Sound CardsWe now have available, low cost and customisable soundcards for both diesel and steam locomotives without the need for DCC. The soundcards produce synthesized steam or diesel sounds, come with a quality speaker, and require no programming!
Option switches control: · Rechargeable battery in use or not · Bell on (for American locos) or off. · Plain or chime whistle · Control the speed (voltage) at which the chuff starts · Set chuff rate for two, three or four cylinders · Automatic whistle sounding three times a minute
A screwdriver can make adjustment to the overall sound volume and also to the whistle tone. The soundcard and speaker can be installed in some steam loco tenders when there is room, or if there is not space available in the tender, you can install the soundcard and speaker in a closed van (vent van, fruit van, etc.) or parcels coach/baggage car, to run directly behind the locomotive. In this way the sound travels around your layout with the loco. This also allows you to use the soundcard with alternate locos by simply detaching the van or coach and attaching to a different loco.
Loco sound card, speaker and instructions cost just $69.00 and are in stock now. (Please specify whether you want steam sound or diesel sound). Even for those with DCC, the soundcard can be a useful and very economical alternative to installing sound decoders. For about half the price of a sound decoder, you can build a DCC sound trailer as above, which can then be used with many locos.Of course, for DCC operation you will need a simple 2-function decoder as well. A battery is needed to maintain the sound when the track voltage is low or zero. Any 3.6 volt rechargeable battery can be used and the soundcard will automatically recharge the battery whenever the track voltage exceeds 6 volts ie, when the locomotive is running at moderate speeds. The recharging feature is optimised for NiMHi batteries and these are recommended. NiCad batteries can be used but will not recharge as efficiently and are not as good environmentally. Rechargeable Lithium batteries are not compatible with the soundcard recharging facility and should not be used. Although 3.6 volts batteries are recommended, the battery voltage can be between 3.2 volts and 5.0 volts. We recommend the use of batteries designed for Panasonic cordless phones or other cordless phones which use a Panasonic connector. These will plug directly into the soundcard battery connector and avoid the need for any soldering.
The simplest and most economic way of using the soundcards is to provide a sound effect for your layout as a whole rather than in specific locos or sound trailers. Whilst this would not be realistic on a large layout, because the sound will not move down the line with the train, it can be useful on small layouts or at exhibitions where spectators are not close to the layout edge.
The diagram below shows how the soundcard can be connected direct to the DC train controller:
The soundcard is connected direct to the controller track outputs via a simple on/off switch.
A 3.6 volt cordless phone battery must be connected to the soundcard and will recharge automatically if the soundcard option switch 6 is on.
A button can be sited on your control panel to operate the whistle or horn. The automatic whistle or horn can be turned off using option switch 3.
One or two speakers can be positioned on the layout hidden in buildings. You can use the supplied speaker or can buy larger speakers with a better bass performance from you local consumer electronics store.
A short demonstration video of the MyLocoSound small scale sound is here on YouTube
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