irishthump

Unfortunately, it is not possible to program a Select decoder with anything other than a sound program produced specifically for it.

Yes, they have the equivalent Select versions for each of the sound files. But I don't think you can alter specific sounds like horns or engine sounds with the Select versions.

It would be nailed on soundwise for an EMD 645 non turbo motor, I have one in a switcher and it sounds fabulous. However as you state the horn would be off and I always thought that A's sounded slightly different to other 645 non turbos due to the different silencing (or lack of!) arrangements and a different generator than normal EMD locos.

And I thought it was just me! I always thought the A's sounded more Sulzer-ish myself.... They just did'nt have that whine when notching up.

Seems to be a lot of money for an 'ish' engine sound, and probably totally wrong horn. A couple of years ago, I purchased a Loksound Select sound decoder on ebay from a shop in Atlanta. They offered to program it with any loco sound from the Loksound library. At that time no one was doing Irish sounds, so I went for an EMD GP39, which the library said was the same sound as an 071. Other sounds suitable for Irish locos are in the library, see link below. The Loksound Select decoder comes with a choice of horn sounds, all American, but at least one is similar to an Irish horn. The Select decoder is the same technology as the V4 decoder, except that the actual sounds are not editable, or replaceable. Function mapping is exactly the same as the V4.

The up side of all this is the price. At the time I paid £55, including shipping from the USA, just slightly more than half of what I would have paid in the UK for a V3.5.

 

http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/sounds/

I recently splashed out on a Lokprogrammer myself and ESU have several engine sounds which are suitable for Irish diesels in the library of US sounds. I've programmed 3 V4 Loksounds for my Irish locos already. The Lokprogrammer also allows you to programme Loksound Selects with these files.

Nice neat conversion job, Billyboy.

What decoder did you use in the loco? Did you also connect the lights?

approx. 98 euros with possible import charges on it? think i'll stick with chips from this side of the pond.

Also available from Digitrains in the UK - http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/search/827109-tsu-1000-sond-decoder-for-emd-645-non-turbo-diesels.aspx

The engine sound will be great, the Tsunami's are probably the best sounding decoders available, but you might find it hard to get the horn sound right. Tsunami's come preloaded with a selection of US horn sounds but none of them are really protoypical for Irish locos.

Thanks Graham, do you know of there is an easy way to do it using CVs or JMRI? I read the manual two months ago from cover to cover, but found the section on function mapping unclear.

Sorry, forgot to mention that I don't use JMRI myself but I've seen threads that say function remapping is quite simple with DecoderPro.

It's in the manual on page 56 but it uses indexed CV's. To be honest the real problem with the manual is the language used!

I tried searching the web before about this but to be honest nobody seems to have gotten their head around it and they all just suggest buying a Lokprogrammer!

Anyway, here's a screen capture from the Lokprogrammer software, the left box lists all the slots for the 071 file.

A delayed thank you BK. I had forgotten where this really useful answer was. I've read the manuals twice when you originally posted, but I find unless I summaries and write down these tips they get lost. Have been building laminated crib cards for useful CVs for LokSound, Zimo, Lenz and Bachmann. DCC seems to need extended and revised standard focusing on usability, interface and standards for use of functions given we are now in the sound era. 9 FN buttons simply isn't enough (e.g. manual notching on MM0071 sound chip is effectively unusable because it is FN 18 & 19).

I have to agree! That's why I move notching to keys 4and 5.

It's a breeze with the Lokprogrammer but to do it with CV's you need to know which soundslot controls each sound.

If you like I can give you a list of the soundslots, but you'll have to consult the manual for the actual remapping process.

Sorry Mods, can you move this to DCC section, I posted it in the wrong place!

Lads,

Here's a couple of short videos of a couple of Loksound decoders that I managed to get reprogrammed over the weekend.

Using the ESU Lokprogrammer I've programmed the decoders so that all 3 of my 141's have different sounding engines.

I programmed 161 using a sound file with a different version of the 567 engine. (These can all be downloaded from the ESU website).

This engine sounds like it might need a service!

182 has the 645 engine sound...

I think Health and Safety might have a word with that CIE employee hanging out of 182!

Thanks guys for the responses. I'm using a 4 function chip, so that may be the problem, i'll try F8 and see what happens. On the instructions in the MM box its says F3 and F4 are the respective cab lights.

Yeah that's the problem. The last 2 functions are the front and rear cab lights.

