I have one of these coming (not new but hardly used), but although it is DCC-ready, it doesn't have a decoder.
Any suggestions for a sound decoder with acceptable sounds would be welcome.
Thanks,
Bob
FowlmereRRAny suggestions for a sound decoder with acceptable sounds would be welcome.
Hi,
I have a pair of the Proto 0-8-0s which are pretty similar in design to the 0-6-0. The early runs of these engines did not have track pickup from the tender trucks. I hope yours is a later run that does. Mine are one of each.
The tender of these Proto Heritage engines do not have a very friendly design for mounting a speaker. I believe if the weight is removed and a little surgery to the floor is done you can get a sugar cube speaker in there.
Sound decoder choice is somewhat subjective. I have several steam locomotives with ESU decoders in them and in my opinion, ESU doesn't have a very good selection of sound files for steam.
WOW sound decoders are good and have very good steam sounds recorded. I have several of these and, for me, the only downside is their "voice command" programming or whatever they call it. I just can't get used to it and I wind up accidentally changing the settings by pressing the wrong function buttons. TCS has a direct-fit sound kit for Proto engines that includes keep-alive capacitors.
My first steam decoder install years ago was a Tsunami and that locomotive is still running well and sounding great. I've since installed several Tsunami 2 decoders in steam locos and I'm quite pleased with them.
The smaller-sized TSU-1100 would be a good choice to fit into the smaller tender of the 0-6-0.
TCS has some good photos to illustrate a decoder install showing the speaker mounted under the coal load here:
https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1521
Good Luck, Ed
I have the better/later Pre-Walthers Proto 2000 Heritage 0-6-0 and had a friend install a decoder. It's the Tsunami.
The locomotive is light, and so is the tender. I would be very leery about not putting back some weight because the lighter tender will have pickup problems on slightly uneven track. You WANT the weight in there, so figure out how to put something weighty back in, shoehorning where you must.
It's an exceptionally fine early plastic HO model. I love mine, but it does not do so well over time unless you disassemble the trucks and clean the tires and wipers scrupulously after about every two-three hours of actual running time.
Believe it or not, that little shifter can shove six heavyweights on my yard.
Enjoy.
The 0-8-0 is similar, and is here.
Gary
Bob,
I installed a TCS WowSteam decoder in my Proto 2000 0-8-0 tender and it sounds great. I would think that the 0-6-0 would have about the same size tender. The motor-control of the TCS decoders is fabulous and great for a yard switcher like an 0-6-0.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments and suggestions. I'll wait to see exactly what I have when it arrives next week, and then decide what will fit. If I can't get sound without compromising running, then it'll just do without.
I'll let you know how I get on.
This morning I have installed the TCS WOW Sound decoder kit in my Proto 2000 0-6-0. (btw - what a gorgeous little loco it is - I tested it first on DC and it runs as smooth as a baby's bottom, as they say here in England!).
And it still runs smoothly on DCC, with some good sounds too, though I haven't explored all the options yet. BUT - when the sound is not muted there seems to be a good deal of digital noise coming from the speaker - that high-pitched buzz/whine that suggests inadequate isolation between amplifier and control circuits.
Have any of you experienced this with the TCS unit? Any remedies?
(Maybe this thread now belongs in DCC forum?)
The TCS Wow in my Proto 2000 0-8-0 does not do that. How did you mount the speaker? Is it in any sort of baffle or enclosure?
Tom - I followed the installation sequence on the TCS web site, so I mounted the speaker on the underside of the coal load, having first drilled a lot of holes as instructed. I then sealed it in with glue.
The offending noise is definitely electrical, not a mechanical buzz or rattle, and it mutes when you kill the sound with F9. I'm sure it is induced noise, but it certainly doesn't sound right.
FowlmereRRThe offending noise is definitely electrical, not a mechanical buzz or rattle, and it mutes when you kill the sound with F9.
I recently made the same sound installation you did but in an 0-8-0. The tenders are similar, I believe.
I took one look at the speaker supplied in the kit and tossed it in the recycle bin. I have used dozens of those pancake-thin speakers and resort to those only as necessary, such as in some diesels that are set up to use such a speaker.
My favorite universal speaker is the ESU 50321 sugar cube kit.
L-L_0-8-0b by Edmund, on Flickr
As you see here, it will rest on the two protrusions coming through the board and tucks in nicely ahead of the decoder plug. I used two "sticky-dots" to retain the speaker but a small slice of double-stick foam tape would work, too.
