If it is configured for 1024 or 512 channels (another hint that it is a digital unit), there will probably be too much delay in the throttle response to work well. Set it down to 256 or lower. T