Proto vs Athearn

The SD70 runs fine and I did put in a Digitrax DH163D decoder. I have the UP SD70 and it runs Ok as I like the higher top speed for my long runs, but it has that worm-drive sound at a low crawl that I have gotten used to. Tried the Labelle 106 grease, but still there. I was pulling 25 cars(mainly 50' box cars) with it a few minutes ago and it has a slight wheel spin, while my Atlas was on the outside line and was pulling the same amount but with 89' auto carriers,trailer loaded flat cars,Well cars and 17.6K tank cars but with no problems. I bought mine locally for 90 bucks at the lhs minus decoder. The 163D has the ditchlight seperate from the directional light and was pre-assigned to function 1. It was east to install as it had the white flat quick plug DCC connector. I did not have to replace the whole board like my other Genesis(F3's).
 
Yes, the ditch light s are from factory and are seperate wiring/bulbs from the directional lights. In fact, with the decoder, you can run only ditchlights with no directional lights and vice versa or together.

They are great locos for the price IMO, but it will be hard to put sound in it unless you don't mind looking at the speaker inside the cab. Have not tried taking out the tank and seeing how it might fit yet though. That is my only problem with the Genesis line is that there are seperate frames for the sound and stealth locos. The Atlas Silver and Gold series uses the same frame and makes DCC/sound conversions easy. I am referring to the newer runs, especially the Dash's.
 
sorry guys, you WONT get a speaker in the Athearn SD70M's fuel tank without MAJOR surgery;). i put my speaker in the cab, i don't really even notice its there:). :D -Deano
 
I read somewhere that the cab was the only reasonable place to put the speaker. I dropped the DCC/Sound decoder in my Kato Ac4400 with no problems right into the tank...might try and see if the same thing with some modifications can go in my SD90MAC.
 
yeah if i get the sd and a sound decoder it the speaker will go in the cab i dont care if it has the little people inside i have a p2k with them in it and i cant see them that good zach
 
Kato has the DCC sound decoder system down now, they really make it easy for us:thumb:. i wish other company's would follow suit. in 98% of the "newer" style diesels, the only place to put the speaker without doing MAJOR surgery is in the cab. in most cases putting the speaker in the cab means you now have to pull ALL the cab interior out:(. honestly, i cant see the interior while the engines running unless i get right up on it, so its not a big deal to me, but i can see how it might bug others.

on the comment of the SD90/43MAC Kato's, i have one of the older ones, so i had to pull the interior out, and put the speaker(i used Loksound)in there, but they have done a few runs on them since, so HOPEFULLY they have made them so the speaker can now go in the tank;).
:D -Deano
 
Squidbait said:
Yes, but do you want things to come to a screeching halt, or a smooth stop?
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In the perfect world I want it to come to a smooth stop but since I don't live in a perfect work I'll take screeching halt. The Genisis I have takes a while to come to a halt and by that time, it's too late. I guess I need to think more than three switches ahead.
 
I was going to use the ESU Loksound 82410 DCC/Sound decoder. I was going to try a mini .50" speaker or a micro-oval speaker from Tony'y to go in the SD90. I may mill down the inner frame if I had to and add the weight if it greatly affected the pulling power. What CV to adjust the stopping/decelleration rate?
 
UP SD40-2 said:
Kato has the DCC sound decoder system down now, they really make it easy for us:thumb:. i wish other company's would follow suit. in 98% of the "newer" style diesels, the only place to put the speaker without doing MAJOR surgery is in the cab. in most cases putting the speaker in the cab means you now have to pull ALL the cab interior out:(. honestly, i cant see the interior while the engines running unless i get right up on it, so its not a big deal to me, but i can see how it might bug others.

on the comment of the SD90/43MAC Kato's, i have one of the older ones, so i had to pull the interior out, and put the speaker(i used Loksound)in there, but they have done a few runs on them since, so HOPEFULLY they have made them so the speaker can now go in the tank;).
:D -Deano
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the Atlas silver series have space and provisions for the sound decoders, but i don't know how you would go about putting sound in them. don't the speakers need the right pressure on the back?
 
The Atlas don't have a speaker box per say, but the way that they are mounted in the frame in a type of mount/enclosure. Tony'e sells the small speaker boxes for whatever size you need, but I have seen some without the boxes...and they sounded "ok".
 
I "heard" that it should be out later on this year...but as I have learned in model railroading, that can mean 6 months +. Locally, some items are still on backorder going on 2yrs.
 
green_elite_cab said:
I wish QSI would just sell their sound decoders seperate so that we could updtae our locomotives to "gold " series
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This would also be handy for BLI and Proto 2000 engines.I'm actually amazed they haven't tapped into the DIY crowd yet.

Chris
 
green_elite_cab said:
the Atlas silver series have space and provisions for the sound decoders, but i don't know how you would go about putting sound in them. don't the speakers need the right pressure on the back?
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So do the Atherns. When I bought decoders for the two I got recently, they were nine pin. The gal at the hobby shop said that it allowed for sound.
 
It seems that it takes quite some time for things to change. I like Atlas because I can swap shells if the frame is the same color and a loco with no sound can have sound...as relating to the Silver/Gold Das series which is my source of experience. I have other Atlas silver , but they have the dual decoders(DC/DCC).
 
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