L-L_0-8-0 by Edmund, on Flickr
The photo shows the speaker before sticking it in place. It fits nicely in that spot. I haven't drilled my coal load as yet but the entire coal bin snaps out and I'm "testing" and programming the engine before I decide how to proceed with the coal load.
I always test speakers before installing them using a little MP-3 player with some familiar recordings of music on it. This gives me a good idea of what kind of dynamic range I can expect and lets me know if the speaker is a complete DUD.
FowlmereRR I'm sure it is induced noise, but it certainly doesn't sound right.
You first have to set the "global" volume level to about 40-50% before anything else. The amp on this board will probably drive speakers ten-times larger than these tiny half-watt speakers we're using in a little switcher.
Once you turn the master sound level down, then you can go back and fine tune the whistle, bell and air compressor. These are the four main ones I adjust. Some of them I set to 0 such as the fireman shoveling or the rooster crowing.
Try reducing the volume. Maybe the speaker you glued in is OK.
Ed - I think the speaker is OK. The sounds are good, if you ignore the background nasties.
I did already reduce the master volume by a lot - way too loud out of the box! I'll experiment with some of the individual volume settings later - not got much spare time today. I'm also going to try, very carefully, to get my oscilloscope on the audio output at some point to see what the characteristic of the noise is. Not sure what I'll do with that information when I get it.
One thing I have noticed - the installation motherboard has a limited keep-alive on it, and sounds can continue for about 10-12 seconds after track power has been switched off. The annoying background noise continues too, so it is not induced from the track signal, and must just be a digital audio artefact.
Anyway - if I come up with anything I'll update here. meantime, thanks to all who have made suggestions.
(Ed- not sure why you seem to object to the fireman shovelling - I think he's just "doin' his job"!!)
Are you sure what you are hearing isn't just the background sound of the boiler steaming? Or if the headlight is on and it's a high pitched whine, that is probably the dynamo, which usually stops if the lights are turned off.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
FowlmereRR(Ed- not sure why you seem to object to the fireman shovelling - I think he's just "doin' his job"!!)
Just one of those "superfluous sounds" that manufacturers toss in to the mix to get some kind of "WOW" factor out of it.
As you discovered, so many of the sounds are simply way too loud. OK, I admit, I set "fireman Joe" or whatever TCS calls him, volume to just a barely perceptable level.
When I installed my first WOW diesel decoder there were annoying "clicks" I kept hearing. On further investigation, TCS hat the sound of the throttle-notching relay clicks eminating from the cab! Along with windshield wiper sounds! Really?
On another diesel, I kept hearing chirping sounds? While doing a test-run I found one of the engines in the consist was sliding it's wheels! On further investigation I found out the chirping was the "Alerter" and if you didn't acknowledge it within a time-out period the "brakes" would set up! I don't know how this one engine had this feature enabled but it was certainly a feature I didn't want to have to deal with.
I'm just saying that so many of these sounds you would never hear unless you were IN the cab. I observe my models from a distance so the chances of actually hearing the fireman's shovel scraping the coal deck, or the clicks of the throttle notching on a diesel would be pretty slim.
10-12 seconds of keep alive is pretty good. It will be even less with the motor turning. All you really need is a second or two to get over the usual interruption in track power when running. Everything is a tradeoff. There's very little room, even for "super-caps" in that little tender.
Regards, Ed
Having adjusted some volume controls, and done much more playing, I am now happy with this loco/decoder combination. It works far more reliably than my almost new BLI Light Mikado, which keeps cutting out
I shall be looking for a couple more of these P2K 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 models - they are super-smooth.
FowlmereRRIt works far more reliably than my almost new BLI Light Mikado, which keeps cutting out
I have dozens of BLI steam engines and the intermittent running IS a pain but from what I've experienced they get better the more you run them. I don't know if there is a coating on the wheels or some other continuity problems but they eventually get better.
One of my most recent models was a PRR K4 with the big coast-to-coast tender. It would flat-out stall dead at three distinct places on my layout. Two turnouts and one crossing. After about an hour of steady running it eventually passed over these spots without hesitation.
I checked every rail, frog and point on these places and track voltage was good.
Hopefully your Mike will work the bugs out.
My Proto 0-8-0 is also racking up the miles after the upgrade to the WOW kit with keep alive, too. Great engine!