I have a digitrax dcc system, and am slowly switching to all DCC/SOUND. I just bought a LokSound decoder, and am lookking into a decoder for my kato SD38-2. Anyone have any commens/reviews on the digitrax sound decoders?? Aslo, how can I fit DCC/SOUND into my bachmann spectrum 4-6-0… Mabey in a trailing car?? I know, there isn’t much space… but I really like my spectrum 4-6-0, and don’t want to put pack it up… Thanks for the help!
Although I’ve seen them advertised a few places, I have yet to find anyone with any in stock. I could be wrong. Anybody?
I put a Loksound in the tender of my Spectrum 4-6-0 after ditching the factory circuit board. I think I also had to snip off one of the round projections coming down from the tender roof. By doing all that I was able to fit the decoder and a 28mm speaker with enclosure.
Really??? Wow. I am looking at mine right now and can’t imagine fitting it in there. Reason is, the harness for the loksound is soooooo long. Did you shorten the harness at all??? hmmm… I guess it could work. Thanks for the idea, never would have thought it could have actuallt fit. Have any pics you could post?? Thanks.
gear driven steam, I know ebay had some, and I think tony’s has them in stock.
here’s my photo article on how to install a tsunami in a bachmann spectrum 4-6-0 . i imagine the loksound installation would be similar
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/738146/ShowPost.aspx
yes i custom cut all the wires , the decoders are built with long wires because they have no way of knowing how long you’ll need them to be
that is way beyond what I can do. lol, I would pay to get a install like that!! Thanks, but its a bit hard for a guy who’s experience in dcc is only plug-n-play!!
it was my first dcc decoder install , i hadn’t even done a plug and play [:)]
Nataraj,
If you are familiar with the Loksound v3.5 already, why not use the Loksound Micro? While I haven’t done a head to head comparison with my other v3.5 decoder, I’m quite certain the sound quality is close and the volume is only down a little bit from the larger decoders. I also think you can shoehorn a v3.5 in the tender while still using the factory PC board by simply cutting off the tall board supports. Remember the v3.5 is about the same size as a Digitrax DH series decoder, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Jeff
Yes keep in mind that the v3.5 is surprisingly small, and while the micro is smaller, i wouldnt use it. There has been some expirimenting with the micro in HO engines and there is one major and common problem, they burn out. The motor circuit just cant quite handle the demands of all but the smallest HO locos. If I were you I would use ereimer’s great explanation as sort of a guide for the install. All thats really going on there is cutting and soldering wires. and the loksound v3.5 decoder is much smaller than the tsunami so you will have an easier install, and might be able to get away with not modifying the shell of the tender.
Good luck!
I ran into the same problem putting in a sound decoder into my 4-6-0. The best solution for me was to get a larger tender. I still had to clear some plastic out of the way but it fit quite easily.
I do have a loksound in another engine, so I will take it out and test it out on the 4-6-0. I will let you guys know what happens.
I tried, but it just won’t fit… I mean BARELY won’t fit. The decoder is just a little to fat. May go with a bigger tender. What tender size is appropriate??
Joe,
As somewhat of a self proclaimed Loksound power user (I have over 50 of them in my On30 fleet), I can assure you that the motor circuit would hold up just fine in the Spectrum 4-6-0. Those little guys pull barely a 3/10 of an amp at full slip, and even at stall the current is still far below the 1 amp rating of the decoder. I have also read here and there about people burning these up, but I would need to do more research into what locomotives this is happening in before giving the stories much credit. I will tell you that I have several On30 porters and a couple of gas mechanicals with the micros installed, and I have been nothing but impressed by the smooth performance and amazing sound quality these little decoders possess.
Jeff
Nataraj,
You may have to modify the original circuit board in order to get the decoder to fit.
I had to do that to a Spectrum 2-10-0- removing the 8-pin socket, soldering in the wires, and then turning the original factory board upside down, and placing the decoder in on top of the factory board. This was using a MRC decoder, and it is quite larger than a LOKsound decoder. I am sure that the tender sizes aren’t that much different.
I wanted to ditch the factory board, but the wiring for the lights, and pickups would have been lost. This was the best way to do it.
Seems kinda funny no one on here has a Digitrax sound decoder yet. Digitrax ain’t 60 miles up the road. I’ll call um today and let yall know what they say. I bet they’re not out yet.
You are right, I checked ton’s , he dosn’t have them
jeff,
About the micro, thanks for the info. But it is a 6-pin right?? I was hoping to use a 8-pin because if I dtch the circut board, I think you loose control of the llights… Don’t know why bachmann designed their locos like that. May get a usra medium insted of the baldwin small it came with. Would it still look normal??
My Spectrum 4-6-0 uses the same tender as my Spectrum light 4-8-2 and 2-10-0 I believe?? Soundtraxx makes a “plug and play” version that you can use for the latter two that includes a decoder and speaker all on one board. Might be worth trying in the 4-6-0 to get sound in it, and use the Loksound decoder for another engine.
p.s. you can pop the coal load out and put a 1" speaker under it, I think Soundtraxx or somebody makes a gasket to use to hold the speaker in place. That might give you more room inside. You also might have to remove the long stem going up to the rear headlight.
bachmann makes 3 basic tenders , small , medium and large (i’ll be they make more but i haven’t seen them ) . the standard tender for the 4-6-0 is the small , although one version , i think the CNW , comes with the medium . the medium tender is the standard for the spectrum 2-8-0 and larger engines until they need the large tender . i was surprised how large and beefy the 2-8-0 looks next to the 4-6-0 , so i think the smaller tender looks better on the 4-6-0
i bought a medium tender off ebay when i was first starting this install because i was unsure of my ability to cram everything into the small tender . while i was waiting for the medium to arrive i decided since i had a replacement on the way i’d try carving up the small tender to see if i could do it . turned out to be not that hard so i now have a spare medium tender . LOL
The 4-6-0 unlettered/62" drivers had the medium tender. The rest have 52" drivers. But in HO, the difference isn’t that noticable. I may get a medium tender.