PIKO 36194 Analog Sound Module for BR 80 Steam Loco Review

[idlemarvel]

I recently picked up a bargain from eBay, £90 including postage for PIKO BR 80, running, good condition, boxed, and it came with an unused / unfitted PIKO 36194 Analog Sound Module and 5v Smoke Generator, also unfitted. I wanted the BR 80 for the grandkids to play with so the added content was a bonus. Although I use DCC and so the analog sound module was not much use to me, I thought I'd give it a try to see what can be achieved. The module contains the sound board, an on-off switch and volume control that fits behind the boiler door, two reed switches that fit under the loco, screws and (brief) instructions. The YouTube video below shows the results. It creates some standing sounds when the voltage is high enough to power the sound board but not move the loco. These are okay sounding and include air pump, coal shovelling, whistle etc. Once sufficient voltage is achieved the chuffs start but they are way out with the wheel revolutions. There is no sensor so it can only work on detected voltage. The chuff rate does increase with voltage but it needs speeding up by a factor of 2 or 3. There is no way to adjust it that I can see. Placing a magnet under one reed switch triggers bell sound, and on the other side a whistle. The volume control works well and the speaker is quite chunky and has a tight fitting baffle so it is quite loud. The board contains a capacitor so sound continues over brief power breaks. So there are some good points but even if I used DC the out-of-synch chuff sound would drive me nuts. Have I got a faulty sound board? I'd like to hear from anyone else who has one of these.

 

[dunnyrail]

I recently picked up a bargain from eBay, £90 including postage for PIKO BR 80, running, good condition, boxed, and it came with an unused / unfitted Analog Sound Module and 5v Smoke Generator, also unfitted. I wanted the BR 80 for the grandkids to play with so the added content was a bonus. Although I use DCC and so the analog sound module was not much use to me, I thought I'd give it a try to see what can be achieved. The module contains the sound board, an on-off switch and volume control that fits behind the boiler door, two reed switches that fit under the loco, screws and (brief) instructions. The YouTube video below shows the results. It creates some standing sounds when the voltage is high enough to power the sound board but not move the loco. These are okay sounding and include air pump, coal shovelling, whistle etc. Once sufficient voltage is achieved the chuffs start but they are way out with the wheel revolutions. There is no sensor so it can only work on detected voltage. The chuff rate does increase with voltage but it needs speeding up by a factor of 2 or 3. There is no way to adjust it that I can see. Placing a magnet under one reed switch triggers bell sound, and on the other side a whistle. The volume control works well and the speaker is quite chunky and has a tight fitting baffle so it is quite loud. The board contains a capacitor so sound continues over brief power breaks. So there are some good points but even if I used DC the out-of-synch chuff sound would drive me nuts. Have I got a faulty sound board? I'd like to hear from anyone else who has one of these.

Dave might help if you posted a pic of the sound board, certainly does not appear to be a My Loco Sound board.

 

[idlemarvel]

Dave might help if you posted a pic of the sound board, certainly does not appear to be a My Loco Sound board.

It's a PIKO analog sound board as per the title. I've edited the text to make it clearer.

 

[Moonraker]

Dave might help if you posted a pic of the sound board, certainly does not appear to be a My Loco Sound board.

It is definitely not a MyLocoSound board. Our soundcards are fully adjustable to match the rotation of the wheels for two, three or four cylinder locos.

Regards
Peter Lucas
MyLocoSound

 

[idlemarvel]

It is definitely not a MyLocoSound board. Our soundcards are fully adjustable to match the rotation of the wheels for two, three or four cylinder locos.

Regards
Peter Lucas
MyLocoSound

Correct, it's a PIKO Analog Sound Module. Not sure how I can make that clearer.

