RailSounds 2.5 Questions

George,

I just responded to your e-mail. But here are my best answers to your questions.

1) I'm not sure. The chuff sound should be a 1:1 relationship with the closure of the switch that you're using. The cap likely helps a bit with arcing across the switch you're using, but I don't know the source of the machine gunning.

2) For steam -- whistle, bell and chuff. Diesel -- horn, bell and engine sounds. Both have occasional random background sounds as well. You can NOT access the CrewTalk and TowerCom in conventional modes from the older chips and boards.

3) Try adding something to the circuit that generates an additional load -- a single light bulb is perfect, and should result in more reliable sound triggering.

4) I'm not sure why the CW80 gives a short whistle blast with a direct change. It's not normal behavior. See #2 above for what sounds are available in conventional.

5) For both: CrewTalk and TowerCom (assuming the ROM chips have these sounds -- the early ones didn't), plus coupler and shut-down sounds. In addition, for steam: blow-down and let-off.

6) There is no user manual per se for RailSounds 2.5. The info comes from the locomotive instructions in which the RailSounds was contained.

I hope this helps.

TRW

Thanks Todd, good info. I'll try the light bulb load in the morning. Looking forward to trying a set of GP-9 chips, too!

George

The chuffing is 1:1, but only at lower speeds. It is based on the input rate of the cherry switch closure. At slow speeds it chuffs each time the cherry switch closes and sends that ground signal to the audio board. as the train increases in speed and the speed in which those triggers pour into the audio board it switches from a staccato chuff to a prerecorded chuffing, one that does not blur the sounds. After you reach that speed that preset chuffing plays. As the input rate slows there is a point in time where the prerecorded chuff rate ceases to play it it goes back to following the input rate. Rudy Trubitt (and Jon Z) would be about the only humans on earth who could tell you where that is, from a timing perspective. But, that's how team chuffing works on Railsounds,  

Mikado posted:

The chuffing is 1:1, but only at lower speeds. It is based on the input rate of the cherry switch closure. At slow speeds it chuffs each time the cherry switch closes and sends that ground signal to the audio board. as the train increases in speed and the speed in which those triggers pour into the audio board it switches from a staccato chuff to a prerecorded chuffing, one that does not blur the sounds. After you reach that speed that preset chuffing plays. As the input rate slows there is a point in time where the prerecorded chuff rate ceases to play it it goes back to following the input rate. Rudy Trubitt (and Jon Z) would be about the only humans on earth who could tell you where that is, from a timing perspective. But, that's how team chuffing works on Railsounds,  

First of all, thanks for that info, Mike. That certainly explains the behavior I'm seeing. Since I don't have the board installed in an engine yet, it's kind of difficult to simulate a nice, even rate of chuffing by smacking a pushbutton periodically 

And secondly, if I can slip an off-topic message past the moderator here, congrats on your position at TW Trainworx. It's the first time I've seen where your new home is. I hope all is going well for you personally, and I'll drop in periodically to see what kind of excitement you're creating (BTW, love the building kits!)

Thanks again, Mike!

PaperTRW posted:

George,

I just responded to your e-mail. But here are my best answers to your questions.

3) Try adding something to the circuit that generates an additional load -- a single light bulb is perfect, and should result in more reliable sound triggering.

4) I'm not sure why the CW80 gives a short whistle blast with a direct change. It's not normal behavior. See #2 above for what sounds are available in conventional.

I hope this helps.

TRW

For #3 and #4, the light bulb totally did the trick. I had read that once before, but I didn't have a sound board at that time so it quickly departed my memory! 

Thanks Todd!

Mikado posted:

The chuffing is 1:1, but only at lower speeds. It is based on the input rate of the cherry switch closure. At slow speeds it chuffs each time the cherry switch closes and sends that ground signal to the audio board. as the train increases in speed and the speed in which those triggers pour into the audio board it switches from a staccato chuff to a prerecorded chuffing, one that does not blur the sounds. After you reach that speed that preset chuffing plays. As the input rate slows there is a point in time where the prerecorded chuff rate ceases to play it it goes back to following the input rate. Rudy Trubitt (and Jon Z) would be about the only humans on earth who could tell you where that is, from a timing perspective. But, that's how team chuffing works on Railsounds,  

Mike, no good deed goes unpunished around here! With that in mind, here's another question or two. I swapped out the steamer chips for a set of GP-9 chips, and here's what I experienced:

1. 4 levels of motor speed (RPM)

2. Advances in engine RPM are accomplished by increasing track voltage - from engine at idle, increasing voltage to 18 volts creates 3 additional RPM levels. Each increase is slow to respond and there's a long (several seconds) delay between increases, but eventually all 4 rpm levels have been realized.

3. Closure of the chuff switch acts to "push" the increases (or decreases) along, drastically shortening the response time for throttle changes

4. Bell and whistle work as with any other sound set 

Does that sound like the way things were designed? Why the slow throttle response when no chuff switch closure has been performed?

Thank you, Mike!

George