Technobots sound simulators

[Tony]

I don't often rave about something ....but those Chinese are something else....where do i start.......Ok firstly i ordered 4 of these

not only did they send 5 they came 5 days early... Total cost £20.54 including postage ...i also ordered 10 x 4gb Micro sd cards at £2each as it happens 4hrs of mp3s is less than 500 little gbs so 1 gb is more than enough for 4 hrs of sounds..............are you still with me


While waiting i downloaded various sounds free from the interweb and using my video mixing program first made a 4hr backing track of bird sound....I then added various other sounds on top to make up a number of sound files..... one has bird song and cows and sheep for my cattle loading bay...and the other one on the video is one for my church (though not built a proper one yet) will post the link to the youtube as soon as it uploads

So a little bit about them .....They are tiny and have a fm radio they have an onoff switch that when activated starts the last thing you were playing. so with a miro sd card in it . it plays what ever is on there and when finished it loops back to the start ........ they are very loud and the quality is surprisingly good.....The on off switch looks separate from the circuit board so fitting a read switch operated by a track side magnet should be a piece of cake if you want one to go in a loco.......(i will work on that one)....so in conclusion what do i think about them....................... ive ordered another 30 they are fecking wonderfull will post youtube as soon as

 

[beavercreek]

Like Tony I have just received the MP3 players and they seem to be almost the same as the 'Modelsounds' version. They work in the same way but do not have the equalizer function or the 'repeat' button. Sound is the same.
Have not tested the battery charge and length of charge yet but will do that later.
A bargain at any price!
Now to rig up an amplifier, large speaker, power supply and a PIR trigger together with a short lion roar to scare off the neighbour's darn cat who uses an area of our garden as its nightly littler tray journey. ...only joking but the temptation is there...problem is it could scare all of us!!!

You are ordering 30! Tony.....bloody hell I hope your neighbours are deaf!!!!

 

[Tony]

my boy Sam recons he can sell them for £10 each at school and il have at least 10 for locos and bits around the place
ok first video (you can tell they not edited)
both units at full volume 30 feet apart one in a box car the other in a small chapel (it will be in a large church)
you can tell how loud they are from the bell.The church one has birdsong that fades into a short church service ending with a peal of bells and a load of motor bikes and v8s roaring away from the church then back to birdsong and repeats every hour

I should say apart from the water running from the stream all sound are on the cards the service ive tried to make it sound muffled as if in the church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxcxvtm480

The second is a short one operating the unit from the church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGPTLXfCkQ

and the third is just the cattle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6zJGslcND8

 

[mike]

brillent idea.. order a few me self.. wire them intro the lighting ciurect ..mm or old decodas

 

[Tony]

Mike will need a bit of working out the on off switch looks latched but once done the play and next track are one touch so not insomatable problem . As long as your going to run a loco at a constant speed (just chugging round) no reason you couldn't have a card with two tracks that is switched via a chip or a reed switch and has "chug" and stationary I've got to work all this week so not going to have a lot of time but so many idea's now I've seen one ...... they sound far better than the films show

 

[mike]

hi tony, no not in a loco.. iwas thinking along the lines of useing old mts1 chips, as a switch..funtion decoad ect.. ordered the power converters as well.. now where the heck did you get the church sounds from.. worth haveing a play with, in the pub, in the church., mill ect.. if wired into the 12 volt lighting.. i can turn them on/off

 

[Tony]

Not sure if it's legal but it is for my own use I just used a usb Mic that came with my Wii ... plunged it into the pc and recorded stuff on YouTube etc the cows birdsong and bells came from a free mp3 down load site the singing and vicar from tube it takes awhile to find the right ones I'll send you a pm of aanother site that's good when get home .I'm in wembley stadium at the mo delivering stuff ... name drop name drop

 

[mike]

cheers tony.. no i dont think it is illegal for your own use.. its when u start selling copies,to otherws that its illegal.. i think.. yes paul, remember seeing something very simimlair with old one sugar..

 

[Zerogee]

That would be Modelsounds, Paul - their unit is very obviously of the same parentage as these Chinese ones, but five times the price! They do produce a nice selection of sound cards for them though, for those who don't have Tony's skill in making up their own files.....

Jon.

 

[Tony]

That would be Modelsounds, Paul - their unit is very obviously of the same parentage as these Chinese ones, but five times the price! They do produce a nice selection of sound cards for them though, for those who don't have Tony's skill in making up their own files.....

Jon.

Its not skill Jon its very easy
You just need
1.some way of capturing audio to your PC that's playing through your speakers either with a simple mic or a free audio capture program like "soundtap"
2.some way of mixing audio which can be windows movie maker or any free one like "mixpad"
I downloaded 5 different Birdsong files and muddled them up this is so i can make a 1 hour backing track because if you take my church one as an example i only want the 5 minute church service every hour the rest of the time it plays birdsong that ads to the atmosphere of the garden (it may even attract wildlife)
i then 5 minutes in added some bells tolling, fading to people chatting and then a muffled vicar, fading to singing, vicar, then a peel of bells. fading to more chatting as people leave the church finishing with motorbikes and cars starting up and leaving it then just carry,s on with bird song until it repeats an hour later.
you just chuck sounds anywhere as the timing isn't that important.
the others im doing are "wood shop" which is an hour of birdsong and a 10 minute workshops sounds of sawing and circular saw, hammering, workers shouting etc with a short world war 2 air raid siren at the start and finish of the shift this plays every 15mins
then ive started a station one which instead of bird song its people chatting and footsteps but then once in a while a station announcer says a muffled "next train will be the etc etc calling at........with a bing bong before and after
try it its fun and free

 

[Zerogee]

Thanks Tony - don't know if I'll ever find the time to try it, but it sounds (pun intended!) fascinating. Of course, most things are easy once you know how to do them, and difficult when you don't!

Jon.

 

[mike]

thanks tony, aprecaite the heads up,iwill give it a go.. found this
http://eng.universal-soundbank.com/

 

[Zerogee]

Very handy Mike, bookmarked for future reference!

Jon.

 

[ge_rik]

BTW - has anyone wired in a remote switch (eg a reed switch) to one of these? From the previous posts the impression gained is that it would be fairly easy. When switched on does the sound on the SD card loop by default or would that require another external switch?

Rik

 

[Tony]

Quick reply ...ive not played yet as leaving as a winter project but made a few sound files,,,, Church,wood yard, car workshop, pub, cattle loading bay. all with a background of birdsong..... they loop the minute you switch them on so to trigger them you would need a (cant think of the term) permanent switching on eg not a momentary any other help please ask they are well worth getting

 

[ge_rik]

Quick reply ... they loop the minute you switch them on so to trigger them you would need a (cant think of the term) permanent switching on eg not a momentary any other help please ask they are well worth getting

That's great. Hoping to use one in my lollypop railcar using one of the outputs from the Deltang receiver controller to switch it on/off remotely. There are three latching outputs and one momentary so I've got plenty of options. Might have a go at seeing if I can use the switching to move through different sounds (eg start-up, tickover, running, tickover, stop). Presumably skipping through the tracks is via some sort of momentary push button?

I've sent off for a couple of these from China. Looks like the price varies from under £5.50 (eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141027435791?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 < Link To http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...ksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 ) to £308.50 ( eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Spea...ories_AudioDocks_Speakers&hash=item19d41aab0c < Link To http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...mp;hash=item19d41aab0c ).

Guess which one I went for?

Rik