Sound system for under a fiver

[ge_rik]

Decided to add sound to my IP Engineering Simplex. It had to be small and being a skinflint, it had to be cheap.

One greetings card sound module from China (£1.29 inc postage)


One small mylar speaker from Maplin - N93FU (£2.29) - I could have used the one which came with the module but it was too large.


The sound of a Simplex diesel was recorded from a video made on a visit to Apedale Valley Railway near Stoke on Trent.

The board was modified by removing the batteries and wiring into the 3.7v supply for the motor and soldering a lead from the on/off switch to the mike terminal (the red wire on the board) - no idea why this makes the sound loop continuously but it works!


The module sits neatly inside the bonnet of the Simplex. The speaker was mounted in a plasticard box and glued under the roof of the cab. The on/off button was also sited there so the sound can be turned off


The sound is not high fidelity but it does add a little something when the loco is chugging around the track - just wish I could enhance the bass tones. There is a half second hiccup at the end of the recording before it loops round again - but for a fiver, I'm not complaining.

http://youtu.be/RN5PLllZOGY

Rik

[Joe]

sounds really good, have you got any internet links for the sound module?
cheers
Joe

[ge_rik]

sounds really good, have you got any internet links for the sound module?
cheers
Joe

Hi Joe
Hopefully this link will work

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Recordable-Vo ... 1c550c738a

Rik

[ge_rik]

BTW - just so I don't mislead anyone. The pause at the end of the sound cycle is more apparent than is shown in the original video. I edited the clips so the pause occurred before and after the clip. Here's a complete clip with pauses so you can see if you can live with it.

https://youtu.be/zk-Qh6I6jhM

There might be a more elegant way of modifying the module to eliminate the pause. I used the complete length of the recording, you can make the length of the recording whatever you want by releasing the record button during the record process. You could make the pause part of the engine sound cycle somehow, maybe.

Rik

[philipy]

Oooo..... think I might pinch that idea. Thanks Rik.
I did consider something along those lines myself, but wasnt sure if it would be any good so never did anything about it.

[Joe]

thanks Rik

[KNO3]

Hi, has anyone considered producing the sound mechanically or already done it?
I am thinking along the lines of a membrane struck by something actuated by the axle. That something could be a toothed gear, or an eccentric.

[daveyrd11]

Oh, of you can trigger the sound from the rc, you could make a nice simple horn! I'm not sure that my neighbours would like the continuous engine sound, sure they wouldn't mind an occasional horn though!

[ge_rik]

Oh, of you can trigger the sound from the rc, you could make a nice simple horn! I'm not sure that my neighbours would like the continuous engine sound, sure they wouldn't mind an occasional horn though!

No problem with triggering it from a Deltang rx. It looks like the 'Play' button is triggered by connecting the terminal to 0v. Easy with Deltang - might require a remote switch unit with other control systems (Peter Spoerer does one).

I've sent off for a few more boards so I can experiment - and adding one with a horn recording was my next idea.

Rik

[philipy]

Just ordered one.
Isnt ebay wonderful (sometimes!) ? Sitting in a hotel in Panama City ordering stuff from China for delivery to the UK? Still amazes me every time!

Re the horn, at this price, if space allows, a second unit programmed as a horn should be esy to trigger from a spare channel on the Deltang units, I'd have thought.

[ge_rik]

Just ordered one.
Isnt ebay wonderful (sometimes!) ? Sitting in a hotel in Panama City ordering stuff from China for delivery to the UK? Still amazes me every time!

Hi Philip
The world is certainly getting smaller. Bet it's hot in Panama City - you'll be missing our mini-heatwave forecast for this coming week.

Re the horn, at this price, if space allows, a second unit programmed as a horn should be esy to trigger from a spare channel on the Deltang units, I'd have thought.

My thinking precisely - and with the Rx65b, it's now even easier as it has three buffered outputs.

Rik

[tuppenced]

The sound is not high fidelity but it does add a little something when the loco is chugging around the track - just wish I could enhance the bass tones.

Rik,

The idea is to stop the air movements from the front of the mylar cancelling out the air movements from the back of it.

Make the box as large, airtight and rigid as you possibly can.

Having said that, I've heard useful improvements from merely a piece of toilet role core.

(appreciate you are strapped for space though)

Alternatively, just tell your brain that it's a small model a long scale-distance away.

David 1/2d

[philipy]

Bet it's hot in Panama City - you'll be missing our mini-heatwave forecast for this coming week.

Yep its a bit warmish but the humidity is mind blowing! Went for a walk this morning, less than an hour and I could ring my shirt out when we got back to hotel!
Still, off to a coast resort in a couple of hours, so shall have the whole of the Pacific to cool off in for the next week!

[ge_rik]

The sound is not high fidelity but it does add a little something when the loco is chugging around the track - just wish I could enhance the bass tones.

Rik,

The idea is to stop the air movements from the front of the mylar cancelling out the air movements from the back of it.

Make the box as large, airtight and rigid as you possibly can.

Having said that, I've heard useful improvements from merely a piece of toilet role core.

(appreciate you are strapped for space though)

Alternatively, just tell your brain that it's a small model a long scale-distance away.

David 1/2d

Thanks David
Really useful info - but as you say I'm a bit pushed for space. Might try it with some of my larger models though.

Rik

[daveyrd11]

I've just ordered 2!
At that price it has to be worth a play! I'll post if I achieve anything of interest.

Cheers Rik

[ge_rik]

I've just ordered 2!
At that price it has to be worth a play! I'll post if I achieve anything of interest.

Cheers Rik

This one does 10 sec before looping, I notice there are some (slightly more expensive) which record up to 200 sec. I've sent off for one to give it a try just in case I can find a similar way of making it loop the sound. I think a hiccup every 200 sec would be more acceptable than every 10 sec. Might even be able to disguise it as a backfire or something else.

Rik

[Alan P]

Brilliant idea Rik, i've just ordered a couple myself

[robc_wa]

Rik

This sounds great.

I had a fiddle with one of these a while ago intending to make it a horn with rc control , but was troubled by the every low volume. Perhaps I should try your source. Is it audible at say 10metres?

Rob

[ge_rik]

Rik

This  sounds great.

I had a fiddle with one of these a while ago intending to make it a horn with rc control , but was troubled by the every low volume. Perhaps I should try your source.  Is it audible at say 10metres?

Rob

Hi Rob
I wasn't sure so I did a small test.
https://youtu.be/3WPnrimNnn4

At 10m it's a bit of a strain except maybe on a very still day. In breezy weather in our garden it can be noisy as we're surrounded by trees. Maybe a horn sound will carry further though - the engine noise is a bit subdued.

Sorry about the unsteadiness of the cameraman - not easy walking backwards while watching the screen on the camera, trying to avoid reversing into the raised beds.....

Rik

[robc_wa]

Rik

Thanks for doing that - you are a star!

It is certainly audible at 5m, and as you say a horn may be more noticeable, the loco blends very nicely into the background, lovely rural effect

I shall order one of the ones you have and experiment!

Thanks for doing that

Rob