RCS MYLOCOSOUND BLUE User manual

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STEAM MYLOCOSOUND C38 DEC 1ST 2019
UNIVERSAL SOUND FOR LARGE SCALE, DC, STEAM LOCOMOTIVES
OVERVIEW.
Easy installation using screw terminals with no soldering.
Uses a TV remote control to adjust the volume and sounds to match the prototype loco.
Provides a chuff sound, which matches the loco speed and load.
Plain, chime, hooter and Thomas whistles with adjustable tone to suit the loco.
Full remote control of the whistle, bell, safety valve, guard’s whistle and optional brake pump.
For track powered DC or battery powered radio controlled railways
Measures 55mm x 33mm x 11mm.
CONTENTS.
The soundcard generates a mixture of real and synthesised sounds which are adjustable to reproduce the
sounds of most the NSWGR Class 38 steam locos and many other classes as well. The terminal connections
on the right are necessary for the soundcard to generate steam sounds which vary with the loco speed and
load. The terminal connections on the left trigger the various sounds where the locomotive controller has
the appropriate outputs available.
Sounds can also be triggered by a Sony infra-red TV remote control which can be purchased locally. Low
cost, universal, TV remote controls are available from most consumer electronics stores and need to be
set to Sony coding to work with the soundcard. Although it can be used when running in the garden, the
remote control is intended mainly for the adjustment and testing of sounds.
The remote control communicates with the soundcard via two infra-red receivers. One is located on the
soundcard and the other is on a flying lead which allows it to be fixed to any external surface of the loco.
Adjustments to the sounds can then be made without taking the loco apart to access the soundcard.
Important Notes
The soundcard is designed for outdoor use and may not work correctly under bright incandescent lights on a
workbench. LED lights are okay.
The soundcard is in a “sleep” mode when not in use. Connecting it to power at the B+ and B- terminals will
not wake it up. It must also be connected to a motor at the M1 and M2 terminals as well. The small voltage
it sees at the motor will wake it up and it will then stay awake for as long as it has power.

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SPEAKERS & SOUND QUALITY.
The soundcard requires an 8 ohm loudspeaker which is not included. A 4 ohm speaker can also be used but
you may cause the soundcard to overheat and temporarily shut down if the volume is very high
and the soundcard is in a confined space. Your choice of speaker is highly important because it
determines the quality of the sound produced. A power output of at least one watt is
recommended.
The lowest cost option is to fit speaker from your local consumer electronics store. Typically
these come in 27mm or 57mm diameters. Use the largest, which you can fit in your loco.
For a better quality sound and more volume, the speaker needs to be baffled.
That means that it needs to be built into the front face of an airtight box so
that sound is heard only from the front of the speaker and none from the
back. The plastic top of a spray paint can is good for making a baffle as shown
in the diagram.
A good solution, which ensures high quality sound with lots of deep throbbing
bass, is to purchase an 8 ohm impedance external speaker unit for iPod and MP3
music players and remove the two speaker modules, in their enclosures, for use
in two locos. These are readily available at consumer electronics stores.
Speakers can be connected to the terminals either way around.
It is also possible to boost the volume by using a commercial stereo amplifier.
Section 11 of these instructions shows how this can be done. Use of an external
amplifier is recommended for ride on railways.
THE REMOTE CONTROL
The soundcard will operate with any Sony™TV
remote control using the buttons described in
this section.
It will also operate with any universal remote
control when it is set to Sony coding. Remote
Control Systems can supply the Home & Co
remote control, (illustrated here) for A$ 18.
0180 is for the K Mart Home & Co remotes.
0188 is for the K Mart Audiosonic remotes.
They both use 2 x AAA Alkaline batteries
To access the code programming which
operates the soundcard volume, you must use
the mute & function buttons correctly.
1. Press and hold the TV Button and Power
button until the TV button light stays ON.
2. Enter the 4 x number code.
3. TV button will blink twice and go out.
4. Programming is complete.
Or they can be purchased from your local consumer electronics store like Kmart.
Other, locally purchased, universal remote controls will usually have a battery compartment in the back and
their own instructions for setting Sony coding.
Note that the buttons on the remote control auto-repeat if held down. If you want a single event to occur,
like turning on the safety valve, then press the safety valve and release it immediately. If you want to make
a large change in volume or tone then you can hold the button down to avoid the need to press the button
repeatedly.

