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In order to install sound in my older Athearn diesels, do I need 2 decoders? One for sound and one for the motor? Or are there decoders that control both?
What's the best route to take to upgrade older diesels to DCC sound?
There are decoders that do both available from several manufacturers. Digitrax has their soundbug decoders, MRC has a few, Soundtraxx has the Tsunami Line, QSI, and LokSound. You will have to wire them into some older locos. The biggest problem is making room for the speaker. You often have to mill the frame to make some room.
there are various sizes and shapes of speakers to choose from. Take your locomotive apart so you have an idea of what kind of space you have avialable for the decoder and speaker. Go to your LHS, train show or on line to see the available speakers and from there you can start getting creative on how to install one.
It's been a few years since I have been able to mess with installing these things. I seem to recall that the rectangular speakers are better for diesel sound while the round speakers are better for steam. Anyway, you have all kinds of space in the tender of a steamer, while things can get cramped in a diesel shell. Consider putting the speaker in the fuel tank of the diesle, facing down. Be sure to drill holes in the bottom of the fuel tank to let the sound out. You will also want to make some kind of a box for the back side of the speaker to provide the depth of sound, other wise it will sound kinda tinny or raspy.
Do you have any examples of locomotives that you would like to upgrade?
I have about 4 Athearn SD40-2s, a GP35 and GP50. I have a few other Atlas and Bachman that I will not be upgrading to sound.
Depending on which Athearn SD40-2's that you have... you may have a 9-pin JST plug already in place.
Do you have the Athearn Item number from their boxes?
These diesels are 20 years old. I've installed non-sound decoders in two of them and they work great. Now that I just bought a Broadway SD40-2 with sound, I'd like to convert at least a few more.
If you have already added the non-sound decoders then you are on your way. I would take a look at an MRC sound decoder. It will wire in the same way but you will have to make room for the speaker.
MRC also makes no-power sounder add-ons. They allow you to add the syncro diesel sound to a DC loco with out adding DCC.
The biggest problem will no doubt be making room for the speaker. Anyone have a pic of one installed in an older Athearn?
I've read a lot of negative reviews about MRC sound decoders - mostly that they don't seem to have a very long lifespan. I'd get some '2nd opinions' before using any of those...
I bought a couple of the basic MRC, black shrink wrap decoders several years ago. The first problem I noted was that they would revert back to factory settings on occasion and then finally quit working all together. But hey, they were a few bucks cheaper than the Digitrax. Ya get what ya pay for.
I've got a couple of the MRC 1643 $40 sound decoders installed in a couple of Athearn locos and haven't had any problems with them at all. 1 is in a sd70m (speaker is in the cab facing downwards), the other is in a sd50, with the speaker in the cab also facing downwards. You might do better getting a replacement speaker for them though as they come with 28mm round ones that are hard to place in a shell. Try a rectangular speaker instead and you can mount it in the tail end of the shell under the radiators. But always face them downwards in the older shells, as there is no openings in the top (such as radiator fans, see thru grills or so forth).
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