 

[FatherMcD]

I recently picked up a bargain from eBay, £90 including postage for PIKO BR 80, running, good condition, boxed, and it came with an unused / unfitted PIKO 36194 Analog Sound Module and 5v Smoke Generator, also unfitted. I wanted the BR 80 for the grandkids to play with so the added content was a bonus. Although I use DCC and so the analog sound module was not much use to me, I thought I'd give it a try to see what can be achieved. The module contains the sound board, an on-off switch and volume control that fits behind the boiler door, two reed switches that fit under the loco, screws and (brief) instructions. The YouTube video below shows the results. It creates some standing sounds when the voltage is high enough to power the sound board but not move the loco. These are okay sounding and include air pump, coal shovelling, whistle etc. Once sufficient voltage is achieved the chuffs start but they are way out with the wheel revolutions. There is no sensor so it can only work on detected voltage. The chuff rate does increase with voltage but it needs speeding up by a factor of 2 or 3. There is no way to adjust it that I can see. Placing a magnet under one reed switch triggers bell sound, and on the other side a whistle. The volume control works well and the speaker is quite chunky and has a tight fitting baffle so it is quite loud. The board contains a capacitor so sound continues over brief power breaks. So there are some good points but even if I used DC the out-of-synch chuff sound would drive me nuts. Have I got a faulty sound board? I'd like to hear from anyone else who has one of these.

I've attached a copy of the manual, but it's in German so you may need Google Translate. The only thing I could find that might affect the operation is the need to charge the "battery" with 15 minutes of running before some of the features work. You may have to contact PIKO tech support. I don't know the email address for the UK, but the US staff have always answered my questions quickly and with good information. The chuff doesn't seem to vary with speed at all. Seems defective. I too would go nuts with the out of sync sound!

 

[dunnyrail]

I recently picked up a bargain from eBay, £90 including postage for PIKO BR 80, running, good condition, boxed, and it came with an unused / unfitted Analog Sound Module and 5v Smoke Generator, also unfitted. I wanted the BR 80 for the grandkids to play with so the added content was a bonus. Although I use DCC and so the analog sound module was not much use to me, I thought I'd give it a try to see what can be achieved. The module contains the sound board, an on-off switch and volume control that fits behind the boiler door, two reed switches that fit under the loco, screws and (brief) instructions. The YouTube video below shows the results. It creates some standing sounds when the voltage is high enough to power the sound board but not move the loco. These are okay sounding and include air pump, coal shovelling, whistle etc. Once sufficient voltage is achieved the chuffs start but they are way out with the wheel revolutions. There is no sensor so it can only work on detected voltage. The chuff rate does increase with voltage but it needs speeding up by a factor of 2 or 3. There is no way to adjust it that I can see. Placing a magnet under one reed switch triggers bell sound, and on the other side a whistle. The volume control works well and the speaker is quite chunky and has a tight fitting baffle so it is quite loud. The board contains a capacitor so sound continues over brief power breaks. So there are some good points but even if I used DC the out-of-synch chuff sound would drive me nuts. Have I got a faulty sound board? I'd like to hear from anyone else who has one of these.

Dave might help if you posted a pic of the sound board, certainly does not appear to be a My Loco Sound board.

It's a PIKO analog sound board as per the title. I've edited the text to make it clearer.

ooops speed reading again, sorry missed that. Irritating that an English set of instructions cant be found, there must be some somewhere?

 

[idlemarvel]

I've attached a copy of the manual, but it's in German so you may need Google Translate. The only thing I could find that might affect the operation is the need to charge the "battery" with 15 minutes of running before some of the features work. You may have to contact PIKO tech support. I don't know the email address for the UK, but the US staff have always answered my questions quickly and with good information. The chuff doesn't seem to vary with speed at all. Seems defective. I too would go nuts with the out of sync sound!

Thanks for this FatherMcD . The module came with English instructions which as far as I can tell is the same information. The chuff rate does increase with voltage (perhaps not readily apparent from the video) but in steps, perhaps 3 or 4 from low to full voltage. I might try running it for 15 mins but it's hard to see how charging the stay-alive capacitor would affect the basic operation. As I said it would be good to hear from someone who has experience of the same PIKO Analog Sound Module.

Correction: it's a rechargeable battery on the sound board not a capacitor.

 

[idlemarvel]

To continue: I ran the module for 30 minutes but it made no difference to the chuff rate. I have reported it to piko.de. I'll see what they say.