Wow, you would think they would have the latest on the website, which I rely on because I know exactly where it is, unlike my hard copy.
Glad to help.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Hi Henry,
My cover looks identical to the one you referenced. However, the copyright dates are different. Mine says 2012. The one on the NCE website says 2010.
You were right when you quoted page 20 for the 2010 copyright. Several other pages are different too. I think that the reason that I missed the higher function access method is that I was thinking 'decoder' when I should have been thinking 'command station'. Duh!
Thanks again for your help!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterBy the way, the info is on page 18 in my manual.
Curious, is that the Canadian export manual ?
I am using the 6th from the bottom Power Cab V 1.65 Manual pdf 1 MB
https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201565799-Power-Cab-Manuals
BigDaddyPage 20 of the 1.65 manual tells you how to access Functions >12
Thanks Henry!
I had looked at the manual but obviously not closely enough. If all else fails.....
Your help is much appreciated.
By the way, the info is on page 18 in my manual.
hon30critteran NCE Power Cab. It only goes to F12.
Page 20 of the 1.65 manual tells you how to access Functions >12
Hi Randy,
You are correct. The decoder has been remapped. I'll have to change the function settings so I can use it with my Power Cab.
Thanks,
The list that was supplied with the decoder isn't the same as the list on Olivias website. Sound On/Off is F17. Guess what, I've got an NCE Power Cab. It only goes to F12. I guess I have some reading to do to figure out how to remap the function keys. I have a Lokprogrammer which I have never used. That's where I will start.
Thanks
If this is the same sound package, F1 is sound off/on and F8 is coal shovelling
https://www.oliviastrains.com/trains/mt/olivias-trains-sound-function-sheets/olivias-thomas-the-tank-sound-functions/
Randy, set you a PM.
Mike.
My You Tube
ARe you sure it's not F8? F8 as mute is just a 'convention' of most Loksound sound projects. It's not set in stone. Any function button can be any funtion, it's all up to the person who programmed the sound project and configured the function mapping used in that project.
Even if F8 is acting as mute, that really only gives you 28 more to check - less ones you already know for sure what sound they produce, so just start going through the functions one by one until the coal shoveling sound stops. Brute force, but it works. Might want to write down each oen as you go for later reference.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Hi gang!
The decoder is installed. I'm not too proud of the wiring job but everything seems to be working. There in lies the problem. I can't figure out how to turn off the coal shovelling sounds and they are louder than any other sounds the locomotive makes. According to the functions list that was supplied with the Loksound V4.0 decoder, the coal shovelling sounds are controlled by F8. The problem is that, as all of you will know, F8 on a Loksound decoder shuts all the sounds off.
Now, just to add insult to injury, I managed to shut the coal shovelling sounds off once, but of course I wasn't recording what commands I was issuing.
Any suggestions?
Dave the
My G scale Lionel Thomas had the same problem - wires pinched when the motor unit was screwed together. At least it was all plastic, so there would be no shorts, just potentially a complete and mysterious loss of power. And beign large scale, it had PLENTY of room to work inside, it wasn;t like they had to stuff the wires in a tight space. Go figure.
The decoder has finally arrived from the UK. I am working on the installation as I write. I have the sugar cube speaker and the decoder mounted in the roof of the cab and I'm just waiting for the glue to set. They won't be visible because the windows on this model are blacked out. I have installed 0402 LEDs in the headlight and reverse light and I am waiting for the canopy cement to dry.
There is lots of space inside the cab for the decoder and the speaker. In fact there is enough space for two speakers but I decided to start with the one that came with the decoder.
When I took the locomotive apart I noticed that the track feed wires were pretty badly pinched between the drive mechanism frame and the locomotive shell. How long they would have lasted before shorting out is anybody's guess, but the assembly was obviously poorly done. I'm not going to replace the wires. The insulation is still intact so I don't think there will be any problems as long as I don't pinch them again when I put it back together.
At our club's train show last weekend I noticed that several of the layouts were running Thomas locomotives but none with sound. I think I'm going to get a kick out of this little project despite the price! (Don't ask!) I'm going to let the club members run the engine as they wish, and I want to encourage them to let the kids run it and play with the sound at the shows. I'm not going to donate it to the club but it will be there for anybody to use if they want to.
I have to give Bachmann credit for how sturdily the engine is built. It was obviously designed to withstand some heavy handling. I had to remove some of the reinforcing in the roof to make space for the speaker, and it is still as solid as a rock. There is lots of space for some extra weight too.
I haven't done a decoder installation for a while and I'm having a ball! I just have to keep reminding myself to install the resistors for the LEDs!
I'll post a video when it's done.
