Anybody had any experience with this system, I know it is very basic but it sure is a good price?
Chuff-Whistle-Bell sound for Model Trains, from HYDE-OUT MOUNTAIN LIVE STEAM
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Condition: New
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ITEM PRICE: US $34.95Free Shipping
You get what you pay for!
I bought one many years ago to install in one of my Big Haulers.
I converted the Big Hauler to battery power and a 2.4ghz Train Engineer radio controls. I was able to figure out how to connect the bell and whistle and made a 5 volt dc to dc converter to power the sound card from the same 14 volt batteries that powered the rest of the locomotive. The problem I ran into was when I hooked up the wires to the motor that would sense the voltage, and therefor increase or decrease the chuff rate, was the sound card would just take off to maximum chuffs no matter how slow or how fast i set the throttle. I then realized that the Train Engineer was Pulse Width Modulation. This type of speed controller send pulses of full battery power to the motor to control it’s speed. The more pulses per second, the faster the the motor spins. The fewer pulses, the slower. The sound card was just sensing the full voltage. I did use it for a while with the Bachmann chuff card, just used the bell and whistle and not the chuff.
I suppose one could put a filter, PWM to analog converter board, between the motor and sound card to smooth-out the signal.
What I did instead was to pay slightly more then twice as much, $79, and purchased a MyLocoSound sound card. Didn’t have to figure anything out, it’s adjustable and it runs off the same battery voltage as the rest of the locomotive.
If you’re running dc track power and want to trigger the sounds with magnets then for just basic sounds, better then no sounds at all, then I’d go for it.
Hope this helps.
Adam
Adam was the volume adjustable? I just purchased a rail boss 4 basic and was going to use this for sound, I considered the mylocosounds, but didn’t like their whistle, and the Hyde-out would be temporary until I can find something else when money might be available
+ I’m still wrestling with making a custom battery as there isn’t much room in the tender section of the mason bogie and the only spot left is the boiler which is long and skinny, thanks for the input, Bill
Hi Bill,
The ebay listing says “Sound volume is adjustable”.
If you didn’t like the MyLocoSound whistle, of which there are a few to choose from, then you probably won’t like the Hyde-Out Mountain whistle even more. Have you tried the new blue colored MyLocoSound boards? They have 6 different whistles to choose from and their tones can be adjusted. There are also other sounds that can be triggered or set to sound randomly. Take a look at the instructions on G Scale Graphic’s web site.
https://www.gscalegraphics.net/uploads/2/5/7/7/25776635/plc009_steam_instructions_us.pdf
As for size, I believe the MyLocoSound card is about 1/3 shorter. I’m surprised how small these cards are. For the money, I think the MyLocoSound card is a good, cheep alternative.
Just my opinion, I’m not in any way affiliated with MyLocoSound. I just think for the money, it’s a good, cheep sound card.
Have fun and let us know how your sound issues work out.
Adam
Adam, you are correct I just over looked the part about volume adjustable, and the graphics sound is a good deal for the money and I could have got it when it was on sale for $67.00, if I get the Hyde-out one I plan to use it in one of my other little engines after done with it in the MB. have a friend that said he added a capacitor to the whistle and made it sound longer but it would just be for the mean time till finances are built back up, thanks again, Bill
Bill Barnwell said:
- I’m still wrestling with making a custom battery as there isn’t much room in the tender section of the mason bogie and the only spot left is the boiler which is long and skinny, thanks for the input, Bill
One other question Bill,
If you’re having issues finding room for 4 li-Ion 18650 batteries, where are you planning to fit the 3 AA batteries that power the Hyde-Mountain sound card?
Adam
Well this Yugo had an asking price of $14,500 in July of 2010! (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-money-mouth.gif)
Obviously there’s a big difference between asking and getting. Not too bad of a “return on investment” for a $4,000 car from the 80’s, assuming that you just parked it? Since they broke a lot that’s probably what happened to this one with its low mileage.
Sorry for the digression, but a friend of mine had a Yugo for about month and only lost about $1000 when he sold it soon thereafter; not fun.
Back then (1988) I talked my mom out of buying a Yugo. She ended up buying a Mazda 323. Once I taught her how to drive it, it was a stick, she ran that thing for over a decade. She loved her little Mazda. I would hate to think what would have happened if she had bought a Yugo.
So, now we have done it, totally derailed yet another thread…
Well David there yugo derailing a thread.
Adam Dziuk said:
Bill Barnwell said:
- I’m still wrestling with making a custom battery as there isn’t much room in the tender section of the mason bogie and the only spot left is the boiler which is long and skinny, thanks for the input, Bill
One other question Bill,
If you’re having issues finding room for 4 li-Ion 18650 batteries, where are you planning to fit the 3 AA batteries that power the Hyde-Mountain sound card?
Adam
was going to try and pick it up off the main battery
At the risk of disagreeing with Greg, that may be an insult to Yugos. 
The whistle is an okayish-quality digital recording of a whistle on the order of something you’d hear from a greeting card. Curiously, it’s the same whistle I have coming from the clock in my workshop (which I’ve long since turned off.) The bell rings for 4 dings then stops–a bit short in my opinion. The chuff is controlled by the track input voltage. There’s a potentiometer that allows you to adjust it to kind-of match the wheels, but when the speed changes, so does the pitch of the chuff. Not ideal for a loco that changes speeds frequently.
If you’re looking for something that’s just going to put a generic chuff sound in a steam locomotive that’s just going to be running around the track at a constant speed, this will do it. Throw the occasional magnet on the track to trigger the whistle and be happy. But don’t expect it to be anything more than very basic.
Later,
K