@Norton posted:Apparently Railsounds boards themselves don’t require a lot of current from serial data. Add in AC regulators and smart smoke units and its gets dicey.
If pin 2 was of any use, add on buffers wouldn’t be needed.
I’ve definitely used the generic version as GRJ stated, with serial out on pin 2. In my case I used it for two Atlas diesels that had the VCO on the motherboard to drive the diesel engine ramping sounds. So, I know it can work properly.
That said, I’ve seen them act as @MED described where the output is reduced to 1 volt. I don’t know why this happens though. In the case that it happened for me, the board also failed to match speed with an identical board and locomotive.
I sent it back to Scott and he reprogrammed it, then all was well after that.
P.S. I should note, I think this was the case. I know that I observed both behaviors, but I can’t remember for sure if both events were the same CC-M. I’ve taken notice of the thread about keeping a journal, and I’m going to heed this advice. I keep notes at work, but I’ve never done so for a hobby before, and my memory is getting full, so to speak.
