The upgrade has begun.

Gary, do I know that Hudson?  Please keep us posted on how it goes hopefully with a video.

Looks like a lot of missing parts!

We look forward to the progress pictures.

In Aviation it's Ledgend to say better to have left over parts than not enough

Gary,

  I'm very interested in seeing the finished product, looking forward to a video

Keep us posted,

Alex

I upgraded my 0-27 Polar Express conventional to TMCC using electronics from Digital Dynamics (which is out of business, I think).  I had a hard time cramming all the "stuff" into the tender, but finally got it all to fit.  Because the electronic module had a "rear coupler and rear back up light" capabilities, I added those too along with two red tail lights.  I only wish it had Odyssey speed control. Instead of wasting my effort putting a 16v to 1.5 v converter board in the engine shell, I should have used 15v bulbs!!  Very dumb.  Cool little engine though.

One additional note, I drilled out the firebox opening and front green running lights using a very small dental drill.  The fire box was then made using a small discarded plastic cap with crumpled aluminum foil with a red bulb placed on top then hot glued to the backside of the firewall.  After drilling out the green running lights, which were non-operating plastic lenses, I hot glued two green "grain of wheat" bulbs in place.  Here's a screen shot from a video showing the front running lights:

To make the firebox really "pop", consider a flickering LED or two behind the firebox, adds a lot of character to the fire.

Finally a update on my project.  Haven't touched it in a month due to Christmas.  Now that Christmas is over, I've completed the rewire of the engine, smoke unit fan, new LED headlight.  I need to double check the wiring on the tender and I'll be ready for a test run on the stand.  I'll post pics/video.

Once that's done I can ad the magnets, reed switch and the new sounds and I'll be done.

John Id used apiece of red side marker or reflector lens..somebody got there engineer in the wrong spot..the big guy belongs on the right side like the movie.but to each there own...just saying it..dont know why lionel used the wrong tender for it..the one on the movie is a PRR style tender like the one on the S2 turbine

getting closer been hard to find time to get down to the basement but enjoy the show

Looking Good Gary!!!

Loving the products Jon, at least two more engines to consider converting.

Lookin' good, that will be a nice addition to the stable!

does the chuff get activated from a hall sensor on the tender? I figured with the tach tape on the flywheel she would have chuffed as the wheels turned???

Dumb question, but why not install the Super-Chuffer in the boiler?  Most of the wiring goes to stuff in the boiler, so you need fewer tether connections that way.  Just curious...

You know, I never thought of it.  Ohwell with the next one.  The reed switch and earth magnets are going on one of the center drivers.  Four magnets, that's why I know I'll have four chuffs per rev.  The Tac tape is left over from the EOB install.  No need to remove it.

That's a valid reason!   I always count the tether leads required and then base my partitioning on what takes the fewest, and also if I can avoid sending high current through the tether, I can use smaller wiring and connectors.

John,

Why don't you enhance the Super Chuffer to use the EOB sensor and Tach Tape to create the chuff?  I have used the K-Line encoder for this before, simply figure out the gear ratio (users can do this), and every "N" pulses of the encoder (EOB or K-Line) and pulse the I/O line on the R4LC like the Cruise Commander input does.

You could ref the KLINE or EOB instructions and pick a similar  CAB command press to configure the divisor.   This way folks can change from 2 or 4 chuff/s rev with ease.

Just a thought, and it would really complete the Super Chuffer functionality!

Jon,

I am looking at creating a new version that reads the serial data, that would be the first major step.  I would like to be able to simply handle 4-chuffs, and that's one way to do it.

Of course, since not every locomotive has the tach tape and reader, and adding that to the installation would add to the cost.  Also, I haven't looked into tapping into the signal if they have cruise installed that uses the tach, though that should be possible without upsetting the original circuit.

I confess, the initial Super-Chuffer implementation was the low hanging fruit, I picked an implementation that was fairly easy to do so I could actually get it out in a reasonable time.  I was initially more concerned about getting a board that would really enhance the appearance of the smoke output chuffs. 

I have to spend some time with the serial code to get my head around it more, but having serial input capability opens a lot of doors for other interesting uses as well.

Jon,

How about a direct plug n play Railsounds board for EOB equipped engines?  I have a 3rdrail Niagara that runs perfectly with cruise and the smoke output but would love to upgrade the sounds.  Really no need to upgrade to cruise commander if I can avoid it due to cost and time.  Check this out, John looking forward to seeing if your board outperforms this.

Sounds neat.  My suggestion does not need serial data, I think you know this, but wanted to mention it.  You would have digital pulse inputs from the sensor, and produce a divided down digital I/O for the "chuff switch" emulation.

It's very easy to interface the existing RailSounds Commander to your EOB board.  You just have to pick up the power, ground, and serial data on the RS4 socket and connect it over, job done.

Jon, my concern is how do I program the number of pulses, given that gear ratios are different.  I could, I suppose, have different tach tapes for various speeds, but that will get a big confusing trying to get people to understand how to generate them.

I must have not understand your comment here, I thought you were suggesting reading serial data.

You could ref the KLINE or EOB instructions and pick a similar  CAB command press to configure the divisor.   This way folks can change from 2 or 4 chuff/s rev with ease.

How would I read that cab command press?

Not so easy as I've tried it and it did not work.  This is a EOB motherboard, I connected power and serial data on the Railsounds side of the serial data and I got some weird things happening.  The EOB does some processing between the R2LC board and the railsounds board, more than likely adding the chuff trigger to the data so it's not a direct connection but this is a project for another day.

Back to my current project.  Assembled the engine place it on the test jig to test her out and everything works but the smoke unit.  Fan runs but I'm not getting any power to the smoke unit.  So I opened her up and traces all wires and they trace good.  So I power her up and still nothing, swap R2LC boards, nothing, checked the Triac, all test good.  Finally I checked the smoke unit voltage output and it's bouncing all over the place.  Can't figure it, shouldn't it be a constant 12 volts?

IS it programed as a unit with smoke?

EOB boards I saw had modular connections for RS.  I think you just need to pick up the chuff off the tach too.  G

John, That is the divider.  I think if you go back to a TAS manual you can read it.  You determine ratio and input a value to get the chuff correct based on the engine.  I guess K-line may have this feature too.

Would be nice to get a published document on all of these various features since much is Lionel TMCC based.   G

I understand that I could pick up the chuff from an EOB board, I was thinking of a universal solution for any locomotive, just add an encoder.

I'm still not clear on what Jon Z. was proposing, but it seemed he was thinking more universally.

Hi John,

You were orrect to point out the serial data needs for the configuration.  I think I was incomplete in my answer, trying to point out that you don't need serial data for the chuff.  However, there is a serial chuff command that could also be used - but not required. 

I am sure you understand the implementation needs, but the "Super Duper Chuffer" would be great if you made it a reality!

Wait!  A name for the new product! The Super-Duper-Chuffer!  I like it!

Jon, what's the serial chuff command?  Is this the one that is sent to the RS boards from the R2LC chuff input?  I usually tie into the R2LC (or chuff input on the cruise boards).  Obviously, they generate the chuff in the serial data, which sounds like what you're talking about.

Even with the new one, I'd probably keep my isolated output chuff capability, that allows me to tie directly to the RS chuff input, or to the R2(4)LC chuff input, whichever proves to be more convenient.

Who is on first Chuff or Huff?

The serial CHUFF command is a 0x1E to the RS board.