Weekend Update 5/10/15

[mark dance]

Now that is cool.

I agree.  Sound becomes an integral part of the operations rather than just a beep or toot added on to it.  Much like extra flags and dimable headlights...they serve a practical purpose during the session as they indicate to other crews what is happening just as real crews would need to know. 

My first experience with this was on Anthony Craig's wonderful Kettle Valley layout where steam pusher ops are featured and where sometimes pusher crews can't even see the head end of their train so they need to listen for the whistle signals.  That *is* very cool.

md

[chessie system fan]

Went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  The most surprising plane was this thing.  Had no idea any survived the war.



On the way home I stayed at Mammoth National Park and was pleasantly surprised this 0-4-2 was there.  It was built in the 1880s for city use (hence the box shape so as not to scare horses) and was then sold for Mammoth cave usage not too long afterwards.  The combine is of similar vintage.  The wheels say Louisville and Nashville.  Took many more pictures if anyone want them.



Did some modeling too but nothing photo worthy so I'll post this old project. 

[milw156]

Not my idea...I just copied a Lance Mindheim experiment on his Miami Spur blog (the URL link is down unfortunately but the set up is straight forward).  You hook up a stand-alone DCC sound decoder to track power at the input end and to an audio transformer and a wireless FM radio transmitter like this one at the output:  http://www.dx.com/p/5-in-1-wireless-fm-radio-headset-with-transmitter-base-station-remote-monitoring-48500#.VU4x5_lVhBc

You then program the stationary decoder with the same address as the loco you wish to run...both decoders get the speed and sound commands but only the mobile decoder can respond to the speed/direction/light commands, and thus control the loco on the layout, and only the stationary decoder can respond to the sound commands and thus drive the FM transmitter which feeds the sound signal to the headset. 

I reported on an earlier experiment in a TRW Weekend Update about a year or so ago but I was using a Tsunami decoder at the time as it was the only decoder which had the right FM prime mover sound.  The results with the Tsunami were really poor and we abandoned the experiment.  When we did the first ESU Loksound  installs into locomotives about a month ago the sound quality was soooo much better I decided to repeat the experiment with a Loksound unit.  And as luck would have it ESU released the correct FM prime mover sound about a month ago. 

Yes the sound is a if you are in the cab.  In the C&W application this sound approach is used *only* in the isolated Slocan/Kaslo job which has a single dedicated loco and where the engineer is physically isolated from the rest of the session for 95% of it.  So the approach seems to make sense and of the three operators who have tried it, 2.5 loved it.  (One person loved the sound but doesn't like wearing head phones of any sort.)

We are thinking of experimenting with this same approach for the Kraft switcher job, the last remaining job which has no sound units.  This job *does* interact with other operators frequently but the headphones don't prevent you from hearing people talking around you.  They just provide a very realistic set of locomotive sounds over top of other room noise.

md

So, does the Loco have a sound decoder in it also???
Rick

[mark dance]

So, does the Loco have a sound decoder in it also???
Rick

Nope, no need. Just a conventional decoder.

Md

[coosvalley]

At the request of another forum member, here is a better shot of the N Scale Kits MEC "Paul Bunyan" car with a load I made for it...I used 2 thicknesses of toothpicks and some bamboo skewers, colored with black and brown Sharpies, then cut with a hobby knife...the bottom layers are full width, the top layer is half width....this gives the impression they are all half width, as would be prototypical..I used white glue to hold it all together...

[nkalanaga]

Lee and Mike:  Years ago one of the winners at the NMRA convention built an On3 stock car - and put a piece of real sheep manure in it.  The same could be done in N scale, but it might not be popular with other members of the household.

[brokemoto]

Went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  The most surprising plane was this thing.  Had no idea any survived the war.

......somewhere between twelve and fifteen of the Baka exist (too lazy to GOOGLE it, now), most of them are the operational models.  Some of the remaining are examples that Japan did build, but never used.   Most are the opertaional models.  There was only one version of this thing that ever was operational.  Someone actually did an extensive study of these things.  I did read it, but I forget where I ran across it.

[johnb]

......somewhere between twelve and fifteen of the Baka exist (too lazy to GOOGLE it, now), most of them are the operational models.  Some of the remaining are examples that Japan did build, but never used.   Most are the opertaional models.  There was only one version of this thing that ever was operational.  Someone actually did an extensive study of these things.  I did read it, but I forget where I ran across it.

there is one in Chino, CA,  at the Planes of Fame

[C855B]

......somewhere between twelve and fifteen of the Baka exist (too lazy to GOOGLE it, now), most of them are the operational models.  Some of the remaining are examples that Japan did build, but never used.   Most are the opertaional models.  There was only one version of this thing that ever was operational.  Someone actually did an extensive study of these things.  I did read it, but I forget where I ran across it.

Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY7_Ohka

Interesting read. I was not aware the program was so unsuccessful. When I was growing up the "kamikaze" recollections described an all-out effort resulting in great effect and great fear. The reality? Not so much.

[John]

M&O OCS

[sirenwerks]

Nope, no need. Just a conventional decoder.

Md

If there's some way to make the sound decoder mobile, you could have better sound using a larger speaker transported by the engineer rather than the loco (perhaps a big bling speaker necklace or a beer hat renegineered for audio purposes).  It could transmit into the space or, with a headphone jack like a conventional audio component, be engineer only.

The neat thing at that stage to do is also tie in audio broadcast for operators to communicate to each other through the same system.

