Hi Gregg.I use the one 3mm led for the headlight,with 3mm shrink tubing to cover light bleed.That seems to work well & is less wires to solder.The sm leds 402s I think, with the intergrated resisters, turned out really well.on my first Kato dash 9, I have the confidence to do more later on.Cheers from Michael NZ
LOL....Thank you !! A Guru??maybe I could start a cult!! Tsunami are meant to be adjusted and played with so you get the results you like and get the best from your models. The sound review and tuning video is on the way soon. Cheers Gregg.
Thank you very much Joe! I don't now if I have the cred for that ..LOL But nice of you to say so and I'm glad you enjoy the videos and get something from them, like I do from videos I learn stuff from . A sound video is on the way soon. Cheers Gregg.
Welcome to the 21st Century Mate!!! 😜 Seriously Gregg, I feel your pain when it comes to micro soldering of any type. Now, I MAY have two working eyes..... When I was younger, and even MORE stupid than I am now, and more than a few times when welding said "Well, this is just a quick tack weld, I don't NEED my welding shield!!!" 😱😵 Yeah, my two eyes are quite diminished by now! A word for your Trendsetters.... SMD LEDs are labeled by their size... A 0402 is 4mm x 2mm. 0604, 6mm x 4mm, and so forth. I've heard that now there's a 0201 SMD available! NO SIR!! I'm not going anywhere near that thing! Cheers, Carmine 🚂
....... SO...... WHEN does the alchemy and experimentation begin on "Fishplate Films patented settings for Tsunami" going to commence for Tsunami II??? 👍👍😎
Thanks Carmine! I originally got the 402 and then realised they are the smaller ones so got the 0604's. Flash burns are not good for the old peepers! I'm weathering these two locos now and will be working on the sounds and speed matching in a few weeks. Gregg:-)
Indeed not!!! Try telling the 23 year old Me that! So stupid.... I am really looking forward to seeing what you can come up with, as far as setting up the Tsunami II 👍👍😎😎 BTW, have you worked with Econami decoders before? I wonder if setting mine up for silky smoothness would be similar to it's big brother... Cheers, Carmine 🚂
Hi Gregg, I'm really enjoying, and learning from, your great videos! Thank you for doing them. Would you consider going into more detail on programming light functions? I'm apparently too old and senile to understand either the NCE or the Soundtraxx instructions.
Hi David, thanks for watching and Im glad you like the videos! More on the way in the future and Soundtrax have some good videos on their channel also. Cheers Gregg
great video. I just today messed with smd 402s on a steamer for the firebox flicker. Got it but not lots of fun! (I used wrapping wire for leads). I am proud to be a 'trendsetter'!
Thank you Paul! I share your pain on the SMD's..LOL There's no way I could solder the wires to them!! Seeing in 2D makes it very hard for me to line up the wires for soldering to resistors, so the job takes me a while but I'm happy with the result! Now do I do all my other 20 or so Katos..LOL Glad you're a proud "Trendsetter" !! Cheers Gregg.
Thank you Terry! It looks easy when you don't see me swearing trying to do it..LOL This took many hours and lots of breaks to rest my eye but I'm happy with the result! All practice my friend. Gald you liked it . Cheers Gregg,
Another note..... Whilst here, did you do any Railfanning at night?? American Diesels have incredibly bright headlights! Especially in the West, where it's as dark as the Outback. They need a GOOD line of sight! And, GOOD advice on using the tower LEDs as headlights straightaway! I'll adopt that. Also, STUFFING them up the bumhole of the light pipe gave extremely nice results! Carmine 🚂
Not at night Carmine, too busy planning the next days trip and getting enough sleep. I did see a few trains at night while I was at stations waiting for trains. Yes the Tower Led's do look good! Gregg.
nice Job, Gregg ! I know what you mean about the struggle, to install those SMD LEDS with one EYE ! I used them often in the past and I am blind on my right Eye from birth !
Thank you Sir! Yes being a pirate is not too good at times..LOL We are brothers in many ways my friend! I do like having all the light functions! Take care Matthias. Cheers Gregg.
Hi Greg, thank you for another interesting video, it's amazing the amount of features these decoders can have packed into them. I also appreciate the time you put into making these videos so I can learn from you. Cheers 😊.
