irishthump

Sad to see the physical shop gone. I fear that in an online market, MSB may come in to difficulty even more so with them being undercut by box shifters like Rails, and having lost their main attraction of being able to physically see the item. Pity about it

Yes it is sad. Although I was never in the actual shop I had a lot of dealings with Gareth and found him always to be very helpful.

i know someone that was waiting nearly 3 months as well.

Yeah, it's not really acceptable when I can order a decoder from other suppliers in the UK and have it posted the next day.

But like I said I don't think it's down to MSB, Mr Soundguy does'nt seem to be able to keep up with the demand.

I phoned about six weeks ago and spoke to a helpful chap who explained they were out of stock of sound chips, but were expecting delivery end of October. I was put on a waiting list, but never heard back so phoned numerous times recently to try and ascertain if they had arrived and if I could now order. I always got a phone answer, but they couldn't tell me anything, despite the website suggesting they were in stock and and order able by credit card. I gave up and bought from another source. I got the impression they were extremely busy with the christmas rush. The previously helpful chap never phoned me back despite me leaving my number on numerous occaisions.

They always seem to have a backlog when it comes to these decoders, and to be honest I think it's down to whoever is producing them. The last time I ordered one it took 3 months.

Does this mean bad news for the shop in Cork? I hope not, they're brilliant to deal with

I would'nt thinks so. Marks Models in Dun Laoghaire is the latest in a long line of shops based in the same shopping centre that have closed over the last few years. From what I hear the rates on the units was very high.

Is that Bailey's in the squeeze bottle?

Me secrets out!

Damn you all with your nice clean workbenches!

180mm approx, measured on the inside from cab to cab. About 184mm inside between the two buffer beams below the cabs.

Thanks for that! Well the F7 chassis should fit easily, time to start tinkering...

Use the F7 and just fit longer sideframes, unless its an eye level layout 2 inches from your face you would never know...

That would be a last resort. But I think the longer bogies would work, and I have a few spare.

So can anyone tell me the dimensions of the resin body?

The problem is - the A class is very short for a 6 axle chassis - The B101 class is even shorter. Easier to fit 2 power bogies than a central can motor chassis - but depends too on how much work you fancy

I'm thinking of using an Athearn F7 chassis and fitting it with 6 wheel bogies from an Athearn SD40.

Mind you I have'nt even got a Silverfox kit, that's why I'm asking about the dimensions of the resin body!

Does anyone know offhand what length the chassis has to be to fit the Silverfox kit?

I'm sure you could find an Athearn or kato HO chassis that would fit without major surgery...

Hi irishthump

 

Looks stunning,

 

I like to spooky shed- it's levitating!

 

Eoin

Yep, I've been meaning to do something with those support beams in the front!

Although I should say the concrete on the refuelling point in the first pic was done slightly differently. I used 5mm MDF covered with the same mixture of paint and plaster but filled between the rails with tile grout. I did'nt come up any higher than the sleepers which meant I did'nt haveto cut channels for the wheels. I think it turned out fine.

That looks excellent. I am doing one at the moment following the Everard Junction method

which I'm finding a nightmare, I wish I'd seen yours first!

Yes I'd seen that video. Although he does get a lovely finish on the hardstanding I did'nt fancy the idea of having to use a Dremel to gouge out the side of the tracks.

I love it!! Brilliant layout, looks fab! What did you use for the concrete on the loco shed floor can i ask, im looking to do that exact finish in my loco shed,

Thanks!

The shed floor is 5mm foamboard (I cut strips of thinner card to fill between the tracks). For a concrete finish I used grey acrylic paint mixed with a little plaster which gives a nice rough texture. I used a normal bag of plaster from Woodies. As far as I can remember I toned down the finish with a thin dark wash sprayed on with my airbrush as it was a little light and too clean looking!

Long time since I did any work on the layout, but I went mad placing some figures on the diesel shed this evening!

Lovely job, they really look the part!

The reason was the unavailability of Loksound chips at reasonable prices. I know he is working on an improved version of Zimo which will allow GM engine notching to be varied at full speed and hopefully better capture the 071 at full cry.

The current Zimo decoders support the manual notching feature, the soundfile itself has to be modified to allow manual notching to be used.

It may be a matter of opinion, but I have been working with Mr Soundguy since 2007 to enable Irish soundchips to be available and find that the larger Bass Reflex speaker (when left intact) is best for the 071 sound while the smaller Bass Enhanced speaker is much better than small round speakers. Bass Enhanced speakers fit the MM071 models without any problem but some filing is needed to fit them to the MM141/181s. Its a matter of choice really but I think the full sound effect is worth achieving even if this effect is muted at exhibitions due to general acoustic interference. Mr Soundguy is working continually to improve the sound from the Zimo chips which are in continual development.

 

It is worth checking out the video Irish Rail Archive Volume 5 GM Powered which features 001, 071, 121, 141, 181 and 201 Classes starting/stopping/in full cryto remind us what the prototype actually sounds like! Reproducing these effects in 4mm/foot is the challenge.

The actual sound from Mr Soundguy's chips is not the issue, the recordings are top notch and are most likely the best available at the moment. The main issue is how the soundfile is set up on the decoders themselves. Like I said, if he simply made manual notching available on the Zimo decoders then they would be pretty much perfect.