Next step, stationary audio transmitters that bring in sounds of the locale, such as rushing water for a river, which fades in and out depending on proximity.  Or bring in train sounds (not engine) that are specific to a locale, like wheel squeal on a sharp curve, introduced via location-based train sensors entering and leaving a quadrant.

[mark dance]

If there's some way to make the sound decoder mobile, you could have better sound using a larger speaker transported by the engineer rather than the loco (perhaps a big bling speaker necklace or a beer hat renegineered for audio purposes).  It could transmit into the space or, with a headphone jack like a conventional audio component, be engineer only.

The neat thing at that stage to do is also tie in audio broadcast for operators to communicate to each other through the same system.

Next step, stationary audio transmitters that bring in sounds of the locale, such as rushing water for a river, which fades in and out depending on proximity.  Or bring in train sounds (not engine) that are specific to a locale, like wheel squeal on a sharp curve, introduced via location-based train sensors entering and leaving a quadrant.

Maybe. 

But one thing we have noticed with local layouts (whose focus is operations rather than aesthetic experience and all of which save the C&W are HO) is that it is easy to get too much sound. During our ops the focus is not the aesthetic experience - witness operators happily switching bare pieces of plywood - but getting things done interactively.  To the extent sound interferes with an operator's ability to communicate or focus on what they are doing it very quickly becomes irritating noise.  The 10 sound decoders in the C&W locomotives are dialed down to 10-20% of their max volume and this was an acceptable level to augment the experience without over powering it.  We will dial up the horn sound level relative to other sound to help with signalling pusher ops.  We don't use radio communications with the Dispatcher on the C&W but rely on Train Orders and phones as much as we can.  Crews working in yard limits do coordinate verbally but otherwise they shouldn't need to instead relying on visual indications (and now horns!).

The one exception on the C&W is this headphone sound set-up for the Slocan/Kaslo switcher where the operator is physically located away from everyone else, does not need to interact (much) with other operators and is basically stationary in an 8'x8' space for the whole session.  The combination of the high quality ESU sound file and good audio quality headphone speakers makes for a pleasurable intra-cab experience where you wouldn't hear passing streams, mooing cows or even other locos anyways .  The Tsunami sound file was not of high enough quality and when I tried it in this application it just ended up broadcasting noise into your head while you were trying to work... I believe Lance Mindheim found a similar thing in his test but not sure what brand decoder he used.

anyway still experimenting...

md

[BCR751]

Not my idea...I just copied a Lance Mindheim experiment on his Miami Spur blog (the URL link is down unfortunately but the set up is straight forward).  You hook up a stand-alone DCC sound decoder to track power at the input end and to an audio transformer and a wireless FM radio transmitter like this one at the output:  http://www.dx.com/p/5-in-1-wireless-fm-radio-headset-with-transmitter-base-station-remote-monitoring-48500#.VU4x5_lVhBc

Mark,

This is very intriguing and I would like some additional info.  You said to hook up the output of the stationary sound decoder to an audio transformer.  What would the input and output impedances of this transformer be?  Do you have a link to an example?  Obviously, the transformer output impedance would have to be compatible with the FM "base station".

Would you be able to run multiple locos with this setup and just select the loco you want to listen to?

 So many questions.......

Doug

[mark dance]

Mark,

This is very intriguing and I would like some additional info.  You said to hook up the output of the stationary sound decoder to an audio transformer.  What would the input and output impedances of this transformer be?  Do you have a link to an example?  Obviously, the transformer output impedance would have to be compatible with the FM "base station".

Would you be able to run multiple locos with this setup and just select the loco you want to listen to?

 So many questions.......

Doug

I can get the XFormer spec however it is unfortunate that Lance Mindheim's example in his blog is not available (right now)...perhaps try searching "Lane Mindheim sound"  thoroughly as he provided the spec and schematics for all the components he used.  If a search turns up nothing I can go the layout room and dig up the Xformer info.

I was able to switch between locos with the Tsunami by isolating the "current loco" out from trak power on the layout - just take that loco off the tracks for example - then using Ops Mode to change it's address which then changed the address of only the sound decoder still hooked to the track power and not the locomotive which is off the track.  The soudn decoder then has the same address as the "new loco" you wish to have the broadcast sound set up for.  I can't get this to work with the ESU decoder however as I need to program the decoders on the programming track to change the address...and even this isn't' reliable and so I may need to invest in a programming booster.  So perhaps by isolating the loco *and* switching the stationary sound decoder between track and programming power (through a booster) it could work.  I guess with a bit more time you could also download the appropriate sound file if the locos have different prime movers for example.

hope that helps somewhat

md

[R L Smith]

Here are some pix from the Live Steam event yesterday in Perry County, PA.  As our gracious host noted, "Why not have a Live Steam Day here?  There are more Live Steam locations in Perry County than traffic lights!!"

First up, Godshall's Machine Shop, where a 1.5" scale Challenger was setup for display; there is a Centipede tender for it as well. Wayne Godshall has 9 kits in-process for H-10's.







The sun came out for the afternoon at the Tuscarora Valley RR:













A Berkshire getting tweaked before being backed down onto the mainline.



And one for Mike Madonna:



These were all taken with my digital camera. I then put it away and switched to my tablet so I could take some videos, but I haven't figured out yet how to get them from my tablet to some place where I can actually share them with others (besides FB).   


Ron