N scale Siemens SC-44 Charger????

[oakcreekco]

Nevermind, it was simpler than I thought (spread the sides of the shell away from the chassis to free it from the bumps in the chassis).

-Mark

Well, it's got the bumps, which is good.

[Roger Holmes]

I have had my Midwest Corridor Charger for a few weeks but only ran in on my workshop test track and programming track until this afternoon when I took it down to the layout room.  All I can say is, "WOW!"  I see and hear these engines twice a day from my office and Bachmann nailed it both in looks and sound.

Since my Kato Milwaukee Road Hiawatha is always on the layout I put the Charger through its paces with the 10 lighted cars and it didn't even break a sweat.  Top speed was 143 which is well above the target speed of 110 for the Midwest Corridor--Chicago to St. Louis. Currently after a 2 BILLION dollar upgrade Amtrak is occasionally hitting 90 mph.

I don't know how long it will be until anyone manufactures the new Venture cars in N scale.  They match the profile of the Charger but I haven't had the chance to ride in one yet.  The consists which I see daily is the Charger followed by two empty Viewliner baggage cars, four Venture coaches and an Amfleet Cafe car. I haven't seen any Venture Cafe cars.  The only explanation I have been given about the empty baggage cars has to do with activating the signaling between St. Louis and Kansas City.  That doesn't make sense to me but neither do two empty baggage cars in every consist.  Anyway, for now I will run the Charger with a combination of Amfleet and Horizon cars as they did when the Chargers first arrived.

[spookshow]

Holy crap, look at all those gorgeous cans! TCS sure knows how to do a keep-alive.



Someday all sound decoders will look like this (I hope).

-Mark

P.S. My apologies if you cannot see my image. My website is not https and some browsers have a problem with that.

[dem34]

Yeah I could tell as far back as Springfield 2022 these were going to be showstoppers. To the point I've been badgering a friend who works at Bman to do a Brightline with Ventures almost daily.

[spookshow]

The main PC board has a 2x6 array of pins for the decoder. What is the designation for that type of interface? I can't seem to google up an answer.

Thanks,
-Mark

[peteski]

The main PC board has a 2x6 array of pins for the decoder. What is the designation for that type of interface? I can't seem to google up an answer.

Thanks,
-Mark

I believe it is a "Soundtraxx/Bachmann 12" interface.    Seriously, it looks to be proprietary, made for this loco. Which makes sense since the decoder board is specifically designed just for this model.  No other Tsunami decoder seems to have that particular size. Sort of like the unique ESU V4 decoders Atlas used in their N scale S2 locos.

[spookshow]

Well, then I guess it's a good thing it's a darned good decoder 

-Mark

[nstars]

I believe it is a "Soundtraxx/Bachmann 12" interface.    Seriously, it looks to be proprietary, made for this loco. Which makes sense since the decoder board is specifically designed just for this model.  No other Tsunami decoder seems to have that particular size. Sort of like the unique ESU V4 decoders Atlas used in their N scale S2 locos.

It’s not a Tsunami but a TCS Wow decoder. First one for N scale.

Marc

[peteski]

It’s not a Tsunami but a TCS Wow decoder. First one for N scale.

Marc

Duh.  WOW! I was used to Bachmann using the Econami sound decoders.  My bad.

[simsuper80]

Anyone having issues with there sound decoders? Two of the 3 chargers I have now sound horrible.

[ski]

Anyone having issues with there sound decoders? Two of the 3 chargers I have now sound horrible.

I have not. What are they doing/sounding like now that they didn't do or sound like before? I have not been able to run the two I have very often, so I am curious.

[simsuper80]

I have not. What are they doing/sounding like now that they didn't do or sound like before? I have not been able to run the two I have very often, so I am curious.

They sound like a cheap speaker with the volume turned up to the max, as if the plastic if vibrating. It sounds awful. It's already happened to two of my chargers, and now I'm afraid it will happen to the 3rd.

[tehachapifan]

They sound like a cheap speaker with the volume turned up to the max, as if the plastic if vibrating. It sounds awful. It's already happened to two of my chargers, and now I'm afraid it will happen to the 3rd.

I don't have one of these (I only have my own, custom installed, N scale ESU and Zimo sound decoders) but what you describe sounds like the volume might be turned up too high. I had the volume set too high on my first N scale ESU sound install and it led to what I believe was an amp failure, which first manifested as severe distortion. I also had a more-recent issue with distortion on another loco where I believe the speaker was failing, even though the volume was at what I believe was a safe level (it has a new speaker now and all is fine). The takeaway here is that I believe default volume settings (and certainly the max volume settings) on N scale sound locos are often far too loud for speakers and components to handle.

All this said, a speaker that does not have an air-tight seal with its enclosure can also produce all kinds of unpleasant sounds. The speaker and/or enclosure can indeed also vibrate against the frame or shell depending on where and how it is mounted, which can also cause crackling sounds and other distortions. Where are the speakers located on these? I can't see it in the above photo.

[spookshow]

The speaker is loosely seated inside the fuel tank -



-Mark

[peteski]

The speaker is loosely seated inside the fuel tank -



-Mark

I assume this is  one of the sound-equipped units. Is the speaker itself mounted on an air-tight enclosure, then that is loose inside the fuel tank?