legomanbiffo

This is exactly what we found before we started fitting them with better speakers. 68 engines are deeply bassy and if you play the sound through ‘normal’ speakers, and even speakers that five years ago were considered to be state of the art, the results are disappointing. Change to an EM2 (if you don’t mind a bit of milling) or a Zimo double-dumbo (if you don’t) and the difference is remarkable. I would recommend the EM2 every single time for the 68 though. Bif

Yes just to confirm I can put any of my sound files onto any ESU chip, so a Leyland DMU for the Dapol 121 on a 6-pin chip is no problem.

To answer the various points; Tri-mode would be tricky but probably do-able with the ESU v4, but more readily achieved with the next generation chip which I suspect isn’t all that far away now. It may be ‘all electricity’ but there’s a world of difference between the sound of DC and AC traction motors, for example, so it is worth doing. On my IEP you use F1 as normal to start and stop the prime mover sounds (diesel or electric) and another function to switch between the two. You can start up on either, shutdown on either, and switch between the two at will, on the move, all as per the prototype. Took a bit of working out all that but it’s very satisfying in operation. Bif

I love the cab ride video!

I can do 21-pin v3.5 DMU chips for £55 including carriage.

Throppers, Please try leaving the loco at idle for around 10 seconds before turning off F1. I suspect that will cure the problem. If it doesn’t come back to me via PM or an email and I’ll check the file for programming errors. My v3.5 37 is quite long in the tooth now and due to time constraints I haven’t done as much to bring it up to the ‘latest standards’ as I’ve done with my v4 chips. Bif

I did indeed put mine inside, stuck to the underside of the pcb above the bogie towers, but they are too quiet in there. Charlie put his in the underframe and they are louder but it’s more work to fit them. It’s very disappointing that we’re having to go to these lengths with a brand new model. My plan is to bin the Hornby PCB, mill space for a proper speaker and rewire the lights for proper control. Then in 2020 I’ve got some other stuff to do!

Just remembered that the 03 was still in the stock box in the boot of my car after the show at Wigan! The sugar cube is indeed behind the nose grille, and there’s no chip visible in the cab so it must be inside the body. Bif

From memory I think the Loksound micro chip and speaker in our demo model are in the body not the cab? I think the speaker is behind the grille. I’ll check when I see the loco again, at the Hornby show at the weekend. Bif

I do like the sound of that Paul, I must have a look at the video when I get a minute. Modern decoders just get better and better and it’s very rewarding as a programmer to visualise and then realise features such as these. Bif

All three versions of my HST have randomised air suspension sounds on F16. This is set up to simulate the effect you often hear at a station platform when they arrive or depart. This feature is also on my other sound sets of locos that regularly hauled Mk3's (47/7, 86, 87, 90 etc).

I’ll also reiterate that the split gears are sometimes hard to spot. Also; some Heljan motors are held in a clamp arrangement and can ride up over time. Try pushing them down and if that fixes it, use a bit of Evo Stik to stop it happening again. Bif

Jim, When you say ‘short stab’ horns do you mean short in duration? I edited the horns from the Shrewsbury recording session today and it’s possible to do very short ‘blips’ of both tones, even with my press on-press off controller. Both tones are playable of course, so you can play tones of any length. I’ve also completed the first draft of the radar hiss flowchart. From what I can tell you get one blast just after pulling away and then every 25s thereafter when moving. Can anyone confirm that or add anything? Bif

I can confirm that the 70 has been updated with drivelock and playable manual brake. As this wasn’t a major change the usual ‘free update’ offer applies to customers with older versions. Charlie rehosted his website recently and updates such as this may take a bit longer to appear than normal, for a short time. Bif

No pressure then :-) What you have seen here is only part of the story. I already have loaded Class 66 engine recordings, and I’m making enquiries to see if we can do more to make the Hattons version unique. Gaining access and recording locos on the main line is not straightforward but rest assured attempts will be made. We did it before with the 68 so hopefully we can do it again. The Shrewsbury session was important as it helped me capture ancillary sounds that I didn’t have before (eg the radar hiss), and to improve upon those I did have (eg train and loco brake sounds). It’s all of this variation which makes a sound project more interesting, and increases ‘play value’ and value for money. With the 66 being such a widespread and familiar loco it’s important that we capture all of it’s character, sublety and variation. To this end I’m interested to hear first of all what audible variations people are aware of so I can try and capture and incorporate them into the project. Then I’d like to know what features you’d like to see incorporated, particularly those which existing sound chips don’t have. Looking forward to hearing from you. Bif

