Trackside sound

ivor the engine · Post by **ivor the engine** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:11 am

I'm sure that this question will have been asked several times before. Is it possible to have a sound system that will sound a whistle as a live steam loco travels over a magnet in between the rails as if approaching a level crossing etc.. the loco will be fitted with a deltang RC. If it is possible what equipment will I need please.

Gralyn · Post by **Gralyn** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:55 am

I don't think it would be all that difficult. You could even have the sound unit in a van behind the loco.

ivor the engine · Post by **ivor the engine** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:23 am

Thanks
I had thought of that solution - but will always need a van behind The loco is roundhouse Lady Anne and was thinking that the rear coal bunker could be used

Post by **philipy** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:19 pm

ge-rik is the man you need.

If you haven't already, take a look at his recent posts on programming deltang rx
http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/abou ... highlight=

plus his other blogs about fitting sound cards and whistle modules

Post by **ge_rik** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 6:52 pm

ivor the engine:114012 wrote:I'm sure that this question will have been asked several times before. Is it possible to have a sound system that will sound a whistle as a live steam loco travels over a magnet in between the rails as if approaching a level crossing etc.. the loco will be fitted with a deltang RC. If it is possible what equipment will I need please.

Hi Ivor (?)
Can you clarify, do you want the whistle onboard or trackside? I'm assuming trackside, given the title. Peter Spoerer sells a little steam whistle unit which can be triggered by a magnet for £16.

http://www.peterspoerermodelengineers.c ... fo.php?p=4

If onboard, you've got a range of options which could be triggered by your Deltang rx

Rik

ivor the engine · Post by **ivor the engine** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:50 pm

Hi Rik

Could it be possible to operate the whistle from the RX and also from the track side my a magnet or would 2 devices be needed. The whistle would be on board
Howard

Post by **ge_rik** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:58 am

ivor the engine:114026 wrote:Hi Rik

Could it be possible to operate the whistle from the RX and also from the track side my a magnet or would 2 devices be needed. The whistle would be on board
Howard

Hi Howard
It would be dead easy to do both. I've not played with the unit but I imagine that there will be a terminal block on it to which you attach two wires. One will be the trigger lead and the other will, no doubt, be a 0v/ground/negative lead. Join them together and the whistle will sound.

If you run both leads to a reed switch under the loco, when the loco runs over a magnet it will make the circuit and the whistle will sound.

If you run another trigger lead to an Rx65b and solder it to pad C, that will provide 0v (provided you use the same battery to power the receiver and the soundcard). Pressing the bind button on the tx will also make the whistle sound.

However, if, as I suspect, you will be wanting to use an Rx102 to control your loco through servos, then it would be possible to connect the whistle board through a switcher unit (from Peter S) or make a simple transistor inverter circuit (one transistor and a couple of resistors - details on my recent blog post). Alternatively, the pins on the latest version of the Rx102 can be reprogrammed to provide 0v outputs if you're prepared to try that (or ask someone nicely to do it for you).

Hope that doesn't sound too complicated.

Rik

ivor the engine · Post by **ivor the engine** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:42 am

Hi Rik

Thanks for your reply
What is the main difference between the RX 65 and RX 102. I suggested the RX65 because that, I thought was the best RX for live steam loco

How close does the REED switch need to be to the magnet for it to work

My wish list looks like this TX22, RX102, Sound card(Steam Whistle), Reed switch and a magnet. Is this about right?

I hope you don't mind me asking these question but I want to get it right for me.
Regards
Howard

Post by **ge_rik** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:18 pm

ivor the engine:114035 wrote:Hi Rik

Thanks for your reply
What is the main difference between the RX 65 and RX 102. I suggested the RX65 because that, I thought was the best RX for live steam loco

How close does the REED switch need to be to the magnet for it to work

My wish list looks like this TX22, RX102, Sound card(Steam Whistle), Reed switch and a magnet. Is this about right?

I hope you don't mind me asking these question but I want to get it right for me.
Regards
Howard

Hi Howard
I'm not a live steam user, I'm afraid. I'm sure there are others on here who could advise. My assumption is that you would want the rx to drive a servo for the regulator and maybe another servo for a reverser. The Rx102 would be the easiest (and cheapest) to use for servos which can be plugged into the pins on the rx. The Rx65 includes an ESC for controlling an electric motor so you'd be paying extra for something you don't really need and doesn't have pins for connecting servos.

I assume you're wanting a Tx22 so you can use it to control other locos (live steam and/or motor powered). The Rx102 which is designed to be used with the Tx22 (Rx102-1) doesn't include any on/off outputs so you would have to use one of Peter Spoerer's switching units or reprogram the receiver to change one of the servo outputs to on/off in response to Ch5 (the bind button).

Rik

Post by **ge_rik** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:21 pm

ge_rik:114039 wrote:
ivor the engine:114035 wrote:Hi Rik

Thanks for your reply
What is the main difference between the RX 65 and RX 102. I suggested the RX65 because that, I thought was the best RX for live steam loco

How close does the REED switch need to be to the magnet for it to work

My wish list looks like this TX22, RX102, Sound card(Steam Whistle), Reed switch and a magnet. Is this about right?

I hope you don't mind me asking these question but I want to get it right for me.
Regards
Howard
Hi Howard
I'm not a live steam user, I'm afraid. I'm sure there are others on here who could advise. My assumption is that you would want the rx to drive a servo for the regulator and maybe another servo for a reverser. The Rx102 would be the easiest (and cheapest) to use for servos which can be plugged into the pins on the rx. The Rx65 includes an ESC for controlling an electric motor so you'd be paying extra for something you don't really need and doesn't have pins for connecting servos.

I assume you're wanting a Tx22 so you can use it to control other locos (live steam and/or motor powered). The Rx102 which is designed to be used with the Tx22 (Rx102-1) doesn't include any on/off outputs so you would have to use one of Peter Spoerer's switching units or reprogram the receiver to change one of the servo outputs to on/off in response to Ch5 (the bind button).

Rik

PS - Sorry just seen your other question. the sensitivity of the reed switch depends on the power of the magnet you are using. A weak magnet need to be almost touching the reed switch but a stronger magnet (eg a rare earth magnet) will operate the switch from about 10mm away.

ivor the engine · Post by **ivor the engine** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:45 pm

Hi Rik

Ordered Rc setup from Peter Spoerer I'm leaving the sound card out at the moment. It can be added later

Thanks for all your help

Regards

Howard

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