# Different sounds from a diesel horn



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

Okay, so the diesel horn in my GP7 with the American flyer horn generator sounds like a whole bunch of ***. I'm wondering... can I make a different sound with a different sound generator? Or is that just a trigger like a lionel diode switch?

Charles.


----------



## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

"whole bunch of ***" WOW what a flowery descriptor!
Yes sound generators make sound!
The Lionel unit is also a sound generator?
The "trigger like a Lionel diode switch" 
is exactly that a trigger or switch to is make to do?
It triggers the sound generator to do what it's supposed to do, sound the horn, whistle, chuff, bell, or other things.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

Well, American Flyer has a "diesel horn generator" which does something. I'm not sure what, but it makes a bunch of noise and vibration when I press the button, and then the diesel makes a sound like a 1950's doorbell buzzer being strangled under water in a toilet. It was my assumption that the AF horn generator creates the sound and sends it over the track, as my diesel engine has only a resistor and a speaker and minimal electronics inside other than that. 

Modern Lionel buttons are just diodes that add a DC offset to the track AC voltage. This merely triggers the electronics to play a tune. The AF diesel horn generator does something else, unless I'm very mistaken.

Charles.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Diesel horns have certain tones. Vary the resistance to get another tone. With two or three sound generators you feed them into an amplifier to get the final horn. This is an example

Also my project. Here

Another board link steam whistle and others to Amazon


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

Hrm, if I can figure out a way to activate the whistle using dc offset voltage, that'd be perfect. In fact... is there a schematic out there to trip a relay using the DC offset voltage from a lionel horn or bell button?

Charles.


----------

