Weatherman

Thanks to Rod and Howard it was a pleasure just to 'play trains' for a while and we were all given a most warm welcome by our hosts. We were also treated to some excellent home made cake when we paused between activities, which made the day even more special! Not sure about the bald old bloke in the striped T-shirt, although he does look vaguely familiar . . . Thanks again. Martyn

I was studying one of these in a mirror but it was just a 'pale' representation compared to the original . . . sorry, couldn't resist . . .

Thanks for the information, which amplifies my point that we can work within one sector of a hobby without being aware of what's going on in another. Glad I asked and eagerly await developments. Martyn

I'd fully expected that would be the case but I was more intrigued by the quality and variety of sounds I heard and was wondering if the creators of these might consider using them to program DCC chips as well as just computer train simulators. Or maybe they already do? Some branches of our hobby interests rarely cross paths - new techniques to us can have been commonplace in, say, military modelling for years whereas we'll only have heard of said techniques by chance. It would appear the sounds used in Train Simulator (there are other simulators, of course) are loco specific rather than generic and a lot of effort has been put into their production and incorporation into the 'game'. It would be great if such sounds could be adapted for our purposes too.

I stumbled across some Train Sim videos showing new GWR locos etc and was particularly impressed with the recorded sounds used. Realistic with good depth of tone (inside cab sounds particularly of note with firebox door open and general wheel rumble etc) and idly wondered if these sounds, although in a totally alien to me format, could be converted somehow for use in our chips. Daft idea?

Thanks everyone - I can rest easier with my 45xx pulling a few wagons into the scene now.

It's only now I've pondered the question as I have a lined green 45xx and need to know if it would be prototypical for it to haul pick up goods trains. I have a 74xx pannier to do this work but trawling through books and online, I haven't come across any examples and it's the sort of question to which I feel I should know the answer . . .

I've been using Birchwood Casey blackening fluids for years and as far as I can tell, the various types (Steel, Brass, Aluminum) have no adverse effect on plastics or anything else, for that matter. Be aware they are all toxic and have 'Poison' written on the bottles. There is a stainless steel blackening fluid made by www.caswelleurope.co.uk/stainless-steel-blackener-500ml/ and although quite expensive, is the only effective method of darkening the metal. I use it to darken stainless steel wheels on 7mm scale RTR locomotives made in China and Korea. Again, it's not to be inhaled or imbibed - its pungent smell should act as a warning. Hope this is of some help. Martyn

Thanks Paul - much appreciated. Kind regards, Martyn

I'll tell him. Don't believe so - if you accelerate harder the sounds intensify with a harsher bark, ease back and they simmer down and fade out as you change to coasting mode with just the vacuum brake huff, huff in its place. Momentum settings can be altered manually. Regards, Martyn

Success at last! I checked the lock and it was already on zero so I figured I'd just try everything again anyway and I can now adjust individual volume levels to taste. Thanks so much for your help - I'm fairly sure it was Richard Webster at Lionheart who initially told me the volume levels were all preset and although I could adjust levels universally, I couldn't individually. Odd one - I'll be talking to him soon so I'll ask him. I asked him why the inside cab sounds were set so loud compared with the outside ones and he explained at the time that folk like to imagine themselves inside the cab driving the loco, which is of course where these sounds were recorded down on the Bodmin steam railway. The exterior sounds were also recorded at the same time from within the cab, hence the bias in volume of the internal sounds - water gauges filling, shovelling coal etc. I made the point that we model our railways with an external view and the interior sounds should be muted by comparison with, say, the whistle going off so why not preset the levels on the chip accordingly. However when I chat to him I'll tackle the subject again. It's a shame so few folk realise these chips are alterable by the owners because I know at least one modeller who swapped out the factory chip with a Tsunami just so he could set individual levels, EQ etc. I always felt the boiler hiss when standing idle was a bit too prominent and decreasing the overall levels to subdue this also subdues the chuff volume - they appear to be linked as a preset pairing. Thankfully I can now control/adjust all the other sounds, following your guidance, but it would appear the chuffs aren't adjustable separately? I'd like to increase the chuff levels but then I'd also increase the idling boiler hiss too. However I'm delighted with progress and my thanks again for you invaluable assistance. Kind regards, Martyn

Hi Paul, I'm about to go to the workshop and try your suggestions. As far as I know - haven't really run the pannier that much yet as layout still being built - the coal shovelling is only upon demand and not a random sound. I think the only random sound Lionheart programmed in is the safety valve blow off when the loco sits idle for a while. I have one of the newly released Lee Marsh 61xx locos here for weathering and it has a very quiet coal shovelling sound that is only random if the loco sits idling for a set period and cannot be triggered individually. Nice overall sounds too that have been individually adjusted to logical levels. Will get back to you shortly.

Hi Paul, Thanks for getting back to me. Just followed your instructions and the software version is 30.10 - I await your next reply. Regards, Martyn

Hi Kev and Paul, Thanks for the info - have just successfully adjusted overall levels as per your descriptions (CV266) and set the volume to 010, which is acceptably quieter for home use. When I bought the PowerCab I registered it (something I usually forget to do) and a while back a new update chip arrived from the US, which I got around to installing today, one added new feature being that the thumbwheel now controls CV values up/down so I didn't have to punch in the values with the buttons. As you said, I can hear the volume changing as I scroll the wheel so setting a level was quick. One question - I understood I could only adjust overall volumes rather than individually (unlike Tsunami and Loksound, if I'm correct) and the reason I set the levels at 010 is because this was a compromise overall setting that meant the idle hiss was quieter but still audible but at least the very loud 'man shovelling coal' sound was reduced a little too. However the chuff volume's a bit too quiet now and I see Kev's chart above would suggest various function buttons can have their volume levels individually increased/decreased on Zimo chips. Now aside from the obvious course of trying to change them individually to test things, because I'm still wary of unintentionally altering something else instead, do you know if the chip used in my pannier can have its sounds individually changed? I ask because the owner's manual that comes with the loco advised that some of the function buttons differ from the usual factory defaults and they give as an example that F8 is usually sound on/off but on the pannier it's F1 with F8 having another sound attributed to it instead. I take your point that altering CV values is unlikely to foul things up and I can reset things if I do, but I'd rather not find out the hard way! I appreciate I'm sounding extremely nervous about this but my technical knowledge of most things electrical is somewhat lacking. The info tends to waft in one ear and out the other with apparently very little to stop it on its journey, so if I don't write things down I'm stuffed. UpDate: Took the bull by the horns and tried altering the volume of F2 (coal shovel). With the overall volume level, as soon as I chose CV266 and Enter, the volume went off completely and moving the thumb wheel increased it until I was happy with the level of background hiss - the default constant sound heard when switching on, and it's now set to 006. So I selected F2 to listen to the man shovelling coal, then using the chart went through the routine and selected CV517 but instead of the volume instantly going dead once selected, it stayed on at the same level as before and scrolling the thumbwheel had no effect. I presume this means either that on the pannier CV517 isn't attributed to the F2 position or I simply can't control individual sound levels and only the overall ones with CV266. Your thoughts would be welcomed. Cheers, Martyn

I understood the volume levels were altered universally on a Zimo chip using CV63 - am I mistaken? I've been trying to decrease the volume on my Lionheart pannier but changing the values of CV63 has so far had no effect at all unless I'm doing something wrong? Don't want to inadvertently alter something and have everything go belly up so I'm treading very warily - any help would be appreciated. Using an NCE PowerCab - can you talk me through it step by step? Cheers, Martyn