Jul 26, 2014
ATLAS HO S2 SOUND PARTS & SUPPLIES
- SoundTraxx TSU-750 Select ALCO 539 - Turbo for S2 or S4; Non-Turbo for S1 or S3
- LED-3GW Golden White LEDs (2)
- R-750-1/8W 750 ohm resistors (2)
- Kapton Tape 1/2 inch wide
- Shrink Tubing 1/16 inch 1 yard
- Nano-Oil 5, 10 & 85 wt
- Never Stall
- Carpet Tape
- Rectangular Speaker SP-16x35-08
- Connector set 1-pin - male & female TEN PACK - Only 2 needed!
- Brass sheet
- Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
- Bathtub Caulk
These are very popular little switchers, available in S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4 versions for various roads. NCE has made a custom decoder (ATL-S4) for them without sound for quite a while, but they were discontinued about 2010. Until now, folks looking for sound were limited to the MRC 1663. With the release of the Micro Tsunami, another option is available. SoundTraxx has now released the 539 sounds (S-1 and S-3) and the 539 Turbo sounds (S-2 and S-4). I LOVE the turbo sound! The newer generation Tsunami2 decoders will probably work similarly, but I haven't done one.
A loco that had been using the NCE ATL-S4 decoder was retrofitted with the sound decoder. as shown here. This install is putting 5-1/2 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag - not for the feint of heart.
Sunny white LEDs were mounted to the shell with their resistors wired in series. These days, I’d use the 3 mm 12 volt warm white LEDs - no resistor needed. Opaque (metal foil) tape was used inside the nose of the loco to prevent light leakage.
The speaker was mounted in the cab with the cone facing toward the truck and adjusted as far down as it could be without interference with the truck throughout its entire range of motion. The speaker and LED wires were brought out and black styrene used to enclose the speaker rear area.
Initially (when this photo was taken) the Tsunami was mounted to a piece of black styrene. In operation, after about an hour, the loco would start to show signs of thermal shutdown. The fix was to build a shelf with brass that was raised up on pieces of brass over the front truck - an upside down U assembly was built to clear the drive line. This brass assembly was held to the frame with silver epoxy to maximize heat transfer. The Micro Tsunami was held down to the brass sheet with bathtub caulk. After this modification, the loco was operated 8 - 10 hours a day for two weeks without any indication of overheating. The nose of the shell was warm to the touch.