IM SD40-2s, how should I get them?

[tehachapifan]

John-

Although I haven't worked with these settings yet, my copy of the LokSound manual (2012) says the playback speed CV's are 59 and 60. Did this change with the Full Throttle updates?

[jdcolombo]

John-

Although I haven't worked with these settings yet, my copy of the LokSound manual (2012) says the playback speed CV's are 59 and 60. Did this change with the Full Throttle updates?

CV's 59 and 60 were the "old" adjustments, held over from the LokSound 3.5's.  They were still active in earlier versions of the V4 firmware (and may still be - I haven't tried using them), but my LokProgrammer adjusts CV's 261 and 262 for Sound Slot 1 and these are the CV's Matt Hermann said to adjust when explaining this over on the LokSound Yahoo group. 

By the way, you should also make sure CV31=16 before adjusting 261 and 262.  It's supposed to be set at 16 as factory default, but it never hurts to make sure it is set correctly before adjusting the "high" CV's.  So technically, the process would be CV31=16; CV32=1; and then set CV's 261 and 262.

John C.

[Lemosteam]

I wonder if someone would be willing to design and print a 3D-print an enclosure that mirrored my speaker fix.  The enclosure would have to be 4.5mm high x 13mm wide x 17mm long, and constructed so that a 9x16mm speaker would fit lengthways, with the "extra" width of the enclosure able to be sealed off somehow.  See photos at this thread message:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41074.msg510952#msg510952

If someone (@Lemosteam - John LeMerise, where are you?) could figure out a way to print an enclosure like this (even if we had to seal off the extra area by hand using some styrene or lead sheet) for, say, a CUI 9x16mm speaker (available here: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/cui-inc/CDS-16098A/102-3540-ND/5355535 ), the speaker transplant for the SD40-2 would be a lot easier!

John C.

@jdcolombo HEEERRRREEEE!!!   

That s printable. 

And so is this.  Ledge and pin support on the other side is all I can do as the spring tabs on this particular speaker do not lend to a shelf on the other side. Pin definitely needs a glop of glue there to bond to the metal plate on the back of the speaker.  Wiring hole- this part must be printed in FUD as the limits of size dictate wall thickness around the speaker (hence the 17.02 dimension:
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[jdcolombo]

@Lemosteam

Now we're cookin' with gas . . .

Pin is ingenious.  Wish I'd thought of that.

Can I order one yet?  Will test in my SD40-2 "test bed."   Wonder if my stash of Knowles Fox speakers (which look suspiciously like the CUI one) will fit, too . . .

John C.

[Lemosteam]

@Lemosteam

Now we're cookin' with gas . . .

Pin is ingenious.  Wish I'd thought of that.

Can I order one yet?  Will test in my SD40-2 "test bed."   Wonder if my stash of Knowles Fox speakers (which look suspiciously like the CUI one) will fit, too . . .

John C.

@jdcolombo I will have so0me up within the hour.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I love this place!

[Lemosteam]

@Lemosteam

Now we're cookin' with gas . . .

Pin is ingenious.  Wish I'd thought of that.

Can I order one yet?  Will test in my SD40-2 "test bed."   Wonder if my stash of Knowles Fox speakers (which look suspiciously like the CUI one) will fit, too . . .

John C.

@jdcolombo For you to test, and thanks for being a willing accomplice!

https://www.shapeways.com/product/W64FT84NN/16x9-spkr-enclos-2pk



@Ed Kapuscinski Groovy.    You know I know you love me right? 

[peteski]

The air inside an airtight sound enclosure will couple the sound waves generated by the speaker cone to the thin walls of the enclosure and the vibrations will then be propagated to the outside surface, possibly causing some sound degradation.  Optimally, the speaker enclosure should be made of very dense and stiff material which does not allow any of the sound waves inside to penetrate to the outside of the enclosure.  But I guess that in this example a thin-walled enclosure is better than no enclosure.

[jdcolombo]

The air inside an airtight sound enclosure will couple the sound waves generated by the speaker cone to the thin walls of the enclosure and the vibrations will then be propagated to the outside surface, possibly causing some sound degradation.  Optimally, the speaker enclosure should be made of very dense and stiff material which does not allow any of the sound waves inside to penetrate to the outside of the enclosure.  But I guess that in this example a thin-walled enclosure is better than no enclosure.

