Has anyone installed one of these yet? I've installed nearly 25 Tsunami decoders in HO locomotives and this one is mind boggling. I am having trouble figuring out where the capacitor and the speaker go.
Any suggestions?
Will
Will,
There is a guy on Youtube who recently put one in and went over it pretty well. I cant link it but search for it. His handle is Bryan Voltz and the video is called "Update #5."
He had to cut some of the weight out to store the capacitor. The speaker has a place perfect for it (you probably knew that) under one of the weights. Has to be a 16x35mm rectangular one. Looks like you have to add resistors between the Atlas LEDs and the decoder.
Switchers are always a challenge to add sound to. Good times...
Im in the middle of the install of the Tsuami on the Genset. I got the capacitor to fit under the front weight and held it with some Celphon tape. I think I am going to have to install two separate SMD leds in the front to get them to flash bc Atlas has LED light boards with only one red and one black wire coming from the LEDs. You cant hook them up that way to F5 & F6.
SoundTraxx has released detailed instructions on installing their decoder into the Atlas Genset, as a .PDF file. I received a copy via email today as part of their regular customer newsletter, but can't attach it to this message.
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Here is a link to these instructions.
http://www.soundtraxx.com/documents/appnotes/atlas_genset.pdf
Jack W.
I finished my install. The bulletin helps some, but there is some details they left out.
Mounting the decoder...
The decoder itself looses its mounting bracket when you take the stock Atlas board off. Just cut a piece of .060 plastic styrene and secure the decoder to it with some celephon tape and then secure that to the motor with more celephon tape.
The Speaker...
The speaker needs to face down under the front weight with the wires facing toward the middle, routed through the hole.
The capacitor...
The capacitor fits under the rear weight which I secured with some celaphon tape.
The Ditch Lights...
If you want the ditch lights to flash, you will have to remove one of the stock LED boards and replace one of the pairs with individual LEDs as the decoder only has four lighting functions. I have one of the NS units, so I choose to have the front side flash and have the rear ones stay on constantly when the rear headlight is selected. You need resistors (i used 1/4 watt, 1k ohm) for each function output (one in F5 and one in F6). Then take the positive leads from the replacement LEDs (I used some golden white SMDs) and twist them together and solder them and the front headlight LED positive lead to the front headlight common. I twisted two resistors together and soldered them into the the rear headlight negative function. Connect the negative lead from the stock LED board to one, and the negative lead from the rear headlight to the other resistor. Take the positive commons of the LED board and the rear headlight and connect both to the rear positive common.
If you dont want them to flash (UP/BNSF), just keep the stock ones in and wire the negative leads in with resistors.
In general...
Its a tight fit with this decoder. Having the built in sound baffle is great. It is easy to loose your orientation of which way is the cab end and which is the long hood on this install (at least for me). You may want to mark it with some tape temporarily to remind yourself and periodically test it as you move through the install. Have fun, good luck.
LokSound is working on a Genset sound file for their Select series. Considering how much smoother motor control is with LokSound, I'll wait for it.
For some inexplicable reason, Tsunami does not support CVs 5 and 6 to adjust mid- and max- motor voltage.
My younger son,7, and I ran my NS Genset for a bit yesterday. This decoder made a great engine even better. The sounds are unique and interesting, and my son and I had alot of fun with it. We both really enjoyed the random motor sounds of them cutting on and off. Really a unique decoder.
tallcapt My younger son,7, and I ran my NS Genset for a bit yesterday. This decoder made a great engine even better. The sounds are unique and interesting, and my son and I had alot of fun with it. We both really enjoyed the random motor sounds of them cutting on and off. Really a unique decoder.
Thanks for posting how it's working, that's the part I've been curious about. I truly hope you don't mean the 2nd and 3rd engines don't come on and off randomly all the time???
When notching up, what makes the 2nd and 3rd engine come online and vica versa. Is it just a speed step or does it account for increased pulling requirements(load)?
Richard
No, it operates per up and down throttle notching, not randomly. I really like it. It is loud enough to remind you that it is a sound decoder, but unlike many of my sound decoders, right out of the box you can still hear the 'clickity-clack' of the train.
Hi, please don't laugh at me. But, I have doubt where is the front in Genset.
I am installing a Tsunami decoder in my Genset and I'm little confused. I was sure that a front is where the cab is. However, the original Atlas wires indicate that like in a switcher the cab is in the back.