ETS trains sound question.

Hey Vinny:

As far as I know they run well on modern Lionel type AC transformers. ETS have manufactured a printed circuit board that allows the AC track power to be converted into DC to run their Can motors. I have purchased a few of their printed circuit boards to use in my own conversions, where I replace old AC armature type motors in my Swiss Buco 3 rail O gauge locos (original motors/parts not available any longer) with Maxon 30V DC Can motors.

It appears ETS know that most Britts have AC Hornby type systems, and so they manufacture their little loco's to run on these older tubular tracks with AC transformers. I use a Lionel RS-1 transformer to run my converted Buco loco's with the ETS printed circuit boards. This allows the change-of-direction by throttling on and off to activate the sequence of forward-neutral-reverse, the same way as any post war Lionel.

As far as adding sound, I am not too sure. I deal with the ETS agent in England (WJVintage - Paul Lumsdon) and he can be contacted at: wjvintage@outlook.com. Please E-mail him about what you want to do as he works very closely with the ETS people in the Czech Republic where the ETS trains are manufactured.

Regards......Peter (Buco Australia)

Thank you very much for all the information and the contact. I really appreciate and again thank you for sharing your information. 

How might the whistle/bell  be triggered could be a better question.   While Lionel use a dc offset (uneven ac waves, larger (+) = whistle; larger (-)=bell), other companies used a frequency generator/reciever, etc.

I have an ETS mow hi-rail VW  Beetle (type 1 sedan) that has bridge rectified can motor, no reverse.    Kinda like a prototype; built like a little tank. Very nice product

If you have a question about an ETS product. Go to the factory direct.

zuzana@ets.cz

She is a very helpful lady, and has the support of all the engineers in the plant.

Thank you all for the insight I contacted both emails within this thread and received a positive reply. ETS DC locomotives with sound work properly on Lionel or MTH transformers although the whistle or horn may randomly activate itself. 

Any thoughts on converting an ets loco to PS3 operation?  I am a huge fan of these but don't run much conventional any more.  The flywheel/clutch mechanism that ETS uses is a pretty unique system, not sure if the hardware could be used with a command system or not.

edit- I do realize I could use the voltage control function through mth dcs, but not sure how well that would work given the 5 volt minimum.