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Decoder with waterfall or flowing river sound?

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  • Member since
    April 2012
  • 6 posts
Decoder with waterfall or flowing river sound?
Posted by carebbean on Saturday, May 13, 2017 5:26 PM

Hi Gang!

I just completed my mountain gorge scene with a waterfall cascading into the river and flowing down stream.

 

I would like to be able to use a decoder with my NCE controller to activate the waterfall sound and another decoder to activate the flowing river sound.

 

Can these sounds be loaded into any decoder or do I have to buy one that already has those sounds?

 

I can, I suppose, use my trainroom Windows 10 system to play sound files that can be downloaded from the internet.

 

I plan to have speakers enbeded in the waterfall and river areas.

 

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

Blessings

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Reading, PA
  • 30,002 posts
Posted by rrinker on Saturday, May 13, 2017 7:20 PM

 You have to use a decoder which alloows sound files to be loaded, and then (generally proprietary) sound loading software and hardware. For example, there is a sound project for Digitrax sound decoders by Fred Miller that turns it into a generic background sound player: http://www.fnbcreations.net/Articles/General%20Purpose%20Sound%20Player.pdf  He also has an Arduino project to do the same thing http://www.fnbcreations.net/projects.htm

There are also background sound modules available. They typically are not controlled by DCC functions but by buttons, or just run continuously when they are powered on. A button type could possibly be triggered by a DCC stationary decoder. They always on or physical button is probably a better approach, only because it keeps you from having to select a different loco address or accessory to turn on the sound then have to switch back to your running loco to control the train.

                            --Randy

 

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,229 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, May 13, 2017 9:14 PM

carebbean
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!

Hi,

I recently picked up an Iowa Scaled Engineering CKT_Squeal loadable sound player.

http://www.iascaled.com/store/CKT-SQUEAL

If you are comfortable with working with files and have your own sound effect files (many can be found free at some websites) you can record and program your own sound sequence on these devices.

http://soundbible.com/1516-Waterfall.html

I plan on using one for my bascule drawbridge using a boat whistle on one channel, a siren, the gear noise of the bridge raising and the clank of the rail locks on each of the other three channels.

OR there are sound modules from ITT Products. These can be triggered as Randy points out, by several means. There are cheap photocell detectors on Ebay or reed switches.

http://ittproducts.com/GL.html

Another option is a CHEAP MP3 player connected to amplified computer speakers. I used the sound effects CD from Green Frog to play background sounds for my steel mill. You could find similar files for background sounds and rip them to MP3 and load them onto the player. However, triggering isn't really an option, it is either playing or not.

 

Good Luck, Ed

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Saturday, May 13, 2017 11:54 PM

I did this on the cheap some years ago. FM transistor radio set between stations. A nice hiss.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    April 2012
  • 6 posts
Posted by carebbean on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 10:06 AM
Thanks, Everyone - great replies and suggestions! I'll check them out. I have audio software on my Mac. that seems like the most economical way to do this project. Sound decoders can get expensive! Blessings

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