Climax loco 2nd gen large scale

[petertoot]

Hi,I have a 2nd Gen with factory sound,is the only difference the sound board,do they both have factory speakers ,this Loco can pull more than the early model,thanks peter

[Kevin Strong]

I'm 99.99% positive the non-DCC-equipped 2nd Gen Climax comes with a factor speaker. I seem to recall testing mine with a Dallee sound board, and I don't recall needing to install a speaker for that. Also, I recall thinking I was going to have to swap out the stock speaker for a flat speaker in order to fit batteries in the bunker. I ended up putting batteries in the boiler instead, so I believe I left the factory speaker in place.

Later,

K

[petertoot]

Hi,thanks Kevin for the reply,as I use track power,through aristocraft train engineer,do you know if there is a difference in speed  between the sound one,none sound,I was thinking with a bunker full of electronics,the speed would be the same,thanks again,peter.

[Kevin Strong]

Yes, they would run at different speeds at a given track voltage. The DCC-equipped loco needs a minimum amount of track voltage to "wake up," usually between 6 - 7 volts. At 7 volts to the track, the DCC-equipped locomotive would just be starting to move while the non-DCC-equipped locomotive would be running at around 10 or so scale miles per hour already.

Also, the Aristo Train Engineer puts out a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to the track. It's highly likely that the DCC decoder in the Climax will not like that one bit, and will not run. Not many do. You'll likely need to filter the PWM coming from the Train Engineer to get the DCC-equipped Climax to run on analog DC. (Filters are available from Crest Electronics for less than $20.)

Later,

K

[petertoot]

Hi chaps,Kevin, thanks for the info,I thought the speed difference would be as you said,the aristocraft I use is the older version the base can be set for pulse or nomal DC,which suits me,which brings me to the question which is the best remote track power system,as this set is getting old,the new aristocraft  set in ozzie is 500.00 here,bit steep,plus the part needed for DC, not pulse,thanks all,cheers from ozzie

[Kevin Strong]

There aren't a lot of options for remote-control analog track power. The older TE and the Revolution seem to be the go-to systems. G-Scale Graphics offer one as well. He and Tony Walsham (RCS of Australia) work closely together; you might get in touch with Tony to see if he has any recommendations for a supplier in your corner of the globe.

Later,

K

[petertoot]

Hi,thanks for the reply,I forgot about rcs,tony,will do some research,is the new aristocraft revolution reliable, as I only run 1or2 trains at once.cheers

[petertoot]

Hi again,this might be one for Kevin, will the aristocraft revolution change my cv in loco to increase volume etc,or do I need digital, or something else,thanks,peter.

[Kevin Strong]

You're not going to be able to control any of the sounds or volume levels of the stock DCC board with the Train Engineer or any other non-DCC control system. As a default, the decoder may be pre-programmed to ring the bell and blow the whistle at various points, such as just starting out, or if a certain voltage threshold has been reached, etc. I'm not sure what its default settings are. The decoder is made by Soundtraxx, and is a not-quite-full-featured version of their "Tsunami" sound decoder.

That's my biggest gripe with most DCC sound decoders; they lack any means of controlling the sound outside of DCC. A small handful of systems do, but either they're not very good, or they're more expensive than something like Phoenix system, which is designed specifically for analog control.

In order to adjust the volume level of the board in the Climax, you're going to need to avail yourself of someone who has a DCC set-up. The master volume CV for the Tsunami is CV 128. By default, it's set at 225 (out of 255), so about 80%.

Later,

K

(edit to clarify wording in first paragraph)

[petertoot]

Hi,thanks Kevin, that's what I thought,will track down a mate who has dcc,if the sound was a bit louder,that will do,again thanks to all😊😊