To be honest I don't understand why he switched from Loksound to Zimo.

Thank you very much for posting that. It sounds really great and the second video confirms the rapid change in sound to match throttle speed inputs.

 

So just to confirm I have understood a few points:

 

1. The loco in the two videos is LokSound v4.0 with a modified 071 sound file supplied by Olivia's models (i.e. pre-burned with the modified file)
   
2. Olivia models changed the prime mover sound for an EMD 567 from another file they had
   
3. The spooling up and down sounds were automatically matched to throttle settings (i.e. not manually notched on 2nd video)
   
4. The breaking sound was automatic
   

 

Have I got that right?

 

And the BMS Zimo chip does not spool up quickly with early throttle inputs. One of the things I like about the MM LokSound 071 decoder is that the sound spools up almost before the loco moves like the real thing and automatically notches up during early accelerations (i.e. rapidly matches speed changes). From what you are all saying the BMS Zimo chip does not do this which seems a major omission.

 

PS: Forgive, but did real world 181s sound much different to 141s?

Yes, Noel, That's pretty much all spot on.

I simply asked Olivia's Trains to replace the engine sound on the 071 sound file.

I did'nt use manual notching at all in the second video, the spooling sounds were the result of the throttle changes.

The braking sound is automatic but it's adjustable or can be turned off altogether.

The Model Shop Belfast chip just is'nt as responsive, I think part of the reason for this is that the Zimo chips link the throttle changes to the actual speed of the motor rather than to the throttle setting.

The 141's and 181's were fitted with different engines and there was a noticable difference between the sound of the two. The 141's were originally fitted with the EMD 567C while the 181's came with the EMD 645E.

Sorry lads, had them set to private! Try now....

Here's a couple of quick videos....

The first one just has the loco standing still while I run up through the engine notches. The second one is 142 shunting some container flats. It was difficult working the throttle while trying to film everything with my phone but hopefully you'll get the effect of the engine sound!

[video=youtube;_NTj-YS61WU]

Hi, Noel.

That's my loco in the link that Glenderg posted. I have to agree with Dhu Varren that the Loksound decoder has much better response when driving it. The problem with the Zimo decoders from MSB is that the engine sound does not respond quickly enough to throttle changes, which would'nt be so bad if they had manual notching but they don't!

As for the engine sound in the Loksound; it is pretty accurate. It's an EMD 567 which is what was originally fitted to the 121 and 141 class locos. Dhu Varren is quite right in pointing out that it's a 16 cyl rather than an 8 cyl engine which was fitted in the 141's but it's pretty close.

Like you said it does'nt really get a chance to spool up to hi revs as it's just shunting, but it sounds great when notched right up! With the Loksound decoder you can have the loco stopped and then turn the throttle straight up to say speed step 10 and the engine sound will go straight to a high notch which is very realistic. That just does'nt work with the Zimo decoders where the loco will be up to speed long before the engine sound catches up with it. You literally have to adjust the way you drive the loco to how the decoder behaves.

As for installing the speaker, here's a link to my workbench where I describe how I did mine in detail. It's a simple enough job.

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/77-Graham-s-Workbench/page10

Noel, you could also try remapping the notching feature to lower function buttons. I understand it's a bit involved with Loksound decoder, but it might be worth a try.

I find these two functions (F18 notching up and F19 notching down) very awkward to control. They seem to have a life of their own. You have to turn F18 on and then wait until the delivered revs are attained but then quickly turn it off to stop the upward progression.

 

Then to turns revs down you have to engage F19 and wait as it steps down until idle is reached. When the loco is in motion it steps down to idle rather than the correct rpm for the current loco speed. It might have been nicer if F18/F19 could be used to step up and down one rpm range per press of the FN key rather than switching on a function that had to work its way through the motions of staged rpm climbing until stopped. It is probably a restriction imposed by NMRA DCC standards for controlling functions that was drawn up long before sound became popular. But as a user I find it too clunky to bother using and find it unrealistic. Or perhaps I have misunderstood how it is meant to be used.

That's why I had mine assigned to "one push" function keys, the notching is much easier to control.

I think it stems from the fact that most function keys on DCC controllers are set to "latching", that is once you press them they stay on until pressed again. This is actually a setting on the controller and not the decoder. Some controllers allow you to change the latching settings for function keys, the Bachmann Dynamis is one that I know of.

Thanks for the feedback. I have a 071 LokSound 4.0 and found the manual notching awkward to use once the loco is moving. Its fine stationary other than the delay waiting to bring the loco back to idle. It's seems to need to complete a cycle and cannot be stepped right down on demand, or am I missing something?

 

Having said that I find it very impressive and reminiscent on my early memories of CIE GMs.

When using manual notching on the Loksound you have to press the necessary function key once to notch up, then press it AGAIN otherwise the engine will continue to notch up. The same applies to notching down. Now this can be awkward on the Loksound as they assign notching to high numbered function keys. I don't know what controller you are using but on my Gaugemaster Prodigy to access functions above 12 for example I have to press SHIFT+F1+F2 and then do the same to deactivate the notching.

That's why when I bought my Loksound chip from Olivia's Trains in the UK I asked them to reassign the manual notching to F4 and F5.