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F40PH Sound Decoder

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  • Member since
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  • From: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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F40PH Sound Decoder
Posted by TheRailfan98 on Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:57 PM

-Greenleaf Rail: Rail Transport for the Future-

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 8, 2012 10:13 AM

It´d be nice of your post would contain some text. Apparently, you have a compatibility issue. Search the forum how to remedy this.

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  • From: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Posted by TheRailfan98 on Friday, June 8, 2012 10:43 AM

Oh sorry it was acting up on the laptop i was using. Anyway it should have said this: I'm going to buy a Walthers F40PH and will want to add sound and DCC to it. I was just wondering if the Digitrax or MRC sound decoder would work. It says it's for the Kato F40 so does that mean it won't be compatible?

 

Thanks,

Brandon :)

-Greenleaf Rail: Rail Transport for the Future-

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Posted by cacole on Friday, June 8, 2012 12:25 PM

Unless Walthers specifically advertises the engine as DCC Ready or, more specifically, Sound Ready, finding a location for the speaker would be the biggest problem when it comes to adding sound.

If this is the engine you're asking about, Walthers makes no mention of DCC or Sound, so I personally would avoid this one if I was seriously interested in sound.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/931-334 

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Posted by Train Modeler on Friday, June 8, 2012 1:05 PM

I have one of those locos and have added sound.  It's a 16-645 E3 prime mover and 5 chime horn.  The Soundtraxx chip works great.   I used the AT format and a 1.22 High Bass round speaker with a custom built enclosure(you can buy the standard enclosure).   Lots of room inside to play with things.    It sounds awesome, got to love that soundtraxx 645 start up/shut down sequence too.

Richard

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  • From: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Posted by TheRailfan98 on Friday, June 8, 2012 4:29 PM

Thanks guys. Train Modeler, how much did your soundtraxx decoder cost? I'm trying to kinda stay on the less expensive side (that's why I was either gonna try the Digitrax or MRC-around $50) but if a more expensive one is my only option i'll go for it. I'll decide when I get the engine and open it up to see inside.

Thanks,

Brandon :)

-Greenleaf Rail: Rail Transport for the Future-

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Posted by NSDash09 on Saturday, June 9, 2012 9:33 PM

http://www.tonystrains.com/products/soundtraxx_tsunami.htm has them ~80 - 90 dollars. I am not sure which one is the 16 cyl or if it is just the EMD645.

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Posted by Train Modeler on Monday, June 11, 2012 10:01 AM

Brandon,

Blue Ridge Hobbies has them too.

This guy has good selection of speakers and decoders.    

http://dccinstallsandsales.com/store/catalog/

Listen to the sound here.

http://www.soundtraxx.com/dsd/tsunami/showwistle.php?s=emd645t

part number 828041  The AT format is cheaper than some of the others.

Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted by NSDash09 on Monday, June 11, 2012 10:33 AM

I don't know if Blue Ridge has them or not but from what i hear Railmaster speakers are the best. I plan on getting two of them for my Atlas dash-8

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Posted by Train Modeler on Monday, June 11, 2012 10:58 AM

NSDash09

I don't know if Blue Ridge has them or not but from what i hear Railmaster speakers are the best. I plan on getting two of them for my Atlas dash-8

I checked railmaster and they have some good speakers.  I saw they have a smaller version of this one 1.22" high bass(maybe they have this one too, just not listed?):   You can fit this into the F40

http://dccinstallsandsales.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=262

Your Atlas likely has the teepee arrangement to accomodate two large round speakers.

Richard

 

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Posted by NSDash09 on Monday, June 11, 2012 9:07 PM

Train Modeler

 

Your Atlas likely has the teepee arrangement to accomodate two large round speakers.

Richard

 

Yeah, all you have to do is pop out 2 weights. The hard part is getting the shell on and off.

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Posted by Train Modeler on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 11:04 AM

NSDash09

 

 Train Modeler:

 

 

Your Atlas likely has the teepee arrangement to accomodate two large round speakers.

Richard

 

 

 

Yeah, all you have to do is pop out 2 weights. The hard part is getting the shell on and off.

I can't recall for certain on the exact size but I think the teepee holds 1.25" speakers which are very large and can sound great.    You may want to experiment with two large speakers in the teepee vs a bass reflex or similar.   I have put a modified 1.06 HB in a dash 9 radiator pointing up and a 1.22" flat round in the tank and it sounded great.     In most of my sound installs I try to use 2 speakers with at least one being a HB.

Richard

 

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Posted by NSDash09 on Thursday, June 14, 2012 6:42 AM

I think the measurement i saw was metric: 27mm i think. The railmaster 

DHB27-8 claims a 170 - 20,000 Hz range so they should be fine. That speaker is High base, are you recommending one high base and something different for the other?

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Posted by Train Modeler on Thursday, June 14, 2012 8:09 AM

The 27mm is the largest HB I think you can get into an HO dash9--again I used the radiators.   A second HB for me personally is preferred, but due to space limitations a second large flat speaker is better than none.

Richard

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Posted by wjstix on Thursday, June 14, 2012 8:15 AM

A recent Model Railroader issue (don't have it at hand, but it was in the last couple of months) had an article on installing sound in various Amtrak passenger diesels, noting the different types of decoders that are available etc.

As I recall the new Digitrax sound decoder that usually retails for around $40-45 has a sound scheme for the F40PH. The decoder comes with a "generic" steam sound scheme, and an SD-38 diesel schem, but you can download new schemes / files using a PR2 or PR3 hooked up to a home computer.

Stix
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Posted by TheRailfan98 on Monday, June 25, 2012 5:58 PM

Hey thanks guys for all the input. I'll go with a Tsunami 645. Just another question. Will the TSU-AT1000 decoder fit in the walthers f40? Because if not i'll go with the small TSU-750. ANyways thanks everyone :)

-Greenleaf Rail: Rail Transport for the Future-

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Posted by TheRailfan98 on Monday, June 25, 2012 7:45 PM

Train Modeler

I have one of those locos and have added sound.  It's a 16-645 E3 prime mover and 5 chime horn.  The Soundtraxx chip works great.   I used the AT format and a 1.22 High Bass round speaker with a custom built enclosure(you can buy the standard enclosure).   Lots of room inside to play with things.    It sounds awesome, got to love that soundtraxx 645 start up/shut down sequence too.

Richard

 

Actually, Train Modeller, you used at AT1000? The one that looks like a normal board decoder? How'd it fit? Also I want your opinions. Should I get the regular 645 sound or the non-turbo? I don;t think the non-turbo is prototypical, but I kanda like it's sound. Thanks :)

-Greenleaf Rail: Rail Transport for the Future-

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Posted by alexstan on Wednesday, July 4, 2012 7:37 PM
http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Walthers/EMD%20F40PH/Walthers%20EMD%20F40PH.html Plenty of room in there. You could also probably take out the old light board and hardwire the AT in. Depends if you want realism, total realism, go with the turbocharged, the non-turbocharged is for like GP/SD 38/38-2. The F40PH is basically a GP40-2 under the hood, so a turbocharged one is the realistic option.

Modelling HO Scale with a focus on the West and Midwest USA

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