I have been installing DCC decoders in my backlog of DC locomotives and I came across my Life-Like Heritage Y-6b so I thought this would be a good candidate for a Tsunami sound decoder installation. I found a Soundtraxx Tsunami sound decoder and I thought this would be a perfect fit tor this engine.
I was searching for instructions relating to installing a sound decoder in this particular locomotive and found that I’m at a loss as to where to begin. This will be my first sound decoder installation so any input would be helpful.
Is there anyone out there who has attempted such an installation? Your help would be appreciated.
The first thing that must be determined is whether or not the locomotive is DCC ready with a decoder socket in the tender. If there are 6 wires between the tender and back of the locomotive, it is DCC ready; if not, you have a real challenge on your hands because you must add wiring between the two and that is more than can be explained in a simple message.
If it does have the wiring, open up the tender, remove the dummy DCC plug, and install the Tsunami in the tender. The Tsunami comes with a solder-in wirng harness, but a short NMRA plug to JST harness can be substituted.
a Y-6b might be big enough that the decoder could go in the loco with just 2 wires running to the tender for the speaker(s) . tender should be big enough for 2 speakers which will give very good , very loud sound
I am partway through the project and thankfully, the Life-Like tender shell just slides right off the die-cast frame and there IS an 8 pin DCC socket. Simple matter to solder a plug onto the Soundtraxx decoder. There’s also plenty of room below the coal load which also can be easily removed, to install the oval speaker and enclosure that I have. I’ll have to drill holes through the coal load for the sound to permeate. I’m thinking of using a thin screen with coal sprinkled on lightly, then fixed like ballast. If I get it just right it will be “transparent” for the sound.
Looks like my first sound installation will be pretty simple. Now to dig through the 77 page programming book that I downloaded from Soundtraxx. I’ll let you know how it progresses.
I hope that JMRI decoder-pro will update their latest beta soon to include more sound programming options… I don’t look forward to manually setting all these CVs that this decoder requires.
I soldered an 8 pin NMRA plug on the Tsunami, finished up the installation and put the engine on the layout for an initial tryout! Everything fits the tender shell with room to spare.
Excellent results! This is my first Tsunami and I have to say that the sound quality blows away what I thought was already excellent sound from my several QSI equipped Broadway locomotives. The default sound file is perfect for the Y-6b although I’ll have to tinker with the exhaust rate to match the locomotive speed. I’m not using an axel cam.
Looks like I’ll be playing with sound related CVs for the next few days…