Hi Folks
I'm was just testing a Tsunami TSU-750 with a Digitrax LT1 before I installed it and everything seems to be working fine. I thought I'd just check the sound through the speaker and there is a clicking noise that appears to come regularly once every couple of cycles of chuffs. With the speaker baffle on it is much reduced but still just noticeable. I thought it might be where the sound clip ends and then starts again.
Has anyone else noticed this and is it acceptable?
Cheers Ted
Do you have a speaker of the correct impedance; i.e., 8 Ohms ? How experienced are you at soldering the wires to the speaker ?
A clicking noise from a Tsunami is not normal at all, but could possibly be caused by a faulty speaker or poor solder joint.
Thanks for the quick response. I'm using a small Ceramic (I think) speaker which didn't require any solder connections; the wires clipped into a spring clip. It's By CT Electronik and about 10mm by 15mm by 3mm as per this link:
http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/search/mini-oblong-speaker.aspx
The clicking is very regular which is why I suspected the decoder. Both speaker and decoder were purchased from the same shop so I'll give them a ring after the holiday period.
Thanks for the quick replies.
Cheers, Ted
Check your speaker connections very carefully under a strong light and magnification to insure that one strand of one speaker wire is not touching the other wire or spring clip.
This may a dumb question, but could you be hearing the air pump sound? It is a regular clicking sound, which I think is a pretty poor approximation of an air pump, more annoying than realistic. Test it by setting CV 132 to zero. If the sound goes away it was the air pump.
tpatrick This may a dumb question, but could you be hearing the air pump sound?
This may a dumb question, but could you be hearing the air pump sound?
If you have a good quality, well baffled speaker the air pump is not a clicking sound. I've never heard of the ceramic speaker the OP is using, but that could well be the problem if it is poorly made and not properly baffled.
chinapig Thanks for the quick response. I'm using a small Ceramic (I think) speaker which didn't require any solder connections; the wires clipped into a spring clip. It's By CT Electronik and about 10mm by 15mm by 3mm as per this link: http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/search/mini-oblong-speaker.aspx
OK, but the question was what is the impedence of the speaker, not the size?? If it doesn't match the decoder's output, it might be the source of your problem. The speaker you link to is made in Austria so might not use the same impedence, not all sound decoders use the same impedence. (I think the German Loksound decoders use either 100-ohm or 32-ohm speakers for example.)
I'd maybe try an 8-ohm speaker and see how that sounds before returning the decoder as being faulty.
I've been busy all day with family things so haven't really had a chance to follow anything up but thinking about it I reckon it's the air pumps. Before I put a baffle on the speaker it really just made a clicking sound but once the baffle had been put on, if I think about it, it could be more railway related. I'm pretty sure the speaker is 8 ohm; it was purchased for use with the Tsunami from the same shop. I'll try CV 132 tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the help.
Yes, CV132 set to zero has solved it. I'm going to be trying out a conventional small speaker in the future to see if it gives a better tone. Thing is, the TSU-750, speaker and capacitor are being fitted in an N Scale small USRA tender that comes with the Bachmann Light Mountain! Seems to be going well so far.
Thanks again for all the help. Cheers, Ted