irishthump

Terrible news. Didn't know him personally but I know his face from the exhibitions. RIP.

Couple of interesting videos of the Serbian Class 666 trundling about it's business. The loco is an EMD JT22CW, mechanically identical to the 071.

I know you might not have the answers to these questions but I'll ask anyway! 1) Are the decoders definitely being produced by ESU? 2) Any idea who is producing the actual soundfile for the sound decoders? 3) Did PM actual obtain new sound recordings of the engine types in question?

Yeah these locos use the same EMD 567 engine as the 141/121's. Except it's the larger 16 cylinder version as opposed to the 8 cylinder one in the 141/121's. But the sound is almost indistinguishable!

Thanks for the replies, lads. Not in a rush for the order, I was just worried in case Des had shut down for the duration of the lockdown!

Lads, Do you know if Des at SSM is taking orders at the moment? I emailed him the other day but no reply as of yet...

The pickups are a simple set up. Phosphor bronze strips glued to a styrene block fixed under the chassis.

Scratch built (ish) CIE break van.... A combination of a Dapol kit, some styrene, And an old Hornby break van. I also added leds for the long side lights and added a keep alive circuit to prevent flickering. Power is provided by bronze strip pickups on all 4 wheels. The old Hornby chassis makes it sit a tad high but I can live with that. Overall it’s not particularly accurate but it’ll certainly pass the 3 foot rule! Just need some decals are weathering to help disguise the flaws....

Thanks Eoin. Yeah I normally use the yellow insulation board but it can't be cut with a hot wire cutter and the surface can be quiet pitted.

@Eoin Where do you source the blue insulation foam? I've been looking for it for ages and couldn't find it!

The Brush traction motors were proven to be reliable so they were left on the A and C classes. The prime movers were replaced and some electrical equipment was updated such as the generators which I think received new windings.

Ive just started programming my own locos with the various ESU files that are now available. There's a great variety, I hope to post a video or two soon but be warned my layout is nowhere near as pretty as NIRCLASS80's!!!

I guarantee you wont look back after getting the Lokprogrammer! I fully agree about the prices from UK suppliers. Even the blank decoders have a crazy mark up compared to buying from Modelbahnne Lippe and the like. BTW building your own sound templates is something that has a learning curve but simply loading downloadable files and tweaking the sounds can be learned in an afternoon, it really is that simple.

That's exactly what I do with my own locos. I just use the 071 or 201 file as a template and drop in the different engine sound, simple. ESU recently added the 8cyl versions of the EMD 567 and 645 engines to their library. Both perfect for 141/181/121's. They even have different versions so you can vary them across your locos.

The only thing I'd be worried about is who PM gets to create the soundfile. A lot of Loksound files created for European locos don't take advantage of the new features on the decoders. Functions like the Drive Hold and Coast features are not used at all in the files produced for the likes of Roco and Piko. Only the US manufacturers make use of them, understandable as they were developed because Soundtraxx were way ahead of them in that regard. To be honest I'll hold off buying the decoders until we get a demo of them.....

I haven't tried the V5 yet but I had heard that they addressed the problem with acc/dec on their decoders which was long overdue. They also introduced a feature where you can simulate a heavy train or running light engine. This can be assigned to a function key of your choice. To be honest a lot of those bespoke sounds are very gimmicky and are only of use in some specific circumstances. Its not hard to create them yourself with the Lokprogrammer but I haven't had the time to jump down that rabbit hole! All credit to the likes of wheeltappers but they're not exactly reinventing the wheel with their sound projects as the vast majority of the sound files needed are free to download.

Yeah I do the same. This is the reason I think the Lokprogrammer is just essential, it allows you to map the functions to your own specs without having to rely on another supplier to do it for you.

Yeah but I think the Loksounds drive better than any other brand of decoder. The throttle to motor sound response is terrific and the drive hold and coast features are so much fun.

Great videos! What decoders are you using in the 201's?