Thank you and you're welcome Gary! They certainly do have lots of features and most of us only use a fraction of them! The motor control side is amazing considering not too long ago you would pay thousands for frequency drive on large motors...now we have it in models! Glad you enjoyed it and a sound video is on the way soon. Cheers Gregg.
Hi Gregg from Melbourne, Vic. Excellent videos. I have a Tsunami 2 which I am going to install in an Athearn Genesis and want the ditch lights to alternate. I imagine for each ditch light the negative lead goes to a separate function on the board, e.g., Function 3,4,5 or 6 ? Regards, Steve and Go Pies!
Hi Steve and thanks for the positive comments! You're right, each light will go to a different function and then you will have to map the flash sequence. Just check the manual to make sure there isn't a dedicated pair for flashing? I don't have flashing lights so I'm not up on that. Love Melbourne and the Trams! Cheers Gregg.
Many thanks Gregg I have one that came with a Tsunami decoder installed and the flashing lights work perfectly. Older decoder, the one before the Tsunami 2, and easy to program. Easy to turn on lights and ditch lights with function 5 and 6. I installed a Tsunami 2 and followed the instructions and could not get them working. Now it is done through either functions 23,24,25 and 26 as far as I can tell from the instructions and manuals. I eventually got frustrated and connected them so the ditch lights came on when the forward light came on. I will try again. I also use a micro connector so it is easy to separate the wires from the top of the shell and the decoder board instead of all the wiring being joined together. A bit more work involved but less frustrating if and when one has to separate them. Agree, the sound is amazing on both the decoders. I also have a few Kato loco's that I am going to use the small LED's and will use the existing lights tubes. I have an idea how to do it so will let you know how it turns out when I do it. Trams are great provided you don't have to drive on the roads with them in peak hour
Hi Donald. First up , if you have the patience and a bit of skill, I would replace the bulbs with LED's , as the bulbs will burn out very quickly! But if you wan't to use the bulbs, the headlight goes on the headlight output, terminal 3 and the V1 tab next to the function outputs. The back up light goes on terminal 6 and also the V1 common tab. Hope this helps. Cheers Gregg.
hi Gregg.. it's seems you have more patience working with those SMD led's.. i'll be using those when i light up my cement plant.. lighting looks great nice job as always... vinny
Hi Vinny! Don't know about patience..LOL I didn't film me losing it while I was trying to find the wire to solder it !! How people solder the wires to the LED beats me!! Thanks for watching and the support mate! Cheers Gregg.
It's called "Kapton" tape and is not electrical but used to keep things in place. It is not cheap but lasts forever and I got mine from "Ulrich Models" but I'm sure you can get it many places. Gregg :-)
I just installed my 10th tsu 2 in a bnsf C44-9W and the weirdest thing is the front headlight comes on in reverse and rear in forward, the wires are on opposite ends how could this be, i have board facing correctly. it is on Kato, i just did my other this weekend and it works great. Thanks in advance.
I just bought a pair of TrainOrama GM's. They come with 2 X 8 ohm speakers installed, but no decoder. I can't find any videos that explain how to deal with such a speaker set-up or what sound decoder to use. Not even TrainOrama has any help on their site. Do you folks have any recommendations? Thanks.
Hi , You wire the speakers in series , this will give a total load of 16 ohms which will be fine for a Tsunami decoder or any decoder that uses a 8 ohm load. You will have to get the speakers "in phase" which I explain in part 1 of this video. Do not wire them in parallel as you will overload the amplifier on the decoder . Cheers Gregg.
OK. I found the video, part 2, and it's very helpful. But why would anyone want 2 speakers when it always seems to be that the sound is too loud and needs to be turned down. I would expect that the simplest way to do this is to have as few speakers (One) as possible. Yes?
In some research into sound decoders, I've just found out that not every manufacturer offers sound decoders. I am surprised. I have the NCE system, so I contacted them, and they don't make any. Surprising because they are one of the DCC giants. How about that!
Glad you found it helpful and NCE are more into the control system , not so much the decoders themselves.The Econami series by Soundtraxx are a good choice if you want basic sounds and features but may not have the correct prime mover sound for the GM's? Two speakers can give you a "fuller" sound when turned down and may not be louder than one! But it all depends on the speaker and how they are installed. All my newer installs have two speakers and are no louder than the single ones. Use the two and make sure they are in phase and turn them down! Cheers Gregg.