What decoder are you using? The 071 needs a decoder with 6 functions to make all of the lights work.

Just to let everyone know that after a brief discussion with "legomanbiffo" at Warley he intends to do new Irish recordings and sounds during 2015 for ESU Loksound. He was running some BR diesels at the show and I have got to say the Class 37 was brilliant. Here is a link to his Youtube channel to have a look. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfRnBPFj6tZV_XCRMJTq4BQ

Well that changes the game a bit! Legomanbiffo's sound projects are probably the best out there.

These are now sold.

Thanks for all your interest, lads.

Nice!

I believe I was watching these on Ebay myself....

I have a couple of Athearn RTR's and although they were a bit growly at first they quietened down after a while. My ones have the newer can motors so any noise is only coming from the gears in the trucks.

Nice! Gotta love a bit of Warbonnet

 

The RTR/Bluebox motors can be a bit hit and miss with many yanks installing Kato or Canon motors in their place (they'd probably die if they ever saw a Lima pancake!) Some tips on better running here

I tried that trick with the Pearl Drops on some older Blue Box Athearns, did'nt really help. I found filing between the teeth of the gears worked much better as you can get a lot of flash and rough spots on the plastic.

I posted a link here showing how to change the individual sound settings on Zimo decoders, don't know if it's any use to you.

http://irishrailwaymodelling.net/showthread.php/3357-Adjusting-volume-levels-on-Zimo-sound-decoders

Like you say, Noel, it's comes to which personal preference.

As I said, Mr Soundguy's sound recordings are probably the best available, but I'm swaying towards the Loksounds. The main reason(s) for this is that I prefer the way the Loksound "drives". The hard acceleration is very good, you turn the throttle rapidly up to notch 5 and the engine sound goes straight to high revs (around notch 6-7) then settles back down to notch 5 once it reaches that speed. The ability to notch up or down with the function keys independent of speed is also great. There is also a brake and acceleration function which I have yet to get to grips with.

Also, now that I have a Lokprogrammer I can download my own files from the ESU website and customise each loco; different engine, horn, brake sounds etc. can be programmed to each loco. All functions can also be remapped as I choose.

That's the reason I'm selling the MSB decoders, to fund more Loksounds! Having said that I still have one of each the 141, 071 and 201 chips from MSB that I will hang on to, the 071 and 201 in particular are very good.

Hi IT. Thanks yes somebody on here told me about the CV54 procedure a few weeks back and it worked a treat.

 

I was just wondering what type of motors are used in MM? Are the cordless or not, etc?

 

Cheers

Noel

If you mean coreless then no, they're definately not coreless motors. As far as I know they are DC, 3 pole or 5 pole can motors. Pretty much standard across all of Bachmann's UK stuff.

Hi Folks

 

Does anybody know from a DCC point of view what motor types are used in MM locos (141/181 and 071s)? Most decoders have CVs to allow the motor type to be specified.

 

Thanks

Noel

Are you using Loksound decoders? As far as I know the suitable CV motor setting is simply the default value.

The V4's also have an auto-tuning feature which is very simple. Here's a link to how it works...

http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/esuloksoundmotorautotune.html

The two questions are why do decoders run locos 20% slower on DCC than the same loco on 12v DC? And why do some decoders output higher DC when DCC track voltage is slightly increased, and others do not (eg Lenz)?

 

Good night

There's a couple of reasons DCC runs slower than DC.

Firstly, the DCC signal is modulated AC so it can never deliver the same voltage as a similarly rated DC controller, it loses a bit more as it's run through the rectifiers in the decoder. Also, the decoder itself needs a certain amount of power just to keep it "ticking over". Typically when you run a DCC equipped loco on a DC layout you have to up the start voltage to get it moving. (I tried it with a Zimo sound decoder on DC and the loco drew 7 volts before the sound came on.)

Can't answer your second question, maybe it's just a manufacturer thing....

If you want realistic running freight trains would be limited to 50mph not 79mph

I think the OP is just trying to get the locos to run at a prototypical top speed, pulling a train is another issue.

Same problem here too.

Oh, that IS nice!

Lads,

Have 2 of these decoders for sale. Bought from the Model Shop Belfast, in perfect working order.

Here's a video of the same decoder in action....

Looking for €160 for the pair plus postage, or can be collected in the Dublin area.

Very useful info, Noel. Thanks for posting your results!

Funny, I always thought the 141's/071's ran way too fast with TV set to 255. I usually set my locos top speed around 120!