# has anyone converted the talking station record to mp3



## dicgolfer72

I'm wanting to turn my standard non talking mystic station to a digital version of the old talking station 

I have a button activated device that will play a mp3 and a pile of old track trips on the way 

does anyone have a good mp3 recording of the record or a link to it

I found this but no download 
and no way to extract the file from the link 
https://www.wfmu.org/MACrec/talkst.html







EDIT: 
lol ok finally found it had to alter my google search key words a few times 
found it here
http://www.trainweb.org/s-trains/sounds/sounds.htm

really clear and high quality its in wmv so ill need to convert it to mp3 for my device but so far this will be easy


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## Aflyer

Nice find. I have the 799 Talking Union Station with the record player. 

I have been thinking about doing the same thing so I can use my Station at train shows, without wearing out the original record player and record.

Keep us updated on how it all works for you.

Aflyer


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## dicgolfer72

my plan is simple 
DE solder the play button from this


and attach wires that will run to a original af push button 

stop train at station 

play sounds 

move on lol

eventually I will automate the train stopping and playing of sounds but I need to come up with some fiber track pins 


I also have this on the way 
so I can attempt to power the mp3 player from the 18v ac 


its specs are 
Specifications:
Input Voltage: DC: 0-30V; AC: 0-22V
Output Voltage: DC 1.25-28V
Output Current: 2A(Max.)
Size: 62 * 59 * 27mm / 2.44 * 2.32 * 1.06in (L * W * H)
Weight: 42g / 1.5oz
Package Weight: 47g / 1.66oz

so I hope I can convert the 18v ac to 3.7v dc to power the player then no need for extra power plug on my layout




ps if this works its a wayyyy cheaper option for even the current train sets sound systems
I was looking at sound systems and they are 70$ + 

the little mp3 unit that takes 3.7-5 v dc to run is $1.79 if you buy direct from china or 4$ if you order from a us reseller 
then the voltage converter is 3$ direct from china or 7$ from us reseller 

if it works the uses are unlimited 
since it stores the mp3 on a sd card up to 16 gb at 3.7 v power
or a 32 gb usb drive at 5v power you could load all kinds of different train sounds even have non stop train sounds playing (birds chirping,cars driving ,)


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## Tallaman

Sounds interesting, let us know how it turns out.


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## gunrunnerjohn

I use the BY8001-16P for audio chores. Give it 5V DC, and you can play up to five clips of any length from the push button interface. It has an on-board amplifier, and if you are energetic, you can talk to it with a serial data stream and really do some fancy sound processing!


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## dicgolfer72

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I use the BY8001-16P for audio chores. Give it 5V DC, and you can play up to five clips of any length from the push button interface. It has an on-board amplifier, and if you are energetic, you can talk to it with a serial data stream and really do some fancy sound processing!
> 
> View attachment 126769



yea I saw those as well 
add an arduino or a raspberry pi and there would be all kinds of fun to be had 

all the listings for them a saw did not have a data sheet attached so I assumed they needed a digital controller ( arduino or a raspberry pi ) to control them 
so I went with the complete player


ps what's the pinout on them may use on e in a future project


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## gunrunnerjohn

Actually, they'll run stand-alone. I pieced together a data sheet from various sources, sufficient that I was able to use this in several projects. It's the basis of my new remote controlled audio/lighting/servo project. I've attached my documentation compilation to this post. Here's what I'm building, hardware done, software in process.


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## johnfl68

Adafruit also has (well, they are currently out of stock) a good Audio FX Sound Board with built in Amp that is a all in one solution. You can use WAV or OGG sound files, and they have up to 11 trigger inputs, each with different triggering options. Just add power (5v micro USB will work fine) , switches, and speakers.

There are some limitations to what they can do, but may be a good option for some people who want something a little simpler to work with.

2MB onboard storage version $24.95
https://www.adafruit.com/products/2210

16MB onboard storage version $29.95
https://www.adafruit.com/products/2217



Like with most Adafruit boards, there is a good tutorial that walks you through everything to know how to use the board:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-audio-fx-sound-board


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## flyernut

You guys blow my mind!! And I thought I was smart knowing how to make a toy train run again....I'm going to start calling you guys... Leonard, Sheldon, Raj, and Howard!!!!!!!:laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn

The only issue I have with the Adafruit boards is the limited memory. A 16mb WAV file will not play that long. The boards I use will accept a 32gb MicroSD, you can play for days.  I use 2gb boards and have hours of track sounds on them.


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## dicgolfer72

flyernut said:


> You guys blow my mind!! And I thought I was smart knowing how to make a toy train run again....I'm going to start calling you guys... Leonard, Sheldon, Raj, and Howard!!!!!!!:laugh:




lol 
hobby electronics is really not much different than fixing the old trains

esp now with all the maker stuff out there 

it used to be you had to build your stuff from the ground up ,making your own pcb or usung bread boards

now pretty much if you can think of it its already packaged and ready to build with well documented instructions 

and with the raspberry pi (mini pc) and the arduino boards out now 
they make doing the actual programing to control the devices 
as easy as picking up a book and doing a weeks worth of research

in my line of work (arcade /pinball sales and repair)
the new devices allow me to rebuild games that have long since lost the abilty to buy replacement components 
I just install a custom os on a raspberry pi install the original software that the game ran and bam back up n running again


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## Justin9

I don't guess you guys know where I could find a board like the mp3 amp that would play videos?


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## gunrunnerjohn

Always someone looking for extra functionality!


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## Justin9

yeah.. I am planning on a drive-in movie for my layout and figured a small mp4 player from china was the best way to go...