Don't mean to be picky but it looked like to me there was a lot of light bleed coming through the window in the door when the headlights were on. Maybe paint the back side of the window black since there isn't any detail to see through that window anyway??
Not picky at all Ken! The plastic is cut from the door glass but it is pretty receptive to light it seems! It's not that noticeable in person but the next one I think I'll give the glass a bit of a tint?? Lets just say the conductor left the toilet light on!! Thanks for watching. Cheers Gregg.
Very nice job on that locomotive, Gregg! Lighting can be a bit fiddly, can't it? Lately, when I do installs, I've started using Miniatronics wire connectors. www dot miniatronics dot com They aren't particularly cheap, but they are good quality. I like them because I can totally unhook all the wires and work on the shell without unsoldering anything from the decoder. There are other brands out there, as well. Now to go watch the next video!
Thank you Sir! I have thought of plugs on wiring , but so far I have managed to get by with out them? Though they are more fiddly to get the body back on! CHeers Gregg.
Hi Gregg.I use the one 3mm led for the headlight,with 3mm shrink tubing to cover light bleed.That seems to work well & is less wires to solder.The sm leds 402s I think, with the intergrated resisters, turned out really well.on my first Kato dash 9, I have the confidence to do more later on.Cheers from Michael NZ
Greg...you are truly the Tsunami guru through this and your other videos.
LOL....Thank you !! A Guru??maybe I could start a cult!! Tsunami are meant to be adjusted and played with so you get the results you like and get the best from your models. The sound review and tuning video is on the way soon.
Cheers Gregg.
I've already used some of your sound and momentum suggestions from prior videos. Looking forward to the next one.
Very good, I hope you're happy with the results!
Gregg.
I have always been happy with anything that you have suggested...Harold
Thats' great Harold!
Thanks for the support.
Gregg.
You should be a contributing editor for MR. I learn more from your 20 minute videos than I have from years of reading MR. Thanks Gregg, super job.
Thank you very much Joe! I don't now if I have the cred for that ..LOL But nice of you to say so and I'm glad you enjoy the videos and get something from them, like I do from videos I learn stuff from . A sound video is on the way soon.
Cheers Gregg.
Welcome to the 21st Century Mate!!! 😜
Seriously Gregg, I feel your pain when it comes to micro soldering of any type. Now, I MAY have two working eyes..... When I was younger, and even MORE stupid than I am now, and more than a few times when welding said "Well, this is just a quick tack weld, I don't NEED my welding shield!!!" 😱😵
Yeah, my two eyes are quite diminished by now!
A word for your Trendsetters.... SMD LEDs are labeled by their size...
A 0402 is 4mm x 2mm. 0604, 6mm x 4mm, and so forth. I've heard that now there's a 0201 SMD available! NO SIR!! I'm not going anywhere near that thing!
Cheers, Carmine 🚂
....... SO...... WHEN does the alchemy and experimentation begin on "Fishplate Films patented settings for Tsunami" going to commence for Tsunami II??? 👍👍😎
Thanks Carmine! I originally got the 402 and then realised they are the smaller ones so got the 0604's. Flash burns are not good for the old peepers! I'm weathering these two locos now and will be working on the sounds and speed matching in a few weeks.
Gregg:-)
Indeed not!!! Try telling the 23 year old Me that! So stupid....
I am really looking forward to seeing what you can come up with, as far as setting up the Tsunami II 👍👍😎😎
BTW, have you worked with Econami decoders before? I wonder if setting mine up for silky smoothness would be similar to it's big brother...
Cheers, Carmine 🚂
The sound video is on the way Carmine! And yes , the Econami has the same drive software as the Tsunami 2!
Gregg:-)
AWESOME!! On both counts! :)
great install video, thanks for sharing....
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Cheers Gregg.
Hi Gregg, I'm really enjoying, and learning from, your great videos! Thank you for doing them. Would you consider going into more detail on programming light functions? I'm apparently too old and senile to understand either the NCE or the Soundtraxx instructions.
Hi David, thanks for watching and Im glad you like the videos! More on the way in the future and Soundtrax have some good videos on their channel also.
Cheers Gregg
Great video my friend
Thank you Chris! Was a long time coming..LOL
Gregg:-)
Like those BNSF Locos In That Livery
They do look good Aidan!
