Fitting sound to a soundless Stainz

[adeshers]

Okay chaps and chapesses, I need your help.

I have a Stainz 20211 which is not fitted with sound and a 20212 analogue sound module and I would like to marry them together - preferably harmoniously .

Can it be done? If so what pitfalls are there? Will I need to get some extra bits? &:

 

[Neil Robinson]

The speaker, if not whole thing, should fit under the cab roof.
I'm pretty sure that the lead connects to the track pickups, If you're lucky your Stainz will have an auxiliary power socket on the cab back that will do the trick nicely.

 

[adeshers]

The speaker, if not whole thing, should fit under the cab roof.
I'm pretty sure that the lead connects to the track pickups, If you're lucky your Stainz will have an auxiliary power socket on the cab back that will do the trick nicely.

I'm not lucky, unfortunately. There is a cut out and blanking plug for an auxiliary power socket but no wires. :thumbdown:

 

[stevedenver]

i have never done this-so you may give my thoughts appropriate weight

assuming that you do not have the option to use the lighting socket-or chose not to

here are my initial thoughts-the card and really most importantly the speaker should be in a cabinet /box for best sound and most bass response--the box should be of rigid material and the speaker should have a seal or baffle so that the box is more or less airtight-not essential, just so you know-dont have the card but perhaps you could mount the card and speaker separately-speaker alone on roof, card below in cab......

based on the assumption you WILL NOT be utilizing the lighting plug (as i understand there isnt one on your engine)

the next thought for your convenience in fiddling-would be to carefully prise apart the plug-this i have done and with care the plug separates and the teeth which penetrate the wire can be preserved for future use-the plug as i recall has small clamps on the sides

next i would add a length of wire to extend that of the sound cards -this will allow you to move it about etc with less cramped quarters-it can be curled up or otherwise dealt with-you may wish to consider adding an 'on' switch in the extended cable-always nice to be able to turn off the sound

i always try to avoid chopping my LGB in any way and the following is based upon that approach

first -you should be able to connect the sound card via the wires to the reversing light on the cab-i suggest you do this -if at all- by a bus type connection -ie simply strip a bit of the wire off mid section and solder in-

if not -youll need to run wires to the motor block -which will likely require you to saw or cut small notches in either the floor or cab wall or both in order to have the wires clear things-likeise you may need to create a channel for the wires in the motor black case as well for proper re-fitting into the chassis-i did this when installing a smoke unit -using the awl on my siwss army knife -actually the best tool for the job despite a bench full of modeling and other precision tools i have 


next 

you could put the sound card against the roof of the loco, speaker facing down-attaching it with a good rubber cement which can later be picked off or otherwise removed-another option would be to utilize the existing mounting holes for the whistle as an anchor-(just a thought)-or simply use some self tapping screws -which will probably screw up the roof unless you were to add say a strip of glued on plastic as a mounting point for the screws

another option -if you decide to use a 'cabinet' would be to simply place the cabinet in the area behind the boiler-wont look very nice but would be extremly simple and might provide nicer sound-i dont know if you could attach to the back wall close to the light and remove anything on the back wall and create a enclosure that acts as a cabinet and might look like an internal coal bunker

best of luck

 

[adeshers]

Thanks for the response Steve.

I thought of purchasing a spare cab that includes the speaker housing - paint it up, in what I hope to become my railways colours, and fit it out with the sound card and the other bits'n'pieces off the original loco. That would resolve the problem of where to put the speaker / card. It would then be just a case of wiring the little blighter up.

Does polarity matter does anyone know? :thinking:

 

[stevedenver]

shouldnt for analog-on the board or the speaker

 

[stevedenver]

so paul will this chip 
work analog?
and
the sound is truly amazing, and, if it will do analog im going to order one immediately

anything special regarding speaker-position , enclosure etc?