Greetings,I've recently acquired a Walthers Proto 2000 Heritage 0-8-0 with OEM factory-installed sound made by Soundtraxx. I'd like to install a chuff cam, but there seems to be no tan lead (or any unused lead at all) exiting the sound board for this purpose. Seems to me this isn't the first OEM Sountraxx card that lacks this feature.Has anyone figured out how to install and hook up a chuff cam in one of these OEM Soundtraxx boards?
OEM installed Soundtraxx (and other brands) decoders are generally short legged decoders that are matching their customer's (loco maker) specifications/features vs price combo.They're in no way identical to the decoders one can buy from Soundtraxx.
Try contacting Soundtraxx technical dept. Joe
I have some on board with Tsunami and there is no option for a chuff cam. That is another reason why with on board Tsunami, the loco supplier can cut cost along with a few other features. SoundTraxx is catering to the loco supplier. Don't blame SoundTraxx. Some people do blame them.
The shrink wrapped Tsunami is the only SoundTraxx sound decoder capable of chuff cam option that I know of right now. I have some of those.
Digging into a decoder can void the warranty.
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.
Thanks gents. That's pretty much what I figured, but it was worth asking. No more OEM sound-equipped steam locomotives for me UNLESS thay already have a sound cam. Guess I'll rip out the OEM board and replace it with a TSU-1000. As a live steam guy in #1 gauge and 7-1/2" gauge, non-synchronized chuffing drives me completely up a wall.
Before I rip the board out of the 0-8-0, I figured I try installing a TSU-1000 and a chuff cam in my USRA 0-6-0 which I picked up with no OEM sound. Worked out great, and the chuff is synchronized over the entire speed range.
watch?v=RsrXGOuo1Nc&feature=c4 overview&list=UUIQfJ2zqRYU1zso06ZcrWyw
Dwight Ennis,
Sure is a really great looking,engine,you have there.
Cheers,
Frank
What type of cam are you/others having the best luck with? Soundtraxx?
I am trying something new for me: epoxying four small magnets on the inside of a driver, and using a small reed switch to pick up. I found a source for very small, thin cylindrical magnets cheapo. I guess each loco has to be treated according to clearances available.
Hal
Hal - I used a Soundtraxx cam on this switcher. There just wasn't any room to do an axle-mounted cam without doing other modifications.
I'd be interested to know where you found the magnets. What diameter and thickness are they? And what kind of reed switch do you plan to use and where can it be found?
Thanks!
Hal,
Just throwing another idea out here... Broadway Limited uses one magnet, set into the flywheel off the motor shaft, and has the reed switch just ahead of the flywheel. Assuming a 4:1 gear ratio that will give you a good chuff sync.
I'm sure you'd want a neodium or rare earth magnet. Seems to me it would be easier to epoxy one magnet instead of trying to get four onto the back of a wheel, and would there be clearance between the wheel and frame?
BLI sells their reed switch as a spare part for $2 ea. plus a couple bucks shipping.
Ed
Just make sure the decoder has a chuff cam facotr in there to do that. You're actually assuming a 16:1 gear ratio, divided by a factor of 4 to get 4 chuffs per wheel rotation, or 1 chuff every 4 flywheel rotations. A lot of decoders go the other way, more chuffs that rotations, to work with geared steam, but be sure the ratio can go the other way to do the flywheel method. MTH does the same, only with an optocoupler.
Also, gluing even a tiny magnet on the flywheel will throw it out of balance, which must be fixed or at the very least there will be noisy running. And it has to be glued on at the right spot so the chuffs come on the proper portion of the piston stroke - it SOUNDS easier than a traditional wheel cam until you start thinking about the implications. Also, a common failure point on the newer Paragon II locos is that reed switch getting stuck after so many activations, resulting in no chuffs, or a continuous chuff. The optical disk method used by MTH should be much more reliable, and if there is any room on the motor shaft for it, you wouldn;t have to worry about balance issues.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
BTW, and just FYI, I talked to someone at Soundtraxx last week. They confirmed that the OEM board used in the Walthers USRA 0-8-0 (my original query) does NOT have provision for a chuff cam as Walthers didn't order it with such a feature. Since I've seen this same issue on other locos as well, I will henceforth make sure that any sound-equipped steam locomotive I buy in the future allows for a chuff cam, or I will buy it without sound and install the sound myself.
Dwight, sorry I overlooked answering about the magnets. Many size cylindrical neodymiums are availible from www.kjmagnetics.com. A good source for subminiature reed switches is Digi-key. Some 0.4" ones are HE561-ND.
I epoxied four 1/10th dia by 1/32 thickness magnets around the front driver of an early "stealth" BLI Dreyfus Hudson. The reed switch went above the chassis. Its exact placement required experimentation, then it was epoxied in place. It's also possible to position the switch to give two pulses as each magnet goes by, maybe useful for an articulated.
BLI Paragon 2 steamers use a single magnet in the flywheel. The 24:1 gear ratio requires that the Paragon 2 divide the input pulses down by six, something you might have to provide separately for other decoders.
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