Normally, that's right - which is why I like to use lead sheet for speaker enclosures where possible.  But in this application, the speaker enclosure is actually wedged into a space surrounded by metal alloy.  While you could get some vibration in the bottom of the enclosure, whatever sound may be created by that vents out of the bottom of the fuel tank (which IM cut holes in; I guess the original design was for the speaker to fire downward at the track, instead of up into the chassis).  The rest of the enclosure - all 4 sides - are about as inert as you can get once the enclosure is in place and the frame is screwed back together.

John C.

[jdcolombo]

@jdcolombo For you to test, and thanks for being a willing accomplice!

https://www.shapeways.com/product/W64FT84NN/16x9-spkr-enclos-2pk



@Ed Kapuscinski Groovy.    You know I know you love me right? 

Thanks, John.  Order placed.  Might be a while before I get to test them since I'm going on vacation for two weeks starting next week, but if they get here by mid-week, I might have a chance to do it before I leave.

John C.

[Lemosteam]

The air inside an airtight sound enclosure will couple the sound waves generated by the speaker cone to the thin walls of the enclosure and the vibrations will then be propagated to the outside surface, possibly causing some sound degradation.  Optimally, the speaker enclosure should be made of very dense and stiff material which does not allow any of the sound waves inside to penetrate to the outside of the enclosure.  But I guess that in this example a thin-walled enclosure is better than no enclosure.

While the FUD is quite porous, one could compensate for that by dipping or brushing the enclosure in black enamel paint after cleaning, this might help a lot.

I thought about increasing the enclosure dramatically by designing one for the 8x12 with the same size outside dimensions to achieve more cubic volume in the same mounting space, this way I could make it out of 0.7mm thick nylon or BSF.

[jdcolombo]

While the FUD is quite porous, one could compensate for that by dipping or brushing the enclosure in black enamel paint after cleaning, this might help a lot.

I thought about increasing the enclosure dramatically by designing one for the 8x12 with the same size outside dimensions to achieve more cubic volume in the same mounting space, this way I could make it out of 0.7mm thick nylon or BSF.

Or you could give it a coat of thin CA cement; my recollection is that FUD likes CA a lot, and that some thin CA makes the material rock-like.  Don't know if it would make it too brittle or not, though.

If you wanted to do an enclosure for the Soberton 8x12, I'd be happy to order that, too, make up two test models, and compare them both in my test bed SD40-2.  Other than your time, I don't know if it costs anything to post a file for printing at Shapeways.  It is possible that the same-sized enclosure with an 8x12 would sound just as good (or better) as a 9x16 because of the increased enclosure volume (smaller speaker = more air volume inside the enclosure) and more stiffness.  I thought the Knowles Fox (9x16) sounded better in my earlier tests than the Star Micronics 8x12, but I had the speaker oriented differently: the 8x12 was firing down at the track, while the 9x16 was firing up into the chassis, essentially using the shell as a reverb chamber.  So it wasn't an entirely fair test.

If you're willing to give it a go, I'm willing to buy a two-pack and test them.

John C.

[peteski]

While the FUD is quite porous, one could compensate for that by dipping or brushing the enclosure in black enamel paint after cleaning, this might help a lot.

I thought about increasing the enclosure dramatically by designing one for the 8x12 with the same size outside dimensions to achieve more cubic volume in the same mounting space, this way I could make it out of 0.7mm thick nylon or BSF.

I wasn't even thinking about it being air-permeable. Just the wall thickness. The wall will be vibrated by the sound waves inside the air-tight enclosure and since it is vibrating, the outside surface of the wall will also vibrate, generating sound waves which will interact with the sound waves emitted by the speaker (possibly canceling some frequencies). I suspect the effect will be a negligible, but I wanted to mention it. Better general design for speaker enclosures should have thicker/stiffer walls.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

@jdcolombo For you to test, and thanks for being a willing accomplice!

https://www.shapeways.com/product/W64FT84NN/16x9-spkr-enclos-2pk



@Ed Kapuscinski Groovy.    You know I know you love me right? 

You damn well know it!

I'll be a guinea pig when mine eventually arrive.

[nscaler711]

If someone shows how it is to be installed i will also be willing to try it! My SD40-2 should get shipped Friday from BLW.
Does any one know what decoder the DCC version has? I though I read that it was also an ESU product...

Also has anyone made sill/frame details for these yet? That would make them look shorter, or at least not ride so high on their trucks.