Daylight and Big Boy upgrade decision

Well, you'll be getting two bells and whistles all the time.  How are you planning on killing off the other whistle?  Maybe having the two whistles will blend.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, you'll be getting two bells and whistles all the time.  How are you planning on killing off the other whistle?  Maybe having the two whistles will blend.

Well in lash mode the lead should be the one firing the whistle. I should be able to dial the ENG ID and trigger the horn in the other without them both going off, yes? No? 

I think you lost him at the start? Try talking slower! 

I    T H I N K    I   G E T   N O W !

Does anyone still, willingly, do these ERR upgrades? I would try myself, but am not a pro. I would like them done right.

I do them, but you have me confused?  What do you mean your putting a Daylight SF in an ERR upgrade to the water tender?

You have an MTH PS-1 engine and you want to upgrade it too TMCC?  Ok that is a Cruise Cdr right?   You will loose synchronized smoke without John super chuffer.  Now your going to add what to the water tender?  This will be an expensive upgrade in parts alone.  Cruise, 2 sound sets.  Better off selling and buying a Legacy engine.  Probably be cheaper in long run.  G

I do ERR upgrades, I've done a ton of them, many for forum folks here.

I think he's just putting a TMCC receiver in the water tender to be able to use the horn from the second RS board in lieu of the other one.

Yes, it will be more expensive to go that way.

What you want to do is going to cost close to $400 in parts alone to upgrade that GS4. Honestly a PS3 conversion would cost half that and have everything you would need. If you have both DCS and Legacy it's the way to go.

I have that same locomotive upgraded to PS2 3V. Works great and has a great whistle. 

Lou1985 posted:

What you want to do is going to cost close to $400 in parts alone to upgrade that GS4. Honestly a PS3 conversion would cost half that and have everything you would need. If you have both DCS and Legacy it's the way to go.

I have that same locomotive upgraded to PS2 3V. Works great and has a great whistle. 

You need to go back and read the original post.

DdotCdot posted:

Been pondering the idea of upgrading my old 20-3029-1 Mike’s GS-4, and I finally realized what I want to do about it. I’ve heard the MTH sound files for GS/4, both the PS2 3v with/without air horn and PS3s... I like most of the whistles, but the chuff does nothing for me on any of them - and since the chuff is a constant when running - it shouldn’t lack.

After playing the limited ERR steam files out there - I grew to love Large Steam (which seems to be identical to the latest Lionel Legacy #611 J, minus Legacy), but the problem is it doesn’t have the air horn. The whistle is great and believable enough for a GS-4, it isn’t tiring. The chug is the real winner. It’s heart-pounding and robust and it sounds great. This is how I want my daylight to sound and I like that it will have TMCC. Missing the air horn though sucks, and since the whistle on the Daylight file sounds much more like a UP FEF - I can’t see myself believing that one in the GS-4. It’s too bad they didn’t swap the whistles on those files because the Dayljght would have been perfect if so.

My idea is to add sound and tmcc coupler to my water tender and leave it in Signal Sounds mode. I would put the Daylight file in it and only blow the air horn while lashed to the GS-4 which will have the Large Steam file in its tender.

Doing the PS3 upgrade at this point is undesirable to me and I don’t want the mikes sound, plus my other Daylights are all Lionel so I don’t want to be stuck when  tethered MTH water tender that only connects to a Mikes engine. I can put a tmcc equipped tender behind anything though.

While I agree the PS/3 upgrade will be cheaper, it doesn't seem to accomplish what is desired.

Lou1985 posted:

What you want to do is going to cost close to $400 in parts alone to upgrade that GS4. Honestly a PS3 conversion would cost half that and have everything you would need. If you have both DCS and Legacy it's the way to go.

I have that same locomotive upgraded to PS2 3V. Works great and has a great whistle. 

I may settle for this if I can confirm that my PS3 Steam Upgrade Kit Harness is safe to use with a PS2 3v board set, but I am so late to the game and so new to this upgrade stuff that it’s hard to be certain I won’t blow up what I have. I’m kind of flying blind.

On the other hand, I like those ERR/Legacy sounds a lot.

I know for sure I may want to do my Big Boy w/ ERR. MTH doesn’t have a big boy sound set that works for me personally like the ERR does.

The Daylight, if I can confirm the above, I may settle for and do myself w/DCS. But I will miss the chuff that the Large Steam ERR produces. MTH sound doesn’t match that.

If I knew anything about ERR and the Superchuffer I’d try it myself, but without any upgrade instructions I am not confident I will do it right.

You are right about the costs - it sure does add up quick 🤪.

*On second thought the Daylight water tender idea is nutso from a cost stand point. I think I had just fallen in love with the Railsounds I heard online and was desperate for a way to get both the right whistle and the right air horn together in the same train without considering the cost. That’s out. - Unless someone knows what exact parts would be needed and I can do a parts cost breakdown on it. - Again, all it would be is the ERR Daylight sound and Speaker (I may already have 8 ohm speakers). It already has a PS1 Coil Coupler. And I’m guessing it would need TMCC radio? And I’m going to probably need to add rollers but I can do that part. The idea of having it able to serve all of my TMCC/Legacy Daylights is pretty cool.

