# DCC swap



## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

This is aimed at those like NIMT but anyways here goes...

I currently have an Atlas Trainman GP89-2 that I put a basic Digitrax decoder DH123 in it for now which works great for use at the local club layout and all but Im thinking of putting sound in it, don't need super high end but I want something decient so I would like to know what type of decoder (and yes I would like to stick to Digitrax if I can please) would be a direct drop in/replacement for the DH123 that has sound? I wan't to try and just replace the DH123 or move it to another loco if needed....



Thanks


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I would think digitrax SDH164D would be a solution. I bought one but have not installed it yet. Watched a few youtube videos and it sounded ok. It probably will be the least
expensive sound decoder. Since you already have a decoder installed I guess you can unplug one and plug in the sound decoder and mount the speaker and be ready to go.

Reread your post and no I am not like NIMT, he knows his stuff and I am learning.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

mopac said:


> I would think digitrax SDH164D would be a solution. I bought one but have not installed it yet. Watched a few youtube videos and it sounded ok. It probably will be the least
> expensive sound decoder. Since you already have a decoder installed I guess you can unplug one and plug in the sound decoder and mount the speaker and be ready to go.
> 
> Reread your post and no I am not like NIMT, he knows his stuff and I am learning.


LOL it was aimed at him or others, but anyone who could/can help im greatful for  anyways the SDH164D, does it have the intigrated speaker so all I do is just plug in and go? going to try and look it up on the DIgitrax site.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

While Digitrax make good silent decoders,they still have to earn their stars with sound decoders.I haven't been pleased with the one I've tried and I'm not the only one who says this.They sound poorly at best.

If your loco is a nice one to you,why not enjoy good quality sound?I believe our friend Sean (NIMT) can supply you with a TSU-1000 (or better still an AT-1000 board if space allows) at a very competitive price.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

It comes with a speaker. You will need a speaker box though.
Looks like I am going to use a soda bottle cap for an enclosure.
Looks to be the right size. Speaker enclosure can make a big difference in sound.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

guess I better get friendly with how to get the body off this unit then I suppose


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I did get a TSU1000 from NIMT. I did install it and yes it sounds great. The SDH164d
was less than half the price of the TSU1000 and speaker so I have to try it. If I only
had 2 or 3 engines to convert I would stay with sound traxx but I have many.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

cool! well Im just looking for low cost ways for now since I am going to have to overhaul most of my entire fleet so i am trying to keep costs low for now and all that...

been looking at the Digitrax site and I think there SDN144PS is going to work best for my needs space wise, however i am just unsure since it says for "N" scale if it would work with HO scale or if I would be putting too many amps through it, I know it is a 1 amp rated item so I am thinking it should work...


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

Keep in mind that Digitrax use a 32 ohm speaker. Those are easy to get in 1 inch roundies, but the round ones sometimes need more room to be installed in a loco's shell, unless it was built to have a speaker installed.

I have found that small ovals are difficult to find in 32 ohm. You can use a resistor to make an 8 ohm work well with a 32 ohm set up. If you have the room, four 8 ohm speakers wired in series would work also.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

im not great with a solder gun or any thing like that, vision also doesn't help as far as bad eyes in that respect so more or less I prefer to do direct drop in if I can if not I will farm it out to someone who can help...


but as I understand it you can use 4 8 ohm speakers to equal the 32 ohm, or would I still need a resister? I figure 4 speakers would be louder then just one...but ehh...


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

I agree that retrofitting a whole fleet of locos can be very expensive indeed so I chose not to do it for a few reasons.
First the costs.Then comes another BIG reason...I've been at the club's layout a while ago when a couple of kids were operating their dad's sound equipped locos and enjoyed blowing the horn at every telephone post.As fun as sound can be it can become most annoying after a while.Imagine multiple sounders lapping the layout at the same time...I don't know about you guys but that gets on my nerves in no time.To my taste,one or two is enough so I wont retrofit the whole roster even if I could afford it.

Another important point I've noticed is that poor sounding locos get irritating much faster specially when these are loud,wich many enjoy that way.

That's only my opinion here but I've found a dark side to sound...it's like anything else...too much of it and it gets most annoying,even nerve wrecking I might say.So I decided only my high end locos would be sound equipped and will also have their volumes set pretty low (like prototype a quarter mile away,etc) and even then,I can still turn the sound off if I want peace and quiet.Obviously,everyone does as he feels on his layout..........


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

If you use 4, 8 ohm speakers, no resistor needed. But, you have to have room for those speakers. That can be your hold up. I have not seen a drop in sound chip with speakers already enclosed and mounted. I do notthink there is such a thing, yet.

NIMT (Sean) Is a great source of info. He can tell you best what will work, and he can even do the install for you.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Yea fitting an round speaker into a square loco can be tough, I almost always use a oval speaker (rectangle case).
You can use a 8 ohm speaker in place of a 32 ohm but it's going to work the decoders amp a lot harder.
And NO there is not enough AMP in the decoders to make 4 speakers sound good, or louder than 1. Besides that 4, 1/2inch speakers and enclosures take up a whole lot of room!


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

Brakeman Jake said:


> I agree that retrofitting a whole fleet of locos can be very expensive indeed so I chose not to do it for a few reasons.
> First the costs.Then comes another BIG reason...I've been at the club's layout a while ago when a couple of kids were operating their dad's sound equipped locos and enjoyed blowing the horn at every telephone post.As fun as sound can be it can become most annoying after a while.Imagine multiple sounders lapping the layout at the same time...I don't know about you guys but that gets on my nerves in no time.To my taste,one or two is enough so I wont retrofit the whole roster even if I could afford it.
> 
> Another important point I've noticed is that poor sounding locos get irritating much faster specially when these are loud,wich many enjoy that way.
> ...



I agree with you on that, thats one reason when I helped the club layout and was helping them with the computer install (they want to one day have computer control of signals only) I helped with setting up ways to remotly send the sound kill codes to locos if needed, were still experimenting with it tho and now that I found JMRI I am looking into a bit more indepth control in that respect...as what the club wanted was rather limited. as for sound equipping all locos, I dout ill do that, not really sure tho, minimum I do want to have the fleet or at least as much of it I can DCC so that way when I run at clubs or other layouts with DCC I can use my favorite engines that I have and love to use...

Sean all I want is a single speaker thats good that will fit in my loco, pictures can be posted later if you want to see loco in question...


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