A Few TMCC Questions??

I noticed that the sound boards changed from Railsounds 4.0 to 5.0. So I was not able to swap chips w/o changing the entire lot out of the tender.
I was able to swap tenders though, and the R2 board was able to communicate with either system. With Legacy though, the R4 cannot communicate with the older tmcc sound units.

2.5, 3.0, and 4.0 can be swapped around BUT you need to change BOTH chips.  The sound chip and the processor.  Not sure about 5.0 boards.

Hard to get 5.0 chips by themselves, so it's somewhat moot, no?

TMCC tenders to TMCC locomotive and Legacy to Legacy.

I believe Lionel will now sell outright many of the RS4 boards they still have in stock. They will also reprogram RS5 boards but you have to send in a RS5 board for them to program.

 

Pete

They're selling RS4, just not RS5 yet.  I bought a few of the RS4 and RS4E boards.

John, Pete;

So you can upgrade an RS3 soundset to RS4 simply by plugging in a new board I gather? Looks like the pinouts on the two boards are the same?

Do you have any favorite steam RS4 boards, and what PN do you give Lionel parts when you order? The PN from the parts list from the selected engine?

If its a particular engine, when you hit the Tower Comm button, the announcement will refer to the engine specific road name and cab number; ie "WP 402, take the green"

Or is there a generic RS4 steam board?

 

Thanks guys,

Rod

Rod, There has been a lot of discussion about Towercom.  Some had specific data, then some newer were more generic.  Not sure were it stands, but best to ask someone with that engine.

 

Can the 4.0 ships go back into a 2.5 platform? Or just move up?  I know the Power Supply board for the Plug and Play units is the same.  G

There are generic RS4 boards. Most all of the aftermarket RS4 boards are generic, ie ERR, Digital Dynamics, and TAS. I believe Lionel also offered generic RS4 boards but am not sure their part numbers. You can go to the Lionel web site and search parts for Railsounds or RS4, RS-4 to see what is available.

 

Pete

Rob

 

 RS 2.0-4E sound chips can be swapped. The power board is universal RS 3.0- 6.0 As for swapping the tenders, that's one way to troubleshoot. Odyssey 1 to Odyssey 1, Legacy to Legacy.

 

GGG

 

     I have installed 4.0 sound sets in a 2.5 platform and they worked fine. 

 

 

Bill

Thanks for all the excellent feedback guys.

I am trying to get my head around all the information and figure out what direction to head for.

I want to change the sound board on at least one older RS3 Mountian so as to get a better sounding whistle.

 

Keep on chuggin'

Rod

Rod, here's a search in Lionel parts for RailSounds 4.0 and you can also do a search for RailSounds 4E and you might find something you like that's available for purchase.

John;

Thanks for the link to the RS 4.0 boards. I ordered several today.

I checked out the ERR site and their RS 4.0 offerings.

They look good, but $99.95 a pop? I don't think so!

 

Anyway, all good.

Rod

 

Remember, the ERR site is selling the whole RailSounds Commander, not just the RS4 board.  It also includes the power supply and their replacement for the motherboard.  Boxcar Bill here on the forum has discount prices on ERR stuff as well.

 

You'll need a power supply and motherboard, or the RailSounds commander to actually run those RS4 boards.

John;

Thanks for the clarification.

I just need the RS4 boards for replacement purposes, so it should work out OK.

 

Thanks,

Rod

Are the Railsound 2,3,4,and 5 progressive improvements on the sound quality?

Ed

Well, generally, though I see little difference between RS 2.5 through RS4, other than the crew talk.  RS5 was a major update, and of course the Legacy RS5.5 is even more so.