I heard installing a decoder and soundbug in a P2K SW9/1200 is not an easy or enjoyable task. One person said they would rather have two root canals than do this. Well I am going to attempt it...all comments would be appreciated whether negative or positive.
HO
willy6installing a decoder and soundbug in a P2K SW9/1200....all comments would be appreciated whether negative or positive.
Where are you planning on putting the speaker? The best sound unit in the world won't sound good with a poor speaker mounting.
Choose the smallest decoder that can handle the power consumption of the loco.
Soundbugs piggyback on the decoder, there are no extra wires connecting the two boards.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I'm also interested on how difficult a decoder will be to install in one of these as I just bought this one on Ebay:
Is that a P2K? It's quite easy actually. For non-sound, NCE makes a decoder especially for the P2K SW's that repalces the factory board.
I have one of these, in fact it is the Reading 1519.
It has a LokSound Micro. This HO loco draws very little current. The Loksound Micro is great because it has no large capacitor to hide.
I applied a Digitrax with original light board way back when and so I did not check to see if the LokSound Micro would fit in place of the light board. If it does not use a hacksaw cut the front weight on one side of the head light only. Leave as much of the weight remaining as you can. I had already removed the light board and wired LEDs in my original conversion. Check the fit in place of the light board before resorting to cutting the weight.
For the speaker I used the LokSound rectangular with two .632 speakers. Cut the housing in half being sure you do not penetrate into the sound chamber. There is enough material just go slow and careful. I than glued these back to back and placed the speaker in the cab. The cab headlight is "fun" to work with and will take most of your time in this instalation. Leave extra lead wire to LEDs and pass them into cab before soldering.Leave extra leadwire for the speakers as the cab re install is tricky as well. If I remember I had to cut a notch to pass the wires through.
Don't ask for photos as I have applied full length handrails and break them every time I remove the cab, and yes, I did not leave a lot of leadwire hence my note for you to do so.
Don't be afraid of this sound installation but use the LokSound Micro. These have become my preffered standard and I have loco's with all the other manufacturers sound decoders except DigiTrax.
The sound from this little switcher is great
Hope this helps, Chris