MyLocoSound steam card with coasting feature

ge_rik

ge_rik

British narrow gauge (esp. Southwold and W&LLR)
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Just added a MyLocoSound steam card to my scratchbuilt loco based on Southwold No.4 Wenhaston. Been having a play with her yesterday and this morning (before the rain set in) and am beginning to get the hang of the cruise feature.

video=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZm8Wd2UjY

Not sure I've quite got the sync right - don't know if anyone has any tips on that as the loco speed varies according to the load and not just the 'regulator' setting. Presumably, the most reliable way is via a wheel cam - can these be fitted to any loco, does anyone know?

Rik
 
Stainzmeister said:
You can get LGB axles with a double magnet (I think) for manual generation of sound chuffs, not sure if they can be retro fitted, and whether its only available for newer D gearboxes (As you have a U Class chassis)......
Click to expand...
Thanks and thanks for the heads-up on that Paul. I'll do some investigating. My U-Class chassis is from the last century so may not be compatible.

Rik
 
Sounds pretty close but you'd expect to hear four chuffs per revolution and you seem to have about four and a half to five. I'd set it at low speed as its less obvious at speed as its harder to count ;)
It's getting closer to the features on decent dcc chips and to be honest is better than LGB's inbuilt coasting by a mile.
 
ge_rik said:
Just added a MyLocoSound steam card to my scratchbuilt loco based on Southwold No.4 Wenhaston. Been having a play with her yesterday and this morning (before the rain set in) and am beginning to get the hang of the cruise feature.



Not sure I've quite got the sync right - don't know if anyone has any tips on that as the loco speed varies according to the load and not just the 'regulator' setting. Presumably, the most reliable way is via a wheel cam - can these be fitted to any loco, does anyone know?

Rik
Click to expand...

Rik,
Instead of a wheel cam you may consider a magnet glued to the rear of a wheel that close a reed switch does the same job as a cam ie open close a switch.
These ones are only 1.5mm thick and I have seen them attached them to a Stainz wheel to trigger a sound card.
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com...ucts_id=331&osCsid=jrma314hrkss7h0kmcecej4jk6
 
GAP said:
Instead of a wheel cam you may consider a magnet glued to the rear of a wheel that close a reed switch does the same job as a cam ie open close a switch.
These ones are only 1.5mm thick and I have seen them attached them to a Stainz wheel to trigger a sound card.
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com...ucts_id=331&osCsid=jrma314hrkss7h0kmcecej4jk6
Click to expand...
I did wonder if this was an option. I'm not sure what the clearances are on the chassis but will investigate. If it can be done on a Stainz then I assume it must be possible on a U-Class chassis

Rik
 
ge_rik said:
GAP said:
Instead of a wheel cam you may consider a magnet glued to the rear of a wheel that close a reed switch does the same job as a cam ie open close a switch.
These ones are only 1.5mm thick and I have seen them attached them to a Stainz wheel to trigger a sound card.
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com...ucts_id=331&osCsid=jrma314hrkss7h0kmcecej4jk6
Click to expand...
I did wonder if this was an option. I'm not sure what the clearances are on the chassis but will investigate. If it can be done on a Stainz then I assume it must be possible on a U-Class chassis

Rik
Click to expand...
I have also glued a magnet between the spokes on my LGB tank engine which triggers an old Bachmann sound card that works well.
 
GAP said:
I have also glued a magnet between the spokes on my LGB tank engine which triggers an old Bachmann sound card that works well.
Click to expand...
Now that sounds feasible. Will try a few experiments

Rik
 
3Valve said:
I like it. I like it a lot.
Click to expand...

Opening and closing a reed switch is just the electrical of a cam driven switch.
They both achieve the same result, ie cam lobe closes switch and sound does something, magnet causes reed switch and sound card does some thing.
This is of course for a basic sound card like the really old Bachmann sound card that was in effect a white noise(static) generator amplified to drive a speaker.
Basic I know but my missus thinks it sounds like a steam engine so that is good enough for me.
And I can build one for less than $10 AUD.
 
ge_rik said:
GAP said:
Instead of a wheel cam you may consider a magnet glued to the rear of a wheel that close a reed switch does the same job as a cam ie open close a switch.
These ones are only 1.5mm thick and I have seen them attached them to a Stainz wheel to trigger a sound card.
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com...ucts_id=331&osCsid=jrma314hrkss7h0kmcecej4jk6
Click to expand...
I did wonder if this was an option. I'm not sure what the clearances are on the chassis but will investigate. If it can be done on a Stainz then I assume it must be possible on a U-Class chassis

Rik
Click to expand...
Update on magnets
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/181058007765?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

These will glue to the back of a Stainz wheel and still have clearance, they are only 1.5mm high.
I have 20 on the way for my Stainz and LGB 2076 Tank engine.
My micrometer says that there is 3mm clearance between back of the wheel and the chassis with the wheel pushed firmly against the moulded spacer on both chassis.
The plan is for these to trigger a couple reed switches wired in parallel with the magnets be mounted on different wheels 180 degrees apart so that one switch is closed every half revolution its an experiment that I think should work in theory so a practical test is the next step.
At the present there is only 1 switch/magnet combo which closes once every revolution.