Mark, The decoder in the link will work for any of the currently available Murphy locos. It also comes prewired with a speaker so it will be perfect for the 141/181's. You can remover the speaker cradle in the 141 and fix the sugar cube speaker in it's place, those speakers sound a little batter than the regular 20X10mm speaker that the cradle is made for. Or alternatively disconnect the speaker wires from the decoder and solder them to the speaker terminals on the PCP. If you're using that decoder in the 071 or 201 simply remove the speaker from the decoder.

They're the whisker equivalent of the no. 5 158 I think. I'd have used 146's but there was no room to get the draft box to sit against the buffer beam as the pipework was in the way.

@mmie353 Ah ok, I didn't realise you were based in the states. From what I gather the Loksound Select is the standard decoder that the US market seems to have settled on, so the 21 pin decoder is very hard to source on your side of the pond! Also, I believe that as soon as the V5 was released retailers pretty much pulled stock of the V4's so they're near impossible to get anywhere. For the 141/181 you could use the 8 pin decoder if available and get an adaptor plate as you don't need as many lighting functions. There's an excellent ESU discussion group - https://groups.io/g/Loksound Matt Herman who runs the US side of ESU retail checks in there regularly and you can put questions directly to him. The group is also great for general advice on programming and installation. This is where I buy my decoders - https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/Digital+_sp_+Digital+boxes/Digital/gb/liste.html?spur=H0&hersteller=ESU&grup=Decoder+with+sound They deliver stateside if you're interested. Or maybe get them delivered to relative in Ireland if you get the chance to visit home, delev I asked Fran myself about the possibility of the soundfile being available separately, but it was early days so he couldn't tell me. Like yourself, I'd be happy to pay for the file.

That's great news! Yeah, the Loksounds are not as thin as other decoders and tend to sit a little higher. Glad he found a solution.

Well I committed the ultimate sacrilege and performed surgery on my bubbles! I removed the pocket completely and installed Kadees with draft boxes.

Hi Mark, I've been using the Lokprogrammer now for several years and use ESU decoders in all my locos. Mine are all V4 as I haven't tried the V5 yet! If you're comfortable with what you've seen of the programming process then I'd 100% recommend getting the Lokprogrammer and there's several reasons why... Yes, the V4's are no out of production but as you said the V4 files will work on the V5 decoders. I also noticed that the V5 is no more expensive than the V4, a nice surprise! One thing I disliked about buying sound projects from other manufacturers such as Wheeltappers is that if you don't like the sound project then you're stuck with it unless you sell the decoder or send it back to the supplier for it to be reprogrammed with a different file. This doesn't happen if you have a Lokprogrammer, if you don't like a file you can rewrite it immediately. Adjusting settings or rearranging the functions on a decoder is also super easy with the Lokprogrammer. It can be done without one but manually changing the CV's is time consuming and easy to mess up. Regarding those files you linked in your post for the 071 and 201. These files can be used for other locos simply by changing the engine sound. ESU have a library of loco sounds which can be switched around in a file simply by dragging and dropping. Their library of files for US locos is very large and contains plenty of engine variations suitable for Irish locos. All of my Irish loco sound files are built by using the 071 file as a template and changing the engine sound and maybe the horn. Wheeltappers' sound files are the same. ESU seem to have a policy of making any soundfile they produce for particular loco available for download. Whether they do this for the A class remains to be seen. Another point is that ESU often update the functionality of their decoders to add extra features this requires the firmware of each decoder to be updated. This is a simple process with the Lokprogrammer and would necessitate sending your decoders to an ESU dealer otherwise! ESU have also stated that the V4 decoders will continue to be supported. While they won't produce any more V4 sound projects, they will always be there for download and the V4 projects will work with the newer V5. Lastly, consider the cost of the Lokprogrammer. It's around 140euros and blank V5 decoders will run you 100euro each while buying a preloaded decoder from suppliers will usually cost you around 120-130 euro. If you're planning on sound equipping 5 or 6 locos then the Lokpogrammer practically pays for itself. Hopefully some of that info will be helpful to you! If you have any other questions just give me a shout. I'm no wizard at the Lokprogrammer but I'll help where I can! Graham.