No. 139 A sound choice – Hornby King on analogue DC

My last post dealt with Hornby’s latest King George I engine and I finished with the question, what about some sound on DC?

The Hornby TTS digital chip allows running on both digital and analogue DC layouts but does not provide sound on analogue DC. At the time of my last Post I had removed the Hornby TTS chip and speaker and was running the engine on analogue DC with an eight pin blanking plate.
Hornby King George I

King George was purchased at a discount and now I have felt able to invest in a digital sound chip that will produce sound on analogue DC. A LokSound Micro chip was purchased from Coastal DCC loaded with their own Sound Project for a King.

My previous Blog Post concerned the running qualities of Hornby’s latest King George I. The current Post covers the operation of the King fitted with a LokSound Micro digital sound decoder.
Hornby King George I – replacement LokSound Micro

The 28mm speaker supplied by Coastal DCC had a slightly different geometry to the original Hornby speaker.
Hornby King George I – replacement speaker

I had to add some black card packing to the Hornby Clamp to ensure that the new speaker was held firmly down against the tender underframe.
Hornby King George I – card packing added to speaker clamp

As purchased King George was fitted with Hornby’s TTS (twin track sound) system. For comparison I show the various 'sounds' that are available using the function 'buttons' for the two chips.
Function Sounds Hornby TTS left, Coastal DCC right

I have loaded a video to YouTube with the Hornby King as bought running on my programming track coupled to a SPROG II controlled by my Sony Vaio laptop (upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10). I have run through the different TTS sounds that are provided by Hornby.
For comparison I have also loaded a second video of the engine on my programming track but this time fitted with the LokSound Micro and the Coastal DCC sound project.
How does the King work on DC? I think quite well. Out of the box so to speak it ran up and down the track and made appropriate chuffing noises. However top speed was decidedly limited and more seriously it was not able to haul a rake of coaches up my 1 in 60 inclines. I did wonder whether the LokSound Micro was able to deliver enough power for the King. Kevin at Coastal DC was reassuring and suggested that I turn my attention to the DC analogue settings, CV125 (start voltage) and CV 126 (voltage for maximum speed in analogue mode).
6006 LokSound Micro Analogue Controls

As supplied by Coastal DCC the LokSound Micro came with values for CVs 125 and 126 of 90 and 130 respectively. After much to –ing and fro-ing between layout and my SPROG programming track I arrived at values of 70 and 115 which I thought more suitable for my layout (and mains voltage) conditions.

How does the King sound? ESU supply a small 4 ohm speaker with their LokSound Micro, ideally I guess for use in N gauge locomotives. In its place Coastal DCC supplied a 28 mm diameter 8 ohm speaker (with a paper cone as opposed to the original Hornby plastic cone). The documentation with the LokSound Micro indicates a preference for a 4 ohm speaker. However the ESU literature also confirms that the 8 ohm is useable.

The perceived wisdom is that the volume of sound will be lower with the higher resistance 8 ohm speaker. I have to say that this doesn’t seem to be an issue and I have posted a couple of videos of my LokSound Micro King in action on my layout.

The first video was recorded using my Sony digital camera:
The second was recorded with a Branor Systems Camtruck pushed in front of the King running tender first.
 For comparison I have also posted another Camtruck video this time using the Bachmann Patriot. Can you tell the difference between the four cylinder King and the three cylinder patriot?
Over the last twelve months I have dabbled with digital sound. I have acquired a number of sound fitted diesels and am impressed with the variations in sound from the different types. Bachmann Royal Signals and the Hornby’s King George were purchased to try out digital steam sounds. From this limited experience I am not as impressed with the digital steam sounds as I am with the diesel noises. Yes – you can differentiate between the three cylinder and four cylinder engines but I think there is a lot missing. Prior to buying these digital sound locomotives I had misgivings about the sound reproduction qualities from tiny 25 and 30mm speakers. Twelve months later I am still not convinced that the bass sounds that are so important for steam engines are being reproduced correctly. For the price of two or three digital sound chips you could purchase quite a decent static sound system. Just a thought and you wouldn’t need to sound fit all your locomotives and you could carry on using analogue DC.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No.123 Chocolate and Cream and BR1s – the Replica Railways Restaurant Buffet

Image
This Post describes some modifications that I have made to a Replica Railways BR Mk1 RB. Previously i have modified the Mainline Maroon RB by fitting Finecast glazing, wire handrails and Bachmann close coupling mechanisms. I promised myself that I would do the same for the chocolate and cream Replica BR(WR) RB. Success! Replica Railways BR(WR) Restaurant Buffet on BR1 Bogies First task - find a suitable coach! Replica Railways Mk1 RB from around 1992 Models are bit like London buses. When I first started looking for a BR(WR) RB there didn’t seem to be any around and eventually my coach came from Australia. Then suddenly there were lots available here in the UK. On opening the box I was surprised to discover that Replica had painted the solebars chocolate to match the lower body panels – why? Was someone confused by the blue solebars ion the blue and grey version? They should be black and they can be over painted with new transfers added from the P...
Read more

No.98 The Peco Streamline 3 Way Point.

Image
The Peco Streamline 3 Way point is an extremely useful space saving device. This Post is prompted because I had to sort out a couple of problems with the installation of my own three way point. I was also aware that other modellers   were finding difficulties with the operation and installation of their 3 way points. The design of the point is symmetrical and has the appearance of a LH point being placed directly on top of a RH point. As a consequence the construction of the point is quite complex and the point requires careful handling especially during installation. When first marketed by Peco the point was only available with ‘Insulfrog’.  The view below shows my first ‘Insulfrog’ point but reinstalled on my second layout. Peco Code 100 3 Way Insulfrog Point – the Park View Layout 1990s The big advantage of the ‘Insulfrog’ point is that it does not require any separate electrical switching and hence is suitable for manual or simple mechanical operation. My...
Read more

No. 152 Remotoring a Hornby Q6

Image
With all the rain outside putting a stop to gardening I have been grounded and have used the opportunity to tackle some longstanding issues.  Hornby first released their Q6 models in June 2016.  Having being raised in Middlesbrough I had to take delivery of two versions, an Early Emblem and one with a Late Crest.  They were tested and given a run around the layout before being stored away to make room for some BR (WR) trains. Q6 63443 Hornby R3425 February 2018 and Hornby released a further Early Emblem version.  I dug out my two original models and ran all three together.  It soon became obvious that one of the first models, number 63443, was a much slower runner.  On handling the model I was shocked to realise just how hot the bodyshell had become around the motor.  With further running I could well imagine melting the smokebox. Some research showed a problem with Hornby motors of a similar vintage.  My engine was too old to return for a ...
Read more