At $1.60AUD its a cheap option.
The sound card I use for the moment is the really old Bachmann one that is no longer available but the schematic is available by googling "Better Bachmann sound for under a buck".

Very basic but it works for at this point in time, till I can afford something better.
 
GAP said:
Update on magnets
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/181058007765?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

These will glue to the back of a Stainz wheel and still have clearance, they are only 1.5mm high.
I have 20 on the way for my Stainz and LGB 2076 Tank engine.
My micrometer says that there is 3mm clearance between back of the wheel and the chassis with the wheel pushed firmly against the moulded spacer on both chassis.
The plan is for these to trigger a couple reed switches wired in parallel with the magnets be mounted on different wheels 180 degrees apart so that one switch is closed every half revolution its an experiment that I think should work in theory so a practical test is the next step.
At the present there is only 1 switch/magnet combo which closes once every revolution.

At $1.60AUD its a cheap option.
The sound card I use for the moment is the really old Bachmann one that is no longer available but the schematic is available by googling "Better Bachmann sound for under a buck".

Very basic but it works for at this point in time, till I can afford something better.
Click to expand...
After some correspondence with Peter Spoerer, he's suggested 4 magnets with the gap between two of them slightly uneven to give the 4 cylinder 'beat'. I'm in two minds about changing now as he says the 'coasting' feature is only available on the motor voltage sensing card. It's a pity we can't combine the two types of sensing in some way.

Rik
 
GAP said:
This is of course for a basic sound card like the really old Bachmann sound card that was in effect a white noise(static) generator amplified to drive a speaker.
Basic I know but my missus thinks it sounds like a steam engine so that is good enough for me.
And I can build one for less than $10 AUD.
Click to expand...
Presumably something like this.
http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p60_mk134.html < Link To http://www.velleman.co.uk...s/en-uk/p60_mk134.html

There's a circuit diagram on the 'More details' tab. Just wondering if it would take the input from a switch for changing the chuff speed.

Rik
PS - Certainly sounds very basic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBPPKATUGM
 
Re "[SIZE=x-small] This is of course for a basic sound card like the really old Bachmann sound card that was in effect a white noise(static) generator amplified to drive a speaker. "[/SIZE]
[/size]
[/size][SIZE=x-small]It is as you say a white noise generator but it is significantly better than the basic Bachmann steam sound. The chuff has a clear 4 beat cycle, it sounds a bit less like more white noise than the Bachmann, it has a whistle and of course it drops the volume down to almost nothing on the downhill.[/SIZE]
[/size]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/size]I would say the MLS card is noticeably superior to the basic Bachmann noise generator but nowhere near as good as the brilliant Phoenix card costing circa £250. I would say it was a good cost effective means of obtaining sound and would recommend it. I don't think the diesel MLS card is as convincing as the steam one - especially for American Geeps and SDs. [size=x-small][/font]
 
Just to repeat what I put on another thread, we offer steam soundcards which operate in two different ways:

•Chuff Cam Soundcard. Some ready to run locos are fitted with a chuff cam on a driving wheel axle to which a switch is connected. This output can be connected to the chuff cam version of the soundcard and the result will be a chuff which is always exactly in time with the motion of the loco. Some modellers fit their own chuff cam to other locos by gluing four magnets around an axle and fitting a reed switch to adjacent bodywork.

•Voltage Driven Soundcard. This soundcard operates on any loco, whether it has a chuff cam or not. The chuff is adjusted to match the loco motion and then varies with motor voltage and hence the loco speed. A loud chuff occurs when the loco is accelerating, a soft chuff when it is coasting, a soft overrun sound when slowing down and a steam hiss when static.

The varying chuff in the voltage steam soundcards have proved very popular, particularly since we recently improved the whistle. As a result, we are now working on including the same variations in the chuff cam soundcard. When complete, we will offer free updates to all chuff cam soundcards purchased in the past two years.

Regards
Peter Lucas
MyLocoSound
 
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