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## dicgolfer72

your best bet 
is to use a raspberry pi and one of the nice 3 or 4 inch open frame screen
that way you can use kodi and then remote control the video from any other pc or even a smart phone
raspberry pi is around 20-30$ (the new Zero is only 5$)
and then a 3 or 4 inch screen is 20-50$ (50$ for touch screen )


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## johnfl68

I agree, use a Raspberry Pi (preferably the Pi 2 as it has a faster processor for video).

There is a great video looper setup that you just put the movie or movies you want to loop on a USB drive, and plug it into the Pi, and it takes care of the rest.

There is a walk through of how to do this over at Adafruit:
https://learn.adafruit.com/raspberry-pi-video-looper/


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## Justin9

johnfl68 said:


> I agree, use a Raspberry Pi (preferably the Pi 2 as it has a faster processor for video).
> 
> There is a great video looper setup that you just put the movie or movies you want to loop on a USB drive, and plug it into the Pi, and it takes care of the rest.
> 
> There is a walk through of how to do this over at Adafruit:
> https://learn.adafruit.com/raspberry-pi-video-looper/


Great, that's what I want to do... I've never had a Pi project and have been wondering what I could do with one... however, my understanding is that when you cut power off to the Pi you can corrupt the memory card if not shutdown through the power down process...? My setup was going to have the Pi powered off a feeder to my other accessories... so when i kill power everything goes off...

Actually, like this one... http://www.aliexpress.com/item/VGA-..._82_80_62,searchweb201644_0,searchweb201560_3

Probably my best bet for the money...


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## dicgolfer72

its possible to corrupt the software but all you have to do is once you have it setup how you want
just make a clone of the sd card 
then if there is ever any trouble bam just reimage the sd card

pretty simple

also the corruption comes with shutting down while accessing read/write files

as long as the files are only being read and not written your usually fine


I have a arcade system setup to read only and never had any corruption when doing hard power downs


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## johnfl68

In most cases, the issue is if the Pi is writing to the SD card at the same time power is lost to the Pi.

For the looping video, once it is up and running and playing the video, the Pi should not need to write anything to the card if at all, so should not be an issue. 

I usually pick up extra uSD cards anyway whenever they are on sale (I prefer SanDisK Ultra or Extreme), as there is always the possibility of something bad happening or you want to try different projects but go back to something you already did. But if there is any problem you just build on a new card an off you go.

I have a Pi 1B+ and a Pi 2B and have yet to have any issues with them.


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## Justin9

Sounds good.... thanks for the education... that was the same reason I never used one on a mame arcade project also, so maybe I'll give them a try next time around.


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## dicgolfer72

the player came in today

got it up and running on the test bench 

only problem is I cant figure out how to take it off repeat 


https://youtu.be/KxeudGx8cFs


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## dicgolfer72

UPDATE

got it all wired up on the layout and it works great (still stuck on repeat so I have to press the button 2 times but oh well)

mounted the speaker under the table for now since the one I had on hand is to big for inside the station 

but ill hit up radio shack for a smaller speaker tomorrow 

and get it all self contained

I just need to get the power converter in to see if I can get rid of the cell phone charger powering it now 


speaker wired under table





long vid but shows it working on the layout
https://youtu.be/bnb5Dn6fCwY


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## Aflyer

dicgolfer72,
You have done a great job, I have been wanting to do that for awhile now as I said earlier. Looking forward to hearing it when you get the new speaker located in the Station.
Aflyer


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## dicgolfer72

Aflyer said:


> dicgolfer72,
> You have done a great job, I have been wanting to do that for awhile now as I said earlier. Looking forward to hearing it when you get the new speaker located in the Station.
> Aflyer


thanks


well didn't hit up radio shack but I did scavenge a speaker out of a gigaware computer speaker set(bought it when all the radio shacks were closing for almost nothing)

got it mounted and ready to go 

again just like the pcb I just used hot glue to attach it so it is all reversible (except the hole i had to drill to accommodate the size of the cellphone charger )

not quite as loud as the other speaker (much smaller speaker )
but i think its acceptable 
in the vid i ran my 302 while the sound is playing so you can get an idea of the volume compared to to the train 




vid
https://youtu.be/U7lYrSfM6cg

i don't have much to compare the volume to but i assume a old hard needle record player with cardboard tube speaker would not be much louder

also 
you can increase the volume with a better speaker but size is a problem


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## dicgolfer72

yikes 
power converter came in today 
found it on the porch when I got home from work 

but boy its a bit bigger than I thought

its going to be tough to find the real-estate to mount it inside the ststion 

ill try and get it hooked up first thin in the am to see if it will work


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## gunrunnerjohn

There are a lot smaller options for power modules. Here's one I use: AC-DC Buck Converter Module

Shipping is $2.30 for the first one and $1.30 for additional ones. If you buy a few, that gets the price down to about $3.50 each.


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## dicgolfer72

yea I saw some smaller ones but I liked that this one had the voltage output on the pcb instead of having to connect my meter to set the voltage


but alas I'm boned anyway 
hooked it up to my xformer today bam threw the circuit breaker 
looks like the diode/transistor (they sanded the label off so I cant tell what it was or id just replace it )
at d1 is bad out of the box


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## gunrunnerjohn

Figuring I only have to measure the voltage once during installation, I go for the size. 

That bridge rectifier looks to be a very common part if that's what is bad.


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## roba

dicgolfer72 - can you share the p/n and source for your mp3 player board?

I'm using gunrunnerjohn's version and while it works really well, I'd like something just a little larger.

Thanks!


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## dicgolfer72

this is the one i bought 
you can get the same one if you search from china for $1.80
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321814652861?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


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## roba

Thanks again, guys.

Order is in, I'll post results.


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