BLI's 'Rolling Thunder'?

Don't know why more systems don't have Bluetooth or similar capability by now. Sometimes O scale gets stuck and doesn't move forward with the times.

I don't know about that Joe:

In 1995 I was still tethered to the dingly-cord at the HO club when 1, I started having kids and 2, Lionel introduced the TMCC Cab1. Remote control, real remote, was still a wet dream for us HO guys. I made the switch, or rather added O Gauge, to our hobby and slowly moved completely to O.

Fast forward to 2016 and guess what, remote is only starting to find it way to the club level and for the most part, is having the same problems that DCS is having at the club level.

If Bluetooth can show a cost/performance benefit then someone will jump on this (as has been announced). I do think it is just a matter of time, but to say O gauge got "stuck" is not a real practical way to look at the current situation. It only takes money...

Charlie

Sam,

I would post this on the "HONGS" forum. 

There was a review of rolling thunder in Model railroader and they thought it was impressive. 

Check out the MRR web site it may be there.

david1 posted:

Sam,

I would post this on the "HONGS" forum. 

Hi Dave. Guess I should ask if this will work with our 3 rail O equipment as most of us don't have a HO layout. Their video mentions having a transmitter in the locomotive that sends the low frequencies to the receiver that is plugged into the bass module. They sell the receiver separately  which would indicate that it can be used with a bass amp or other powered sub.  Wonder if their transmitter (or a similar unit available elsewhere) could be added to our locomotives?

Didn't Eliot (Scrapiornsher) try to build something similar for his previous layout? Never heard anything about if that worked out or not....

Bob Grubba's brother operates 'Factory Direct Trains' here in Asheville and will be set up at the Asheville Regional Train Show the first weekend of  March. I'll be able to talk with him there and hopefully, they will have a system up and operating for us to hear.

I am not familiar with this particular system, and it may sound great, but -

I have heard various "under-table" systems more than once in the last decade, and I personally do not care for the effect.

A - they sounded as if the sound was coming...from under the table (I know nothing of the sophistication of the new system)

B - this is user-changeable, I know, but they were invariably - and I mean, invariably - set at a volume that was completely out of scale with the equipment - or even the building - and I remember seeing this wee N-scale Alco PA ABA set coming around the curve with its wee train, on a well-done and realistic layout, but making a sound that was so loud that it would have been too much for G-gauge.

Sound has a scale, too. If the loco appears to be half a mile away, which varies with the modeling scale, it should sound like it's half a mile away. But, that's operator error. 

You must have the latest BLI engines that have the software/hardware needed to engage the 'rolling thunder' system.  They are now making 'upgrade' kits for their older engines.  Not likely, that it could be, easily, incorporated into an O gauge engine.   Since HO usually uses about 12 DC, one may be able to set up a bridge rectifier in the engine to run 12 volts to their upgrade kits.  The receiver recognizes the engine within about 15' and will automatically turn on. 

The sound works well since it puts out the base sounds so the ear usually can't distinquish between the engine and below table top sounds.

Check out BLI's Youtube video...

sam parfitt

Broadway Limited is considering offering a transmitter that could attach to the speaker wires and track power inside an O gauge model and transmit the bass frequencies to a Rolling Thunder sub woofer.  I'd be interested to know if anyone would buy it.  I may make sense as we add non scale-specific accessories like our Thunder and Lightning that play though the sub woofer.  

I think it's a great idea, always good to have more options in O gauge. I would definitely consider buying something like that for O gauge. It certainly sounds interesting and there have been folks discussing similar DIY things here on the forum. I suppose it could also be added to some of the accessory sound boards currently available as well. I think there are also a few more options here in addition to adding this to just the locomotives.

Adding the transmitter to an engine may be a bit more than some would want to attempt, but I think there are plenty of others around here that would not hesitate to install something like this in an engine. Probably even more that would consider adding it to other sound boards/devices on their layouts. 

Engineer-Joe posted:

Don't know why more systems don't have Bluetooth or similar capability by now. Sometimes O scale gets stuck and doesn't move forward with the times.

You said it Joe! Can't be Lionel's main control system is still analog. And the list goes on...