The PS32 board is a drop-in replacement for the 3V PS/2 board, very little needs to be done.  Obviously, you don't need the battery, but other than that, just make sure the wire harness will reach the connectors on the PS32 board.

As far as upgrade instructions, the ERR stuff, the Super-Chuffer, and the Chuff-Generator all come with instructions.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of your swift responses and help. Same to everyone.

Do you happen to have a part (order) number for that PS32 board set if I decide to go that route? I’d like to look up the cost, thanks.

Unless something has changed, the PS32 is only available to ASC techs.  However, you can obtain one from me or any MTH tech if you want to go that route.  MSRP on the PS32 board is $230, and you'll need the heatsink kit as well for $8.  I can obviously give you a better price on that if you want one.

Your engine is a PS-1 engine.  So just get the PS-3 steam upgrade kit.  Upgrade the engine.  Then get your large steam sound set and put it in your Water Tender.  You can run 4 wire tether to control the Water Tender Light and PS-2  type coupler.  Turn volume down for engine sounds on your engine and let the chuff run on the water tender.

Of course EER uses a magnetic chuff.  So you do not have chuff rate control.  But again you can get a chuff generator from John, but in the end you would be close to $500 in parts alone to get what you want.  Sell it and buy a Legacy engine if you do not like the MTH sounds.  Unfortunately, I would say the quality of that MTH Premier engine is better, but you prioritize what is important to you.  G

DdotCdot posted:

Been pondering the idea of upgrading my old 20-3029-1 Mike’s GS-4, and I finally realized what I want to do about it. I’ve heard the MTH sound files for GS/4, both the PS2 3v with/without air horn and PS3s... I like most of the whistles, but the chuff does nothing for me on any of them - and since the chuff is a constant when running - it shouldn’t lack.

 

I suspect the reason you are not impressed with the chuff on the PS3 version might have more to do with the speaker and its lack of enclosure than the sound file. PS3 uses 4 ohm speakers. There are many high quality 2" drivers out there when coupled with a decent enclosure will come close to the best Legacy chuff sounds. If there is't enough room in the lead tender there will be plenty of room in the water tender.

For DIY'selfers this is a $200 upgrade with PS3 and driver.

Pete

GGG posted:

Of course EER uses a magnetic chuff.  So you do not have chuff rate control.  But again you can get a chuff generator from John, but in the end you would be close to $500 in parts alone to get what you want.  Sell it and buy a Legacy engine if you do not like the MTH sounds.  Unfortunately, I would say the quality of that MTH Premier engine is better, but you prioritize what is important to you.  G

Well, not $500 in parts.   The Chuff-Generator and Super-Chuffer adds $110 to the prices of the ERR stuff. 

I agree with Pete on the sounds, perhaps a better speaker and enclosure might improve the bass in the chuff and make it good enough.

 

 

GGG posted:

Your engine is a PS-1 engine.  So just get the PS-3 steam upgrade kit.  Upgrade the engine.  Then get your large steam sound set and put it in your Water Tender.  You can run 4 wire tether to control the Water Tender Light and PS-2  type coupler.  Turn volume down for engine sounds on your engine and let the chuff run on the water tender.

Of course EER uses a magnetic chuff.  So you do not have chuff rate control.  But again you can get a chuff generator from John, but in the end you would be close to $500 in parts alone to get what you want.  Sell it and buy a Legacy engine if you do not like the MTH sounds.  Unfortunately, I would say the quality of that MTH Premier engine is better, but you prioritize what is important to you.  G

Now THAT is a pretty darn good idea. The magnetic chuff might work well enough, but I don’t understand how the chuff generator works and would consider it if it’s an easy thing to program sync on. How does it work?

Shoot - now I am wishing I had just a generic black unlettered water tender to do this to so I could run it’s sound behind any lacking Steamer. That would be cool and efficient!

*FYI - I agree wholeheartedly that the quality of this MTH Daylight is unmatched. I have taken the whole thing apart and put it back together a few times. It is beautifully engineered and a mechanical Marvel. One of the best out of Korea. I also own the older Legacy 4436 version - simply because it’s the only O Gauge Daylight with the most correct whistle and I got it for an absurd deal (otherwise I wouldn’t care for 4436). But the Chinese build is nothing like the MTH. It’s not bad, and it’s very good looking....but it ain’t the same as the MTH. Love the sounds though!

The Chuff-Generator is designed to be attached to the drive motor, it simply counts stripes and generates chuffs based on the count.  It's programmable to set it for any locomotive wheels size and gear ratio.  The tach strip is added to the flywheel to trigger the C-G sensor.