ATLANTIC CENTRAL The average mainline train is pulled by 3-4 powered diesels or two steam locos - that's a lot of noise......
The average mainline train is pulled by 3-4 powered diesels or two steam locos - that's a lot of noise......
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain ATLANTIC CENTRAL The average mainline train is pulled by 3-4 powered diesels or two steam locos - that's a lot of noise...... When I consist locos, I only activate sound on the lead loco to minimize the "noise". Rich
When I consist locos, I only activate sound on the lead loco to minimize the "noise".
Agreed - I have 125 powered units that would need sound decoders and/or need to be speed matched with their mates - for a feature I don't really like - $12,500 more or less.......the whole control system with signaling and CTC did not cost what those decoders would cost.
It takes a fleet that size to power all the trains staged for operations and have "power changes" available in the engine terminal.
Operation, long trains, lots of action - these are my priorities.
Sheldon
Sheldon, you raise a good point. For anyone deep into DC operations with a lot of DC locos, the expense of converting to DCC does not seem worthwhile.
The solution two a noisy layout is a couple ways
1. You can program most decoders to mute after so many minutes of inactivity, and be quiet until they recieve their first command from a throttle
2. You can turn down the volume. Personally I cut teh volume to about 2/5 of the max for the engine. But I leave the whistle and bell near full volume.
The problem I have it once you get a train running at a good clip, wheel/track noise and engine chuff on steam just about drown out any horn, whistle, or bell. I wish there was a volume compenstation for when the train is moving at speed.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
I always turn mine down - you can't hear a real loco 100 miles away (normally), so you shouldn't be able to hear an HO scale loco ont he other side of a 25 foot room. Plus you aren't making the small speaker issue even worse by overdriving the thing and causing distortion. Those near the loco can hear it, those on the other side of the room hear their locos and not the ones over on the other side.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker I always turn mine down - you can't hear a real loco 100 miles away (normally), so you shouldn't be able to hear an HO scale loco ont he other side of a 25 foot room. --Randy
I always turn mine down - you can't hear a real loco 100 miles away (normally), so you shouldn't be able to hear an HO scale loco ont he other side of a 25 foot room.
Given that HO is 1:87, a 25 foot room would be 2,175 scale feet, or less than 1/2 mile. I'm old, and I can hear trains much further away than that.
My question concerning Rolling Thunder sub hookups is this:
If there are two engines lashed up, does the sub receiver pick up both engines equally? If so, is the sub volume increased, e.g. doubled? Or is the effect distorted? Is the effect different if both engines are identical compared to two different engines with different sound profiles lashed together?
There are 29 channels in each receiver, so you can set each loco to a unique channel, but it only plays one at a time, the one with the strongest signal.
Randy