I seen this item at Tom's Trackside Trains in Burlingame the week before Christmas, and reading the box, it said it was compatible with DC or DCC. It has a 2" x 3.5" open frame speaker that you can mount under the layout, and a tethered control box with a dozen buttons and a volume knob. There was also a 1 page instruction sheet that describes operation. I asked Tom to show it to me, and he said he could not figure out how to work it, but I went ahead and bought it to mess around with. There are 6 wires in the cable on the control box, and you need to use all of them for DC operation, however I am only interested in the DCC feature, as sound in Z Scale is too hard until smaller decoder are available. I hooked up the blue and green wire to the speaker, and the red and brown to the programming track and tried to program the unit with my NCE system. Diesel rumble sound started as soon as power was applied, even on the programming track. My NCE system did not read any of the CV's while attempting to program it, but I went ahead and entered numbers anyways. I set it to the same address as my new GP35 with ditch lights. I tested it by putting the GP on the track, and hooking the brown and red wires to the mainline, then called up my GP, and throttled up. As the locomotive started to move, the rumble from the sound box increased with the speed. That was kind of cool, so I turned on the headlight, then I turned on the ditchlights with F2, and the horn blasted. I turned off the horn, and I have my ditch lights set to keep flashing for 10 seconds after F2 is turned off. It's kind of neet to blast out a Long-Long-Short-Long at a grade crossing, and have a Z Scale loco's ditch lights flash for 10 more seconds before going back to steady burn mode. I played with the other sounds and found that F1 would sound the crossing bell, so I started using that at crossings too! I messed around in the yard, and started pressing F4 when coupling, and F9 for break squeel. It was kind of cool. There ae 16 sounds but I did not bother with any of those yet, as I wa busy blasting the horn and doing the crossing bell at the recent GATS, where our modular club was running. I did not tell any of the guys at first, but just had the sound box under my module, then showed them the sound and ditch lights I installed, and they totally freaked when theyy heard the sounds synchronized with my DCC'd and ditchlighted GP35! Remember this is Z Scale so people don't ecpect ditch lights, much less sound. Someone caught on after a few minutes of intense grilling on how I could fit a sound decoder in a Z Scale GP, then looked under the module skits and pulled out the tethered control box. They still liked the fact that it was synchronized with my decoder, and operated wirelessly with my procab. How does it sound? It's OK. It sounds like $75 should sound, and is fun if you don't have any othe sound system or cannot fit sound decoders in your locomotives! It could use a little improvement in the programming department though. -Robert
Robert thanks for the review, I have a dc layout and am thinking about purchasing one myself. does the unit also play random sounds?
Robert: I do the same thing with Soundtraxx DSX sound only decoders with N scale loco's. I've been using them on the JJJ&E for 6 + years now, and have accumulated a large assortment of different steam and diesel sounds over that time period. Each Soundtraxx DSX sound only decoder has it's own specific loco sound with many functions and options. Stay cool and run steam....
I did not hear any random sounds, just an idle rumble when loco's are not running. I thought of using the sound only decoders for larger gauge locomotived on my layout, but every year for the past 4 years, I have been egarly awaiting the surroundtraxx sound system release. I seen it running at the NTS in 2004, and again at the 2005NTS, but they still never release it? They had N Scale locomotives traveling through blocks, and when the loco went to another block, the sound moved to another speaker. This would be perfect for Z Scale modules , but I don't know if they will ever release it. -Robert
I position Radio Shack four inch speakers under the benchwork and I've been very happy with that effect. I also put the Soundtraxx sound only decoders in 50 foot box cars that have been outfitted with Kato caboose trucks to supply contact with the rails and a 5/8" inch speaker in the shell. It sounds okay but doesn't compare to the sound from the four inch speakers. Stay cool and run steam....
Yes, all the sounds can also be ran from the buttond on the controller. Some sounds are made by pressing 2 buttons at the same time, like F3 and F4 will get an "All Aboard!" yell from the conductor. In DC mode the remaining 2 wires must be connected to the accessory terminals of your power pack, but for DCC there is always full power on the rails anyways. There is also a volume control on the controller, but the volume can be over ridden by setting the volume CV for DCC users. -Robert
Robert Using it with a DC pike, does it syncro well throught the different run positions? Like from start to stop, prime mover sounds are smooth? Thanks Thom
That's where my review falls short, as I only ran it on DCC. My loco is Z Scale, so it's already moving at a pretty good clip when I hear the change to notch 2 or 2 to 3, but I can hear it. It might be better with larger locos like N or HO. -Robert
I have both the steam and the diesel units, running on DC. Yes, you push the buttons to trigger the sounds, and the chuff rate and starting point are tailorable to a very limited degree (three or five settings, I believe) to accomodate different steam engines. Several whistles on the steam box, several horns on the diesel box can also be programmed in DC use. The steam box *does* do random sounds (at least a couple) when the throttle is at zero.... chuffs, steam vents, coal falling. Not too much, but a little I like the steam box better, but the sound is decent from both, and you can position the speakers wherever you like. Mounting them in a sealed enclosure improves the sound.
Hi all How do you connect more speakers to the sound box? Or I should ask, is it possible to do that? I have an old pair of computer speakers with the standard head phone type plug on the end, will these work with it? Thanks Thom
Mark: Thanks for the info on that unit. Can you change the chuff rate for different steamers.? Or is there only one? Stay cool and run steam......
If you mean for DC, yes, you set the start voltage and then the chuffs per wheel revolution (its rather coarse, and of course, if you put another loco on the track, you need to reprogram the unit. If you mean for DCC, then yes, again; but much more latitude. Here is what the manual says: "To adjust the chuff rate (DCC), program the start voltage CV2, so the loco begins to move as the chuff sounds start, then program the top voltage CV5 to the desired top speed, then program the chuff rate CV64 to synchronize the loco."
SP 9811, all you would have to do is cut off the mini plug on the existing computer speaker, strip the wires, and splice them into the two speaker wires (blue and green) coming from the synchro sound box. Most computer speaker sets are externally powered with a wall wart power supply. You will not need this, but might have to open the speaker enclosure to get to the speaker wire for this speaker. The second speaker is usually linked to the first (powered) box by a single wire, and its this wire you want to cut and splice for a single speaker. You can do much the same with the powered box, you just need to hook the synchro box's output (blue and green wires) to the speaker in the powered box, bypassing the small amplifier that is enclosed on a circuit board in that enclosure. et voila, two speakers for your synchro sound box(es) The speaker included with the synchro sound box is adequate, though; but you would need to build or buy an enclosure for it
This evening I ordered one of these units from Feather River Trains, I'll be using strasight dc so I'll do a review once it arrives.
Just to make sure I understand, with DC, the Chuff Rate or Diesle engine rate Varies with the Track Voltage , correct ? Thanks, Dave
