2024 Intermountain F7ABs are DC units Sound Ready?

[learmoia]

For the latest run of IM F units - are the DC units sound ready?

[spookshow]

I don't believe they come with a speaker, if that's what you're asking.

-Mark

[jjb62556]

You can buy the speakers from them. i had to buy some for their SD40-2's...

[Bill H]

For the latest run of IM F units - are the DC units sound ready?

Directly from the IM website...

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Features of this model include:
*LED lighting - All lights separately controllable on DCC units.
**Upper nose MARS Light (where applicable)(single headlight units, upper nose light acts as the headlight)
**Lower Headlight (where applicable)
**Illuminated number boards
**Ditch Lights (DCC only)(No units factory equipped with ditch lights, however LEDs are provided for use by the modeler)

*Wire & Etched metal details

*Laser sharp painting and printing

*Micro-Trains compatible couplers

*Reserve Now locomotives are available three ways: DC Only, DCC Non-Sound, & DCC with Sound

--DC models equipped with a DC only circuit board and are DCC Ready.
--Non-Sound equipped with an ESU LokPilot 5 DCC decoder.
--Sound units equipped with an ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder. Real F7 locomotive recordings used for superior accuracy and quality!

In Stock items operate on DC, and are DCC ready.

Minimum Radius - 12 3/4"

[jbonkowski]

I think the question might be: Do the non-sound units (DCC or DC) have a space cleared out in the frame for a speaker?

On my DCC silent units, there is an empty spot in the fuel tank (which is held on by 4 clips) for the speaker. It will hold an 11x15mm speaker. I believe all three versions use the same circuit board, with a Next18 plug for the dummy, non-sound, or sound decoder board. So a sound decoder with a Next18 plug will make the conversion significantly easier. You will probably have to disassemble the engine to get the wires from the speaker to the decoder.

They are already pretty heavy, but I guess if you want even more traction on a non-sound unit, you could put a weight in the fuel tank. I would expect the fuel tank clips to break or at least become loose if you remove it more than a few times.

Jim