For a decoder maker to actually make the sound decoder with real Thomas sounds they would certainly need to license the rights - the loco makers have in order to prodice a loco that looks like Thomas. Maybe none of them want to bother. It does seem like a no-brainer otherwise, since there are plenty of Thomas locos available in many different scales.
It's not that hard to stuff a Loksound V4 with enough recorded Thomas phrases to make anyone's day. The chuffs I think they already have a pretty close equivalent if not tthe exact same type of loco that Thomas is supposed to be. Otherwise just load clips into sound slots and assign a function key to each one. Unlike trying to get a horn or bell so that it has a propert ramp up, sustain,a nd decay, no need for any of that fancy sound editing.
Hi wjstix,
I don't think I'm going to worry about getting sued. Besides, there's nothing to get!
What really amazes me is that nobody has done an HO scale DCC Thomas with the proper sounds. Surely that would be a gold mine! Every model railroader with young children or grandchildren would want one and a lot of people would go for the other engines and talking cars too.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Seems to me I've been at model railroad club open houses where they have Thomas videos playing for the kids with no issues. The fact that you happen to have a Thomas steam engine that talks and just happen to run it on the club layout during an open house isn't the same as charging people admission to see the TV show or specifically to see Thomas or anything. Worst case scenario in any case would be a lawyer sending you a letter telling you not to do it anymore in the future.
rrinkerI just realized you said you were going to run this in public exhibition. That's possibly another can of worms - if those people are licensed to sell actual Thomas sounds, they still may not be for public performance.
Hmmm. I doubt that I would get sued because we are not making a profit off of the layout per say. I'm not sure if I will explore that can of worms or not.
Thanks for the heads up Randy,
I just realized you said you were going to run this in public exhibition. That's possibly another can of worms - if those people are licensed to sell actual Thomas sounds, they still may not be for public performance. I won't pretend to know Canadian laws, let alone understand the ones here, but playing copywrite recordings in public in the US requires some sort of performance license or agreement with the owner of the material. While I think in reality it wouldn;t be an issue, especially with how short the clips are, it's not like you are playing full Thomas episodes to a public audience, technically I think if someone got a burr up his britches they could make at least a nusiance of it.
We have that old working drive-in where the screen is a small LCD TV on our layout, normally we show public domain classic cartoons on it - the kind of thing you cna find on Youtube, so there should never be an issue. Since it runs off an ordinary DVD player though, sometimes other movies get put on. I know a bunch of years ago someone put Blazing Saddles in, which I quietly reminded some people is probably NOT something you want to have playing when families are around. At the time I didn;t even think about the public performance aspect, I was more worried about the language. It's not easy for spectators to see the screen, usually there is a lot of glare, but the speaker is under the layout with the DVD player and it's quite easy to hear when standing nearby, as people often do because the whole drive-in scene our scenery guy made has lots of funny little details to check out, particularly things being done by the peopel who live just ouside the fence. So they tend to linger, both for the fact that the screen actually works AND to find the other hidden gems.
Honestly, it burns me up that in a simple hobby, family friendly setting, any of this has to even be considered, even for a second. I doubt there should be any issues making Thomas sound like, well, Thomas - unless perhaps an executive from whoever owns the rights to Thomas happens to stop by. Non-sound Thomases are on public layouts of all scales these days - we even have one. It's rare you DON'T see a Thomas in a public layout display.
Henry!!
You da MAN!!
I sent them an email.
Thanks so much for your help. I'm doing this strictly so we can entertain the younger crowd at our train shows. More money than brains!! Nobody tell my wife, okay!!!
They want you to register before they tell you the price.
A long time ago someone did it with Digitrax sound decoders as well. Same basic deal. I highly doubt you'd find one already packaged and ready to go due to copyrights and so forth.
Friend of mine installed a Loksound decoder in his grandson's Thomas engine and added a bunch of appropriate sounds and phrases to it. He pretty much wiped all the ESU sound files so he had the room to add all his own.
The files need to be in .wav file format which is common for short audio files. A google search should turn up a number of results.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
I decided to invest in an HO Thomas and the two carriages to run when the club's portable layout is on display. I bought the DC version so it has to be converted to DCC. That part is easy. What I can't find is a sound decoder with the proper Thomas sounds on it. Does anyone make one for HO?
FYI, I found a British company, YouChoos, who can supply a Zimo decoder and speaker that will fit into the locomotive, but the sound file they supply is for a "3F Jinty Tank" so it doesn't have the vocalizations and I'm not sure about the "Peep Peep" horn sound either.
I have a LokProgrammer but I'm not sure how I would transfer the sounds from a different Thomas source onto a Loksound V4.0 decoder.
I have seen a video of an HO Thomas with the correct sounds, but the owner put the sounds on the decoder himself using technologies which I'm not willing to invest in, and would have a hard time understanding at any rate.