irishthump

From what I know their uncoupler is simply a small ramp that is raised by a solenoid or servo. There are neater was to uncouple stock to be honest.....

Yeah, but it should....

I think Boskonay has used them on his layout.....

I just thought a capacitor might be a good idea as the Lima 201 has such poor pickup you might get some flickering, especially over pointwork. Another issue is that I installed tail lights on a brake van which I controlled with a Hornby decoder. The lights were linked to F0 but every time there was a break in the pickup the lights would go out rather than flicker and you would have to turn them back on with F0. Apparently, some decoders "remember" function settings after a power interuption but some don't. I got around the problem by wiring the Leds to the motor outputs on the decoder instead and using the throttle to turn them on and off!

I like that idea! Are you going to use some form of "stay alive" for the decoder?

Have you tried different speed step settings? I have found that with certain decoders CV2 changes only work when the loco was set for 128 speed steps as opposed to 28.

That was me, here's the link - http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/77-Graham-s-Workbench/page12#120 It's actually the Hornby HST. The running is vastly improved but it still suffers from poor pickup (although it has slightly better pickup then a Lima).

Have you tried adjusting the starting voltage for the decoder? This is CV2 but I'm not sure if it's supported on the decoder you used. Personally I would'nt bother with this loco on DCC, it's just too much hard work to get it running well and even then the results won't be great. You could also consider using the body on a different chassis. I think the Athearn SD45 is the closest fit and requires some work but as you know the Athearn chassis are reliable even with the stock motor.

If you're talking about the capacitor that is installed across the motor contacts (the white square in the photo below) then yes, it should be removed before fitting a decoder as it will cause running problems. Also make sure the loco runs as well as possible on DC before installing the decoder. If it's runs poorly on DC it will ten times as bad on DCC! Power pickup is a problem on Lima locos, there is only pickup form one side on the motor bogie and the opposite side on the rear bogie. It may be worthwhile installing extra pickups on the rear bogie.

I plan to soon, I haven't had a chance to install a Loksound into this loco yet. But the speaker is the same one in the 071 which always sound fine to me. I'm sure you would get a bit more "low end" from a bass reflex speaker but I doubt it would make a huge difference. I used the bass reflex in my other 141's but I refused to cut up the loco so I simply removed the back from the speaker. Did'nt seem to effect the sound.

Like Warbonnet says the Bachmann F units I have use a budget version of the Tsunami. I posted this video before, but here it is again.... The sound quality is the same as the high end Tsunamis, but there are very few other features. No start-up or shutdown sequence, and only horn and bell. The horn has 3 different sounds to choose from but none of them would pass for an Irish loco! However the decoder is fully adjustable for motor control and the engine sound can be adjusted for manual notching. To be honest I wouldn't bother with trying to use US decoders for Irish diesels. The engine sounds are bang on for 121/141/071 and 201's but the lack of correct horns is a big problem. Another factor is that design of the Tsunami means you would have to remove the existing circuit board from a MM loco and wire in the Tsunami. Not a huge or difficult job but why bother when you can plug a 21 pin Loksound or Zimo straight into the existing circuit board?

That's where I find the ESU Loksound comes out ahead. The Lokprogrammer is around €140 and all the sound files are free to download from ESU. They have a large collection of European and American sound files (as well as miscellaneous sounds) which can be mixed and matched to any degree. The decoders are a bit more expensive, around €99 from some suppliers and come with a speaker (although the speaker is too large for 141/181 locos. Maplins sell a speaker for €4.50 which is suitable. It's a drop-in fit for the speaker cradle on the 141/181.

You're actually talking about ESU Loksound V3.5 and V4. Mr Soundguy did the first 141/181 sound decoder which was available from DCC supplies and was loaded onto a Loksound V3.5. For whatever reason, Mr Soundguy stopped working with DCC supplies and started supplying the 141 sound file for Model Shop Belfast on Zimo decoders. You're right though in that the Loksound V3.5 file was never modified to be loaded on to the V4 which was only becoming available at the time. The V3.5 is no longer produced but can sometimes pick them up second hand. I believe DCC Supplies still has the 141 sound file and can "re blow" a V3.5 if you can get your hands on one.

Apologies, Enniscorthyman! Yes I've seen your videos, I was just surprised no one had posted that particular video here. @Noel: Sound does seem a little distorted. Maybe he just had the volume turned up for the benefit of the video.

I checked Mr Soundguy's website but he hasn't got these available yet. But he's obviously planning on releasing them soon.

I just saw this video over on RMWeb and I was surprised I hadn't seen it here. Sounds excellent IMHO.

It doesn't really matter if you run in a loco on DC or DCC. As Dave said, the motor receives DC current from the decoder anyway. Running in a loco on DCC won't effect the decoder. (Unless the loco drive binds right from the start and stalls the motor, but newer motors don't draw enough amps to burn out a decoder even when stalled.) The reason manufacturers recommend running in before installing a decoder is to make sure it's the mechanism is in order before opening up the loco for the DCC install. If you install a decoder and it doesn't run well you have no way of knowing if it's the decoder or motor at fault! Also when opening the loco you run the risk of damaging it and invalidating the warrantee.

It's best to modify any point (insulfrog or electrofrog) by wiring jumpers between the stock and closure rails. This way you no longer rely on the blades making an electrical connection. You can then paint the sides of the rails to your hearts content and not have to worry about poor conductivity.

You would have to be very careful, there is no gap between the metal and the plastic. And with Peco points the frog is much smaller. Not to mention the fact that the paint will wear of quite quickly and be spread all over the layout and the wheels of your rolling stock.

Don't use metallic paint on a plastic frog, the whole point is that it is insulated. Some metallic paints are conductive.

Thanks, Fran. I'll be honest, I have an F7 A&B fitted with Tsunamis and while they sound great the Loksound is just as good and has much better control. It's an 8 pin decoder and I hardwired an 8 pin socket into the A unit as well as a bass enhanced speaker. I made the B unit into a dummy and installed a second speaker in the shell. Both are wired in series to the decoder, you can see the speaker wires going between the units. I also used a drawbar between the units rather than couplers.

Just finished installing sound in this loco. Proto 1000 A&B units fitted with a Loksound decoder. [video=youtube;7YEf3-L_khA]

Would love to see a video if you get the chance, Rich! How many different engine sounds are on the decoder?

I used 10mm MDF for my the baseboards on my new layout. It's bog-standard grade from my local building suppliers but I find it fine so far. I used 18mm ply for the last layout but it was normal "B&Q" grade so it was less than satisfactory for many of the reasons already mentioned. I looked into birch ply but, as was said, it was too expensive. I also had a few issues with the ply warping because of the temperature changes in my attic. It wasn't too severe but it caused some problems where baseboards butted against each other. Another thing is that you will seldom get any plywood sheets from a supplier that don't have some distortion, usually from poor storage. The likes of Woodies and B&Q are even worse! The new baseboards are supported on a frame of 2X1 softwood. Sounds a bit lightweight, but this frame is itself supported by the rafters in my attic so it is more than rigid enough. Track pins aren't an issue for my as I glue my track. I use clear "No More Nails" for fixing the track to the foam underlay which is itself fixed to the MDF board with the same adhesive. One more issue which hasn't been mentioned; if you are planning to use point motors you need to give some thought to the thickness of the board. Using a "sandwich" of foam and other materials will make it very difficult to install point motors under the baseboards.

That book is nearly 30 years old. I hope it has been revised to take into account the advances in building materials....