Gregg:-)
great video. I just today messed with smd 402s on a steamer for the firebox flicker. Got it but not lots of fun! (I used wrapping wire for leads). I am proud to be a 'trendsetter'!
Thank you Paul! I share your pain on the SMD's..LOL There's no way I could solder the wires to them!! Seeing in 2D makes it very hard for me to line up the wires for soldering to resistors, so the job takes me a while but I'm happy with the result! Now do I do all my other 20 or so Katos..LOL Glad you're a proud "Trendsetter" !!
Cheers Gregg.
I puit my resistors on the positive wire, seems to work too. Great video and great information.
Thats fine , as long as they are in series with the LED.
Glad you like the video and thanks for watching!
Cheers Gregg.
Sounds and the lighting is great. I guess I need to learn, you make it easy. Thanks for the information. Cheers Terry
Thank you Terry! It looks easy when you don't see me swearing trying to do it..LOL This took many hours and lots of breaks to rest my eye but I'm happy with the result! All practice my friend. Gald you liked it .
Cheers Gregg,
Another note.....
Whilst here, did you do any Railfanning at night?? American Diesels have incredibly bright headlights! Especially in the West, where it's as dark as the Outback. They need a GOOD line of sight!
And, GOOD advice on using the tower LEDs as headlights straightaway! I'll adopt that. Also, STUFFING them up the bumhole of the light pipe gave extremely nice results!
Carmine 🚂
Not at night Carmine, too busy planning the next days trip and getting enough sleep. I did see a few trains at night while I was at stations waiting for trains.
Yes the Tower Led's do look good!
Gregg.
nice Job, Gregg ! I know what you mean about the struggle, to install those SMD LEDS with one EYE ! I used them often in the past and I am blind on my right Eye from birth !
Thank you Sir! Yes being a pirate is not too good at times..LOL We are brothers in many ways my friend! I do like having all the light functions! Take care Matthias.
Cheers Gregg.
Great vid. Thanks!
Thank you Clarence!
Cheers Gregg.
Excellent video Gregg.
Thank you Sir!
Hi Greg, thank you for another interesting video, it's amazing the amount of features these decoders can have packed into them. I also appreciate the time you put into making these videos so I can learn from you. Cheers 😊.
Thank you and you're welcome Gary! They certainly do have lots of features and most of us only use a fraction of them! The motor control side is amazing considering not too long ago you would pay thousands for frequency drive on large motors...now we have it in models! Glad you enjoyed it and a sound video is on the way soon.
Cheers Gregg.
Great work on the lighting , looking forward to the next vid on the sound
Cheers Glynn
Thanks Glynn! Using the crappy weather today to try and finish both these units off so I can get into speed matching them!
Cheers mate.
Gregg.
Hi Gregg from Melbourne, Vic.
Excellent videos. I have a Tsunami 2 which I am going to install in an Athearn Genesis and want the ditch lights to alternate. I imagine for each ditch light the negative lead goes to a separate function on the board, e.g., Function 3,4,5 or 6 ?
Regards, Steve and Go Pies!
Hi Steve and thanks for the positive comments! You're right, each light will go to a different function and then you will have to map the flash sequence. Just check the manual to make sure there isn't a dedicated pair for flashing? I don't have flashing lights so I'm not up on that. Love Melbourne and the Trams!
Cheers Gregg.
Many thanks Gregg
I have one that came with a Tsunami decoder installed and the flashing lights work perfectly. Older decoder, the one before the Tsunami 2, and easy to program. Easy to turn on lights and ditch lights with function 5 and 6. I installed a Tsunami 2 and followed the instructions and could not get them working. Now it is done through either functions 23,24,25 and 26 as far as I can tell from the instructions and manuals. I eventually got frustrated and connected them so the ditch lights came on when the forward light came on. I will try again.
I also use a micro connector so it is easy to separate the wires from the top of the shell and the decoder board instead of all the wiring being joined together. A bit more work involved but less frustrating if and when one has to separate them.
Agree, the sound is amazing on both the decoders.
I also have a few Kato loco's that I am going to use the small LED's and will use the existing lights tubes. I have an idea how to do it so will let you know how it turns out when I do it.
Trams are great provided you don't have to drive on the roads with them in peak hour
how do you hook a current keeper to a tsunami 2
There is a plug on the board Joe, but I don't use them.
