Spectrum DCC Ready?

[RkyGriz]

Hi Bill. I did some checking on the Phoenix website and I'm pretty sure that my card is a Phoenix BigSound 96/97. That's the only one they show that resembles the card that's in my tender. The 2k2 is almost totally dissimilar. I'm still waiting for Thursday to run her on my layout for the first time.
Can't wait!
Thanks for the reply!
Andrew

[RkyGriz]

Hey guys! Figured out how to get the bell and whistle to sound more often. The answer was 4 round magnets hot glued to the ties and set at irregular intervals on the tracks. Seems to be working great to keep the bell going almost constantly, while  the whistle sounds only once ion each revolution.Which is fine.  Earlier,  I determined that the whistle will also sound if the track voltage reaches 10 volts. This makes the loco "cannonball" as it is nearly full throttle. I can slow the loco down immediately while the whistle is sounding and then crank the power back up if I want to hear it sound again. There is also a steam blowing off and a braking sound. Pretty cool.
I also checked the battery for the sound card and ,after several hours of running, it was still flat. I don't know if it's really worth spending the $21.00 on or a replacement battery as the card works fine without it and the battery is only to backup the volume settings, which ,while it would be nice, is not really necessary.
You can check it out on my youtube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-f6lGExlF0&feature=youtu.be
Thanks again for all of your help in identifying this sound card. These Phoenix sound cards are a real blast!
Andrew

[Loco Bill Canelos]

If you did not get the manual, be sure to do so.  There are many adjustments you can make including adjusting the voltage to control when the bell and whistle sound start and definitely below 10 volts.

[RIrail]

If you noticed on the bottom of the tender there are two brown reed switches which get triggered by the magnet on the track. I think I saw them in line with one another, (this is why the bell turns on then the whistle blows one after the other). These get triggered by the magnet, first one passes over the magnet and triggers the bell, second one passes over the same magnet and triggers the whistle. If you moved the first reed switch to the right side of the tender and the second reed switch to the left side of the tender then used smaller magnets with one near the inside of the right rail and the other near the inside of the left rail you could have independent triggering of the bell and whistle and at different locations. Hope I explained this OK. Check out the manual for reed switch placement.
Steve