These are the changeovers when stationary, but they are no different when moving. On the real railway Hitachi and Network Rail are working together to enable balises to trigger the changeovers automatically at places where the wires start and finish. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c8S7_94igVY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-azMJepU99M Although not shown in the videos you can start, run and stop exclusively in diesel mode, and do the same in electric mode should you wish. Bif

The two-chip version of the IEP sound will be available very soon. I’m just prototyping them in my GWR 5-car set which I’ve fitted with single Zimo dumbo speakers in cars 1 & 5, each in parallel with an EM2 in cars 2 & 4 respectively. Two-pin micro connectors pass through the corridor connectors to join the two. The dumbos put the horn sounds etc in the right place and the EM2’s give you the bass, and being less directional give the impression of several engines (in a real 5-car IEP engines 2 & 4 do all the work and engine 3 runs at idle as a standby, or so I’m told). The overall effect is very pleasing. As I think Charlie said you csn start in either diesel or electric mode, and switch between the two either when moving or when stationary. The project comes with the manual brake, and new and improved automatic coupling and uncoupling functions, making these more controllable than before.There are also four different on-board announcements, again recorded from the real thing. Bif

Nick, What you have there is the two halves of my old class 20 matched pair. The thirty second delay is the driver walking from one loco to the other after starting the first. If you’d like the two chips reprogramming as ‘normal / single’ locos please get in touch, I’d be happy to do that free of charge. Not something you can do yourself just now. Alternatively, if you can wait a couple of months I have just finished updating the equivalent O gauge pair of chips to allow user-selectable normal / paired loco switching, to allow each loco to run autonomously, or as half of a matched pair without the need for reblowing I now need to update and test the standard pair of chips (like you have) to allow this. Given my current workload this could take a couple of months to fit in, realistically. Bif

As far as I’m sware the only audible difference between a real 47/4 and 47/7 is the guard to driver beeper fitted to the latter for push-pull working. My original 47/4 chip has been improved incrementally over the years and from memory is up to v14 or so! Around 18 months ago I recorded another 47/4 at the Mid Norfolk Railway, and this forms my current 47/4 and 47/7 offerings (which are actually identical but presented separately on the website). As Charlie says these are better than my original 47, having had the benefit of more years of recirding and programming experience put into them. In line with my other sounds, anyone with older versions of projects can have them updated for little or no charge unless significant cost or work was involved in the update. Hope this helps, Bif

Surely some mistake?!

If I went to every show I'd never get any programming done. I have a nice quiet time to get on with things when Charlie's occupied all weekend at a show! Rest assured the double-act will be back on the road in the New Year. Compliments of the season to one and all and many thanks for your continued support, it is very much appreciated. Bif

Bernie, I use thin lead flashing from a builders merchant. You can easily cut it to size with an old pair of scissors, and it can be bent to fit it awkward shaped areas. Glue bits of it together with Evo Stik or an similar contact adhesive. You can glue a fair bit to the roof in most locos, for example. Bif

It can be John if you wish. Bif

Albie, the new 08 engine sounds are really good in both 4mm and 7mm models. I haven’t yet heard them on the stand in a noisy environment but at home our demo 08 with two sugar cubes in the nose is very loud. As a trial I’ve just swapped the EM3 in our demo 7mm 08 for two of our ‘black shiny’ 5W speakers and through those the new project sounds equally good. Nick, the main improvement in the new 67 are crystal clear engine sounds recorded from 67020 at Wembley before they went off lease with Chiltern. These were recorded very close to the exhaust with the spirax valves isolated so there is absolutely none of the annoying, continuous clicking intrusion from them. I’ve also updated some of the auxiliary sounds with better versions and automated the regular, characteristic hisses you get from these locos (on its own function key). I’ve been having great fun developing it. Other new things on the stand in no particular order will be; 33 + 4TC, all new 92 from recordings at Polmadie, new North and South Wales announcements on 143 / 150 / 153 voiced by Peter Lord of Lord & Butler, new FGW announcements on 143 / 150 / 153 voiced by Andrew Keast of Kernow, all-new 170 engine and roaring cooler group sounds, excellent new features on the 91 & DVT including authentic parking brake, configurable old / new style door and despatch whistle sounds etc etc. Bif

Indeed they are! Richard Armstrong and I have been commissioning and carrying out recording sessions together for many years now. With the possible exception of in-cab sounds we’re both after the same high quality sounds so cost sharing makes complete sense. And because we operate in different markets we don’t tread on one another’s toes, commercially. If you have a listen to some of Richard’s videos on You Tube and compare them with mine you’ll come across many similarities. Here’s a video of the two of us at the Spa Valley Railway recording their Thumper, the sounds of which now grace many Kernow Thumpers throughout the land; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn_j7DKxGhc Bif