Cheers Gregg.
There is a plug on the board Joe, but I don't use them.
Cheers Gregg.
Great detail, thanks, turned out really well !!
Thank you! Not bad for a first time!
Cheers Gregg.
thanks for the video my friend!! lights look amazing !!!
Thank you Sir! I'm happy with it too!
Gregg:-)
How do you wire 1.5 micro bulbs on a Tsunami 2 decoder on an athearn ready to roll locomotive?
Hi Donald. First up , if you have the patience and a bit of skill, I would replace the bulbs with LED's , as the bulbs will burn out very quickly! But if you wan't to use the bulbs, the headlight goes on the headlight output, terminal 3 and the V1 tab next to the function outputs. The back up light goes on terminal 6 and also the V1 common tab.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Gregg.
hi Gregg.. it's seems you have more patience working with those SMD led's.. i'll be using those when i light up my cement plant.. lighting looks great nice job as always... vinny
Hi Vinny! Don't know about patience..LOL I didn't film me losing it while I was trying to find the wire to solder it !! How people solder the wires to the LED beats me!! Thanks for watching and the support mate!
Cheers Gregg.
FishplateFilms m5
Where can I buy the yellow electrical tape? and how is it called?
It's called "Kapton" tape and is not electrical but used to keep things in place. It is not cheap but lasts forever and I got mine from "Ulrich Models" but I'm sure you can get it many places.
Gregg :-)
Thanks, from a country far, far away.
LOL..you're welcome!
I just installed my 10th tsu 2 in a bnsf C44-9W and the weirdest thing is the front headlight comes on in reverse and rear in forward, the wires are on opposite ends how could this be, i have board facing correctly. it is on Kato, i just did my other this weekend and it works great. Thanks in advance.
I just bought a pair of TrainOrama GM's. They come with 2 X 8 ohm speakers installed, but no decoder. I can't find any videos that explain how to deal with such a speaker set-up or what sound decoder to use. Not even TrainOrama has any help on their site. Do you folks have any recommendations? Thanks.
Hi ,
You wire the speakers in series , this will give a total load of 16 ohms which will be fine for a Tsunami decoder or any decoder that uses a 8 ohm load. You will have to get the speakers "in phase" which I explain in part 1 of this video. Do not wire them in parallel as you will overload the amplifier on the decoder .
Cheers Gregg.
OK. I found the video, part 2, and it's very helpful. But why would anyone want 2 speakers when it always seems to be that the sound is too loud and needs to be turned down. I would expect that the simplest way to do this is to have as few speakers (One) as possible. Yes?
In some research into sound decoders, I've just found out that not every manufacturer offers sound decoders. I am surprised. I have the NCE system, so I contacted them, and they don't make any. Surprising because they are one of the DCC giants. How about that!
Glad you found it helpful and NCE are more into the control system , not so much the decoders themselves.The Econami series by Soundtraxx are a good choice if you want basic sounds and features but may not have the correct prime mover sound for the GM's? Two speakers can give you a "fuller" sound when turned down and may not be louder than one! But it all depends on the speaker and how they are installed. All my newer installs have two speakers and are no louder than the single ones. Use the two and make sure they are in phase and turn them down!
Cheers Gregg.
Great install Gregg
THANK YOU...for sharing.
Don't mean to be picky but it looked like to me there was a lot of light bleed coming through the window in the door when the headlights were on. Maybe paint the back side of the window black since there isn't any detail to see through that window anyway??
Not picky at all Ken! The plastic is cut from the door glass but it is pretty receptive to light it seems! It's not that noticeable in person but the next one I think I'll give the glass a bit of a tint?? Lets just say the conductor left the toilet light on!!
Thanks for watching.
Cheers Gregg.
Большое спасибо за видео !!!
Very nice job on that locomotive, Gregg! Lighting can be a bit fiddly, can't it? Lately, when I do installs, I've started using Miniatronics wire connectors. www dot miniatronics dot com They aren't particularly cheap, but they are good quality. I like them because I can totally unhook all the wires and work on the shell without unsoldering anything from the decoder. There are other brands out there, as well. Now to go watch the next video!
Thank you Sir! I have thought of plugs on wiring , but so far I have managed to get by with out them? Though they are more fiddly to get the body back on!
CHeers Gregg.