I have an Overland P40DC that I want to convert to DCC. I am fairly expert in DCC at this point, and I don't have fear of rewiring the model. This is probably the most respectable loco in my collection now as it is a little bit of a rare classic (a 1995 Overland build) with a nice set of Overland coaches to go with it, but I have no fear of digging in.
I am wondering if any Amtrak modelers out there have any decoders and sound setups that they can suggest. My childhood in Indiana was always punctuated by the distinctive sound of Amtrak trains that blasted through my town. They were mostly older F40PH type units, but some of these GE units were on the scene too.
I am normally a freight modeler- 1990-2000 era mostly FURX and NS. My Furbies are really getting nice as my skills get sharper- and by nice, I mean more detailed and really stressed out weathering. A shiny Amtrak makes a nice contrast.
Passenger equipment is foreign territory for me so any advice is appreciated. I have little experience with brass, so I don't plan on doing anything but installing the decoder and perhaps LED lights. Sound is an option, but not required. I may need the space inside the shell for some lead instead of a speaker, but if I can find the right stuff, I will consider sound.
Prodigy Advanced Squared is my system, but I am not partial to any decoder brand. I have had good luck with every brand that I have tried.
FURX NS CSX in HO
This is one option that I've used in my Athearn AMD 103
The prime mover is a modern FDL, listen below. I would use an AT format since they are the cheaper version usually. 828038
http://www.soundtraxx.com/dsd/tsunami/showwistle.php?s=gefdl16modern
With a 1.22/31mm high bass speaker.
Richard
Being newer brass it should be pretty easy, actually. It likely has 2 wires coming from the motor, instead of the old method of grounding one motor lead to the chassis. Always test to be sure, with the motor wires disconencted there should be no continuity between one of the motor wires and the chassis. If it really is isolted this ay, then installing a decoder is really no more complex than installign it in a plastic loco - you have your track pickups and you have your motor wires.
There should be room in there to get a decent speaker and still have room for weights. Check the current draw of the motor, if it's low enough you might be able to use something like a Loksound Micro, it's really no bigger than most motor-only decoders.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks for the tips. I need to just combine the K5LA horn with the FDL 16 for the right sound. It appears that the part number 827117 TSU-1000 from Tsunami has the right stuff. I will just have to open up the loco and see what kind of room I have. I can't really argue that I want to keep costs down in this unit, so Tsunami seems appropriate. Not that it really matters, but Brian from Overland did advise me once that Tsunami was his preference. I have also had pretty good luck with them too.
I would consider QSI also but honestly, they seem fussy on my DCC system sometimes. Does anybody have experience with the new Titan decoder? It is just a little unclear with QSI what you get sometimes. Their site doesn't list the air horn selections. I have only QSI factory installed units in BLI and Atlas diesels, so I have never installed one. The few QSI equipped units I have do sometimes experience logic crashes that I have never been able to figure out. It might be some weirdness with the MRC system that I use. Computer crashes that cause runaway trains are pretty amusing but I prefer not to have this particular engine and cars go crashing through the yard.
This might be a bit late but I would recommend a Loksound V4 from Litchfield station. They have a custom sound file just for the AMD 103. Mine is supposed to come sometime this week from my heritage AMD103.
Not too late. I am keeping my wallet cool a little bit after picking up this new brass, so I haven't purchased a decoder yet. Well, actually, I did try while I was in PA the other day and stopped in at Trains and Lanes hobby shop. Amazingly, they didn't have the right prime mover sound in Tsunami. I wired in a plain Digitrax so I could run the loco. I am going to look into the Loksound item. I was eager to try a Loksound. Can you elaborate on Litchfield Station's item? Did they do the custom sound? Should I just call them and tell them exactly what I have?
Ah, Trains and Lanes, know it well. Tell Dave I said hi.
And here is a post that makes my point perfectly that Soundtraxx made a huge mistake not making it possible to load sounds into their decoders - the specific Tsunami you needed was out of stock, while I bet they had some others. With Loksound and QSI this could have still been a sale, because you cna swap the sounds. There's only oen decoder SKU per form factor (9 pin plug, Atlas light board, plain wires, etc.) because you can load any of the soudns into any of the decoders.
