Which Sound Decoder for Walthers GP9M

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Smudge617

Well-Known Member
I'm venturing into the realm of fitting sound decoders to my locos myself rather than buying factory-fitted, but I'm unsure which decoder would be best suited for this locomotive.

This has no light board so am I better off fitting a sound decoder board, or a 8 pin wired decoder like the Econami ? And am I correct I thinking I can fit the speaker to the underside of the weight ?

Your thoughts gentlemen, as always, appreciated.

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I think you'll find the weight goes up to the shell, with almost no room above it for circuit boards or decoders. You may have to put the decoder and speaker under the weight. And you'll need a board-type decoder, not an 8,9 or 21 pin mounted one.
 
I think you'll find the weight goes up to the shell, with almost no room above it for circuit boards or decoders. You may have to put the decoder and speaker under the weight. And you'll need a board-type decoder, not an 8,9 or 21 pin mounted one.
I had noticed there was not a lot of room up top, I was thinking of using a wired decoder, why do you suggest a board would be more appropriate. ?
 


I had noticed there was not a lot of room up top, I was thinking of using a wired decoder, why do you suggest a board would be more appropriate. ?
A wired board will be flatter, and take up less room. You can also manage the wires to and from it, to the motor and speaker, and to the lights, with much less vertical space taken up by the decoder. Technically, you could put a wired decoder toward the rear of the frame, but it would more likely interfere with the rear truck, and you'd have more wires to get tangled. Just apply a strip of electrical tape along the bottom of the weight to prevent the decoder shorting on the metal.
 
That was what I was suggesting, though it may not have come out that way.
I understood that would be the only way it would fit, I've got some small light boards I can use for a dummy trial to see how easy/difficult it would be and how much clearance that would leave for the speaker so I don't try using a speaker that's too tall,( I have some round speakers that I was given) also I don't want wires hanging that could get caught up in the mechanism.
 
I understood that would be the only way it would fit, I've got some small light boards I can use for a dummy trial to see how easy/difficult it would be and how much clearance that would leave for the speaker so I don't try using a speaker that's too tall,( I have some round speakers that I was given) also I don't want wires hanging that could get caught up in the mechanism.
An iPhone speaker may work. Put the board as far forward as it will go, and put the iPhone speaker at the rear. I've also trimmed them down, as far as length, without compromising audio quality.
 






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