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Sound in GE 45 Tonner


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Hi all

 

Following on from the GE 70 Tonner topic here are a couple of pics of my ongoing project to fit a GE Cummins Micro Tsunami into a Bachmann GE 45 tonner (the one with the outside cranks)

 

Out of the various sound instalations this has been the least straightforward as it has involved a fair amount of alterations to the cast metal body shell as well as the some tweeks to the chassis. Bachmann did seem to have sound fitting in mind as the underfloor centre airtanks double as a baffle box for a small round speaker.

 

Starting point was to create some space to house the chip. As the bonnets were too short and narrow to only option I could see was the cab but I wanted to try and sit it below the window line of the cab. To try and achieve this the I removed the cab detail and, using a heavy duty Dremel cutting disc, cut out the side sections of the centre of the shell so that there the same height as the chassis block. There is just enough room to still fit the chip horizontally across the cab. I cut a grove each side of the cab to run the speaker wires through the cab floor. The last mod I've done is to drill 4 holes on the chassis block and install pick up wires directly onto each side of the trucks rather than using the spilt frame current collection

 

As mentioned there is a baffle box arrangment provided by Bachmann which has an inside diameter of 10mm. However the onlt sized of 8 ohmn Soundtraxx speakers I could find were 8mm or 15mm. As the 8mm was really small I went for the 15 mm and was resigned to scratch building a replacement set of tanks. However the 15mm will fit into the existing moulding with the outside resting on top of the moulding housing. The plan now is to v carefully cyno the existing airtank moulding to the rim of the speaker.

 

Still a 'Work In Progress' so update to come

 

Cheers

 

Dan Spalding

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Yes., impressed here, too... I've never fitted a DCC chip yet, but am planning a jump in the deep end with a Digitrax Sound chip in an Athearn (Blue Box) SW1500 - I was thinking space would be tight, but compared to this project, I have masses of room!!.... I hope.... :blink: :huh: :unsure:

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Yes., impressed here, too... I've never fitted a DCC chip yet, but am planning a jump in the deep end with a Digitrax Sound chip in an Athearn (Blue Box) SW1500 - I was thinking space would be tight, but compared to this project, I have masses of room!!.... I hope.... :blink: :huh: :unsure:

 

Dear F-Unit,

 

I know they're the newer SW1500s, but did you mean Digitrax or SoundTraxx?

http://www.soundtraxx.com/documents/appnotes/SW1000&SW-1500App.pdf

 

BTW, the OP 45tonner sound install looks like a winner,

just wish I'd seen this before I did the On30 kitbash to mine...

(mech = 45tonner

long hood = 44tonner

cab = B'mann Davenport

stacks = 45tonner stack on Atlas HO MP15 stack base)

 

Happy Modelling,

Aim to Improve,

Prof Klyzlr

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Dear F-Unit,

 

I know they're the newer SW1500s, but did you mean Digitrax or SoundTraxx?

I looked at the Soundtrax link and instantly spied this:-

Skill Level 5: Installation is labor intensive, requires cutting of

the frame and could take several hours. Not for the beginner.

:blink: :blink: :blink: :help:

 

No. I'm using Digitrax SDN144PS :- http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_sdn144ps.php

In the post from the USA as I speak, so I haven't actually got it yet...

 

Being designed for N scale should help - it's still a 1Amp decoder, so that shouldn't be a problem with HO, should it? By my reckoning, the small speaker should fit above the lead truck. As there's no 8-pin socket I plan to hardwire it in.

One thing I'm not sure of is how/where to connect the Ditch Lights I plan to fit (LEDs) ; I want to be able to switch them on & off independant of loco direction or the normal headlights. I assume they have to be wired seperately to the headlights, and to different wires on the decoder - the green & violet (F1 & F2) wires (blue is still the 'common'?) - is that right?

Never mind about making the ditch lights flash alternately, or re-programming sounds yet; as I said, this'll be my first install so KISS is the watchword for now.

 

Oh and apologies for hijacking Warbonnet's thread!! :unsure:

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No. I'm using Digitrax SDN144PS :- http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_sdn144ps.php

In the post from the USA as I speak, so I haven't actually got it yet...

 

Being designed for N scale should help - it's still a 1Amp decoder, so that shouldn't be a problem with HO, should it? By my reckoning, the small speaker should fit above the lead truck. As there's no 8-pin socket I plan to hardwire it in.

One thing I'm not sure of is how/where to connect the Ditch Lights I plan to fit (LEDs) ; I want to be able to switch them on & off independant of loco direction or the normal headlights. I assume they have to be wired seperately to the headlights, and to different wires on the decoder - the green & violet (F1 & F2) wires (blue is still the 'common'?) - is that right?

Never mind about making the ditch lights flash alternately, or re-programming sounds yet; as I said, this'll be my first install so KISS is the watchword for now.

 

It should work fine in an HO loco. I have one in a Class 121 (using the Class 108 sound project).

I would suggest using a different speaker if you have room - at a minimum fabricate a sound baffle for the little speaker it comes with.

 

You are correct on the additional functions - green and violet, with blue as the common for everything. Remember to add resistors along with the LEDs.

 

Adrian

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