Hi folks. New year; time for another sound install, this time in my Atlas GP 30. Since this installation used the same basic techniques as my RS11 and GP7 (both of which are in threads on here somewhere), I won't do a detailed how to, but I do have photos showing the component layout below. One thing that is a bit different: the NKP used a horizontal front headlight on the low hood. The Atlas model doesn't have this, so I used a Detail Associates detail part to make this. I drilled through the shell and used some Micro Krystal Clear from Microscale for the lenses. As you will see, the headlight is lit with a sunny white surface mount LED mounted on the front of the chassis. I took a bit more video this time to illustrate not only the sound, but also the terrific motor control you get with ESU's LokSound decoder. YouTube video: [video=youtube_share;H2k-zbwhPK8]http://youtu.be/H2k-zbwhPK8[/video] Here is a side view showing the component layout: ESU LokSound up front; speaker in the rear, as per my usual techniques. The speaker is the Knowles Fox (which was still available at Digikey for immediate shipment today) in an enclosure made of .020 styrene, 6mm high overall. The installation is pretty easy - the only frame milling I did was at the front, cutting off about a half-inch of the channel for the PC board to fit the front of the Loksound there. I used surface mount sunny white LED's from Richmond Controls for the front and back lights. Here's a shot of the nose of the chassis showing the front LED: The rear LED is mounted on the speaker enclosure: And here are some photos of the completed installation: Tecnnically, the GP30 was the first of the 567 prime movers with a turbo, but I just love the sound of the Roots blown 567C, so that's what I used for this one. John C.
I am impressed! Nice knowing I don't need an E8 to get sound. There's sound potential in my RS11, GP7/9, and H16-44 collection. I am not ready to attempt this right now but I like knowing it can be done.
This one actually IS pretty easy. The shell is wide enough for the ESU decoder to fit without any modifications; there's plenty of room in the back for the speaker to sit on the frame without modifications, and the new "DCC-ready" chassis is tall enough that just slicing off a bit of the front of the "channel" where the original PC board sits makes plenty of room for the decoder. If I hadn't decided to install the low front headlight, the whole installation would have taken under an hour. The SD9 was even easier because it's a high hood and the length of the chassis means almost no frame mods (just a tiny bit of cutting in the front so the decoder can smoothly sit at an angle), but the SD9 needs a bit of shell thinning that the GP30 doesn't. So maybe in the end a tie. It's a blast to do switching with these, and hear the prime mover throttle up and down as you're doing it, along with blowing the horn and ringing the bell. Eventually, I'll probably convert my entire diesel fleet, but that's going to take a while! John C.
Clearly you added the nose headlight (very nice!) without repainting the model. Would you please share your technique for modifying the shell without messing up the paint? I thing I see a little bit of touch-up on the upper yellow stripe, but that's the only evidence I find of anything other than factory paint. Regards, George
Fantastic job on the sound install. I love the GP30's and am currently trying to find one made by Atlas in the N&W Black and White paint scheme.
John, congratulations on another successful and impressive shout installation in an n-scale locomotive. I missed this one when you first posted it.
Hi George. Looks like I missed the question you asked. Here's the answer. I used a Detail Associates dual headlight (late) detail part turned sideways and painted black. I filed a small notch in the front of the shell for the detail part using the side of a flat jeweler's file. Then I used some liquid plastic cement to cement the detail part in the notch. The next day, I used a #63 (I think; it's whatever # of bit that works out to the closest size to .75mm) drill bit to drill through the headlight indentations on the detail part and rest of shell to create two holes. Then I cut two 3/16" long .75mm pieces of fiber optic strand, and created a "lens" at the end of each piece by heating over a 25-watt soldering iron (the "create a lens via heating" technique is described in various places on the web). Then I pushed the non-lens end of the fiber optic through the holes, secured them on the inside of the shell with a tiny drop of thin CA cement, and lit them with the surface-mount 603 white LED you see in the photos. John C.
