Has anyone done a sound install on a Kato NW-2?

[wcfn100]

I suppose I should comment since I started this thread.  I'm very impressed and encouraged with what's been shown.

With that said I am sort of waiting to see something with the shell on the unit before I get too excited and start cutting anything up.

Thanks for the responses.

Jason

[rhiadon]

I suppose I should comment since I started this thread.  I'm very impressed and encouraged with what's been shown.

With that said I am sort of waiting to see something with the shell on the unit before I get too excited and start cutting anything up.

Thanks for the responses.

Jason

You definitely should wait. Right now it's only close. It needs to be better.

[rhiadon]

Success!!!

Here are some minor details:

1. The 11x15mm speaker is too big. The cab almost fits with the side windows removed. I'll replace it with a 8x8x12mm speaker and it'll be like there's a ton of space.
2. The ESU decoder seems to perform better than the SoundTraxx ECO-100 for motor control. It's smooth as silk at low speeds.
3. Required slight modification to the ESU decoder to remove some of the shrink wrap in order to desolder the factory wires. Too many wires. The thing has 6 function outputs!
4. Decoder had to be mounted face down in order for the large capacitors to not interfere with the front of the shell.

Let me know what you guys think or if you have any questions.

[wazzou]

It looks as though there is a slight bow in the frame at the front of the cab that causes the cab to tilt back, or is that an artifact from distortion in recording?
It sounds fantastic but you skipped my favorite part...the startup.

[tehachapifan]

Way cool!! Going to have to add this to my must-do list for sure! Thanks for blazing that trail!

[rhiadon]

It looks as though there is a slight bow in the frame at the front of the cab that causes the cab to tilt back, or is that an artifact from distortion in recording?
It sounds fantastic but you skipped my favorite part...the startup.

The distortion you're seeing is real. But it's solvable. It's caused by the "giant" speaker I used. It really doesn't quite fit. Using a shorter 8x8x12 speaker will solve the issue. I have 100% confidence in this because it's what I used in my SW1 install.

[lyled1117]

Couple of questions regarding this install.

First, did you take any photos of the frame without the components in place after your milling?. I think I understand what you did, but the presence of the circuit board obscures what you actually removed. Secondly, what about lighting? Is that still being worked out, being ignored, etc.  ?  The speaker you'll be changing to, got a manufacturer and/or part number? I'm contemplating doing this for a customer. I had told him I didn't feel there was space, but now I'm seeing the possibility is there.

Thanks,
Lyle

[rhiadon]

Couple of questions regarding this install.

First, did you take any photos of the frame without the components in place after your milling?. I think I understand what you did, but the presence of the circuit board obscures what you actually removed. Secondly, what about lighting? Is that still being worked out, being ignored, etc.  ?  The speaker you'll be changing to, got a manufacturer and/or part number? I'm contemplating doing this for a customer. I had told him I didn't feel there was space, but now I'm seeing the possibility is there.

Thanks,
Lyle

I didn't take any pictures yet. Mostly because when I'm experimenting and discovering it just gets in the way of progress. I have bought another used unit so that I can mill the frame on it to take pictures.

As for lighting, I was planning to do it today, but when I went to gather parts, I didn't have enough micro connectors. I've now got some soundtraxx micro connectors on order. I'd love to find some sort of tiny connector with 3 pins (front, rear and common) but I've not had any luck yet.

As for the speaker, I bought them from www.modeltrainstuff.com (I'm not affiliated in any way) http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Zimo-Small-Speaker-Sound-Chamber-p/zmo-ls8x12x8.htm

But there are other vendors such as the Streamlined Backshop. Look here http://store.sbs4dcc.com/SBS4DCCSugarCubeSpeaker8x12mm8ohm.7wattw/SoundChamber.aspx He's actually got them with different shaped baffles, which is pretty cool.

I'm going to head downstairs now to take some pictures of what I've done as a first step to give a good idea of how to do this. I'll mark up a clean new frame where to make the cuts.

Feel free to ask questions. It's fun figuring out how to do this stuff. Questions help make things better.

[rhiadon]

Here are some pictures of the frame of my second NW2 with the cuts marked. I used a rotary tool with a cutoff wheel to do all of the cutting.

Marks made in red are for removal of material. You will cut these sections off
Marks made in blue are for placement of 0.02" styrene spacers. These keep the two halves of the frame apart
Marks make in green are for cutting a groove for a 30 gauge wire. These are for the right and left rail. There might be a better way to do this, but it worked quite well.

This is the original frame before any modifications have been done
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Here is the fully disassembled frame with marks made for milling
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This shows the cuts to be made to the plastic motor spacer. Essentially we're going to cut off the top plastic bar. Make sure to leave the rear portion of the bar nearest to the rear motor spacer. This will keep the top of the frame spaced properly. Also be careful of the plastic clips, they break easy and are important for holding the motor in place. We're already losing the front clips so the rear clips are very important.
 
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Here's an image of how the decoder will sit showing the finished product. This orientation was required. There are capacitors on the bottom side toward the front of the locomotive nestling in the front of the frame. This is how you get it low enough.
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[rhiadon]

And here's a video of the loco in action with the smaller speaker. This time, I demonstrate the startup and shutdown since that part is interesting to people.

The front coupler is a smidge too high. This seems to be caused by the phosphor bronze conductor on each side acting as a spring to lift the front of the locomotive. A little bending will probably take care of that.

[powersteamguy1790]

I've been using that Zimo speaker for several years now. Its fun to work with when you have tight spaces.

Have fun with it......

[tehachapifan]

Yes, the sound quality out of such a small speaker is amazing! Proves how important a quality and airtight baffle is.

[jdcolombo]

Amazing!

John C.

[peteski]

Yes, the sound quality out of such a small speaker is amazing! Proves how important a quality and airtight baffle is.

Yes, a proper enclosure makes a huge difference in sound quality. Also, the type of speaker used (the small rectangular smart-phone type) seems to be more efficient than the old-fashion round or oval speakers which were popular in sound decoder installations.  Those older type of speakers have weaker magnets and their cone has much stiffer suspension.

[carlso]

Jason - thanks for starting this thread by asking the original question.

rhiadon - I can only second John C's comment, Amazing. Thanks for all the work on this project and especially for sharing it with all. As several others have said they need one, I too have the bug now.

Carl