This si why I have decoded to standardize on using Loksound in anything I add sound to. A good dealer like Litchfield will pre-load them with your choice of sound, but it's also easy to do with the Loksound Programmer hardware. Case in point, the default Alco 244 sound file that Loksound has to download comes with a 5-chime horn. My railroad used a 3-chime M3RT1. In Loksound's sound library, they have nearly every horn imaginable, including the M3. With a coupel fo clicks, I swapped out the P5 horn that was in there with the M3 and then loaded it into my blank decoder, ready to install in one of my RS-3's.
Plus the motor drive on Loksound (and their motor-only Lokpilot) decoders is hard to beat. The BEMF is superb, configurable from anything to a basic "start and run at the slowest speed" right up to extreme cruise control regardless of grades (I saw that demonstrated at a train show with a Large Scale loco on a circle of track on a board mounted at like a 30 degree angle. Up and down, the speed did not vary). Most peopel don't want that level of unrealistic speed control, unless runnign some sort of automation, but you dial it back so it only helps get the loco moving and if it goes up grade you will have to increase throttle to maintain speed.
Between Loksound V4 and Loksound Select, there is a decoder size and form factor for nearly anything you care to shoehorn a speaker in to. Plus a wide selection of speaker sizes and shapes. The Select series work like QSI - you can replace the entire sound set only, not change individual sounds. Most sound sets have multiple horns, you select which one plays with a CV. Unlike MRC, they have them labeled, so you know which type of horn each CV value corresponds to. Loksound V4 is completely customizable, you can even alter the 'script' for playing sounds, or repalce sounds with ones you've recorded yourself (this can get complicated, accurate sound recording and processing is a hobby unto itself). Using this same capability in the older Loksound 3.5 decoders that came on my PCM Reading T1's, I made use of a sound file made available that used a recording of a real T1 to update the sounds to more realistic ones.
Here is the litchfield page for the Loksound V4, if it doesn't work for some reason just go to the main page and search "Loksound V4" http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=999002732&cat=0&page=1
If you go down to the select sound box you will see a whole bunch of sounds with numbers next to them. Those are the sound files made by ESU. All the way at the bottom there is one that says "Diesel_AMD103". That sound file was made by Litchfield and they will program it onto the decoder for you. I assume it will have the correct 7FDL-16 prime mover and K5LA horn. Hopefully it will also have a HEP sound (head end power, the engine has to run at higher rpms to run a generator for the electricity in the cars). Again, the two V4's i ordered are still enroute, they were waiting because they needed the second decoder so hopefully for you they have them in stock now. With any luck I will have the decoder and leds installed in my P40DC within a week. I could probably shoot a sound demo video and post it here if that would help. Then you'll know for sure what you are getting before you spend $119 dollars. I did find the price a bit high so in the future unless I need something custom I will likely go back to using the general Loksound Select instead of the V4. Litchfield had a lower price than Tony's train exchange, so far they are the lowest I have found. If anyone knows of someplace cheaper let me know.
In late 2007, I posted an AMD 103 file that I composed for the Loksound v3.5 decoder on the Loksound Yahoo group file page, and just verified that it's still there. I was sent some recordings to work from for the compressor and bell, and used stock files for the engine and K5LA. This may be where the Litchfield file is from, or not, don't know. This file works the same in a v4 decoder. I ride behind these locos reasonably often, and believe the file is pretty realistic.
Since the file only requires the older decoder, you might get lucky and find one cheap; I bought two recently for $40 each.
Hal
I like this idea. I will follow up on it and probably go for it. Loksound "sounds" good. I will give Litchfield a call.
Once that decoder is in there, then I have to figure out why this Overland keeps bouncing off the tracks. Out of all my locos, (too many locos) the Overland AMD-103 is the only one that derails. I guess my 25" radius turns are too tight? Even my big Kato SD80MAC engines can take them. Amazing that the one engine with actual springs in its trucks is the most sensitive to bumps- if it even is bumps. Totally at random the thing will jump off. Well, figuring things out is why we love the hobby, right?