Battery conversion of a Bachmann Consolidation

DGE-Railroad

DGE-Railroad

The Orchard Line
Country flag
The Bachman 2-8-0 Consolidation has had its Johnson Bar animated now too.
The XL5 decoder fits absolutely perfectly on the ash pan- its like it was made to fit there ;)
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Once the smoke unit arrives I will get that fitted and do a maiden run. I've started 3D printing my own connectors for the tool battery that provides all the power. It makes life much easier.
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That will be the last of the Johnson Bars I think. The next buf of fun may be to animate the bell on a Baldwin Mallet up for conversion

Bachmann Consolidation Johnson Bar test
 
Greg Elmassian said:
With all the improvements, may I suggest a better speaker and an enclosure, will make a world of difference in sound quality
Click to expand...

Yes indeed Greg. Thanks for the input.
I had been thinking about just this today.

Both this and the K27 had been DCC-sound converted yet neither had used an enclosure, which surprised me. My MTH by comparison, had one as standard...

Should it just be a wall around the (better quality) speaker, or should it also have a vented top to it?
 
In very small enclosures, normally sealed is better. This is because the sealed enclosure acts as a "shock absorber" and limits maximum excursion of the speaker cone.

this is helpful with small speakers that are "fed" more bass than they can handle. (stops distortion from too much excursion)

Adding a "bass port" requires calculation of the enclosure volume, the Thiele/Small parameters of the speaker, and then a precise port diameter and perhaps extension tube. Translation: you won't have the data to properly build such an enclosure, and from a practical viewpoint, it would most likely be too large.

The important thing is the enclosure is airtight and fairly rigid, so energy is not lost in vibrating the walls of the enclosure.


(used to design speaker cabinets and was quite an audiophile in past life)

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
In very small enclosures, normally sealed is better. This is because the sealed enclosure acts as a "shock absorber" and limits maximum excursion of the speaker cone.

this is helpful with small speakers that are "fed" more bass than they can handle. (stops distortion from too much excursion)

Adding a "bass port" requires calculation of the enclosure volume, the Thiele/Small parameters of the speaker, and then a precise port diameter and perhaps extension tube. Translation: you won't have the data to properly build such an enclosure, and from a practical viewpoint, it would most likely be too large.

The important thing is the enclosure is airtight and fairly rigid, so energy is not lost in vibrating the walls of the enclosure.


(used to design speaker cabinets and was quite an audiophile in past life)

Greg
Click to expand...


Thats awesome. Thanks for the info Greg. I asked the right person the right question, it'd seem!

That explains why the MTH enclosure is such thick, heavy duty cardboard.

I had been wondering about 3d printing something as it would be a simple shape to get an exact size for. It sounds as though if I do go that route though, it would need to be reasonably thick to reduce any flexing to a minimum

On a slightly different note, I have a factory fresh USAT GP9 without a speaker. I eventually plan to add a Railpro to it but I popped it apart to check inside and noticed the factory board has speaker terminals.

Does that and the fact it ships with a sound switch mean it has onboard sound from the factory, or would a sound option at purchase mean the requisite speaker and a separate card would be added?
 
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USAT has provided sound over the years as an option, usually installed in the USA at Charles Ro. They recently have used Phoenix.

Print your own enclosures: (shown with bottom cover off)
DSC00074.JPG


complete example here:

GP7 speakers

Greg Elmassian web site on large scale trains and garden railroads, cigars, and computers
elmassian.com elmassian.com
 
DGE-Railroad said:
On a slightly different note, I have a factory fresh USAT GP9 without a speaker. I eventually plan to add a Railpro to it but I popped it apart to check inside and noticed the factory board has speaker terminals. Does that and the fact it ships with a sound switch mean it has onboard sound from the factory, or does a sound option at purchase mean the requisite speaker and a separate card are usually added?
Click to expand...

Just means the option to switch power to a sound card is provided, and connectors for a speaker. - I think

<I was sure I hit 'Post' yesterday?>
 
Greg Elmassian said:
USAT has provided sound over the years as an option, usually installed in the USA at Charles Ro. They recently have used Phoenix.

Print your own enclosures: (shown with bottom cover off)
DSC00074.JPG


complete example here:

GP7 speakers

Greg Elmassian web site on large scale trains and garden railroads, cigars, and computers
elmassian.com elmassian.com
Click to expand...

Thanks again Greg. A bit of internet detective work means I've got my hands on the files for that very enclosure, which Dave Stubbs has very kindly made available. Printing now and very good they look too
 
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