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THE INFRA-RED RECEIVERS
The infrared receivers accept commands from the handheld I/R remote control to adjust or trigger sounds.
Two receivers are provided. One is fixed in the middle of the soundcard. The other is on a flying lead which
plugs into the small white socket as shown on page one.
In some installations, the soundcard is visible when installed in the loco. This usually occurs when the
soundcard is mounted on the floor of a cab, with or without windows. In this case, the remote control can be
pointed directly at the soundcard and the on-board receiver is all that is needed.
If the soundcard is within the loco and is not visible, then the flying lead needs to be used. Plug it into the
white socket and glue the black receiver, round side outwards, to any external surface of the loco to which
you can easily point the radio control. Do not paint the receiver.
INSTALLING THE SOUNDCARD IN A TRACK POWERED LOCOMOTIVE OR RAILCAR.
The soundcard is suitable for use on analogue DC track powered railways. It is not suitable for use with DCC.
When the track voltage is below nine volts it is insufficient to power the soundcard. Therefore, a nine volt
PP3 battery is used to drive the soundcard and produce sound when the loco is static or moving slowly.
This battery will be automatically recharged whenever the track voltage is at least one volt higher than the
battery voltage so there should never be a need to remove the battery for recharging. However, the battery
must be a Nickel Metal Hydride type; Lithium and Nickel Cadmium batteries must not be used. On small
shunting layouts, the loco speed is often not high enough for charging to take place. Some owners of shunting
layouts put an isolation switch on the loco motor circuit so that they can turn up the power to recharge the
battery without having the loco moving.
Because most DC controllers do not have function buttons, an alternative way of triggering the horn, bell and
other sounds needs to be found. The options are:
1. You can set the whistle to sound automatically three times a minute when the train is running. This is
described in the Configuring The sound Card section on page # 9.
2. You can connect the soundcard whistle trigger to a reed switch which you mount on the bottom of the
loco. Then install magnets in the track where you want the whistle to sound eg. at the approaches to a level
crossing. The whistle will then sound briefly as the loco crosses each magnet.
3. Use the remote control, supplied with the soundcard, to trigger all the sounds. However, infrared remote
controls are not designed for long distance use outside. On an overcast but bright day, the remote with coin
batteries will only operate up to one metre away from the loco. A larger remote control, powered by AA or
AAA batteries, will probably operate up to three metres away.
Any combination, or all, of these methods can be used.

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INSTALLING THE SOUNDCARD IN A BATTERY POWERED LOCOMOTIVE OR RAILCAR.
The wiring diagram below shows a typical installation for common types of battery powered radio control
systems such as a COBRA ESC. You can use any current RCS TX handpiece including the RCS # EVO-DUO.
The Rx102-1 receiver, not shown here, has three function channels, two of which, Ch # 2 & Ch # 4, can operate
two triggers ach via two R/C switcher units. The fifth soundcard trigger, the brake pump, can be operated by
adding a third R/C switch to Ch # 5. Or, if required, switched on to automatic by the IR remote control.
N.B. # EVO-DUO can only trigger 1 x sound. The # EVO-DUO+ can trigger 5 x sounds.
The wiring diagram below shows a typical installation for an RCS Omega radio control systems with the current
model TX-3 transmitter handpiece.
This combination has two function channels, each of which can operate a sound trigger. In the above case,
the whistle and bell triggers have been selected. The Omega should be programmed to make the whistle
channel momentary and the bell toggle. You can choose to use different channels.
There are options available to use
more triggers. RCS can help you with
this.
The Tx7 has 4 x sound triggers & can be
operated as shown on the left.

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INSTALLING THE SOUNDCARD IN A CREST REVO BATTERY POWERED LOCOMOTIVE OR RAILCAR.
The Crest Revolution can trigger all six sound functions. It is connected as shown in the diagram below.
To connect the Crest Revolution, the adaptor plug for custom installations is used with the outer red, orange,
grey and black wires being connected as shown. All auxiliary functions should be set to momentary by
selecting MENU –ASSIGN FUNCTIONS –AUX FUNC SETUP. However, the bell, if in use, can be set to latch.
The wiring diagram below shows the connections for the DC jumper board in a Bachmann locomotive.
The above wiring diagrams can be seen in colour by visiting the web site at www.mylocosound.com\installs.
Also shown are specific wiring diagrams for RCS, Barker, Mac 5, RailBoss, Mtronics, Roundhouse, Electronise
and LocoLinc.

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CONFIGURING THE SOUNDCARD
Configuring this new BLUE C38 pcb card is a lot different from all of the earlier versions including V15.
It has two modes.
Setting Mode in which you can select the sounds to which you wish to make adjustments.
Run Mode in which the soundcard does its job on your railway.
All changes to the settings must be made using the Sony Compatible IR hand piece. We will cover that first.
1. Turn the soundcard ON and place into Setting Mode by pointing the IR remote Controller or the remote
receiver on the end of the flying lead, and press the MUTE button. The LED on the soundcard will blink slowly
and all sounds swill cease.
2. Select the sound you wish to configure by pressing the relevant key on the remote control to change the
sounds listed below. When you press a key, the LED on the soundcard will start blinking faster. At any time
you can press the MUTE button to hear the sound you have selected. Then press the MUTE again to turn the
sound off so further programming can proceed.
The options are as follows. Remember, the MUTE button must be pressed first to start programming.
Power Button –Battery or Track Power.
The C38 soundcard is designed only for use with battery powered, radio controlled locomotives.
1 x Beep Battery powered radio control.
2 x Beeps Track Power. Not applicable.
The power button is also used to set the chuff start as described on the next page.
BUTTON # 1 Whistles.
Although the 38 class whistles were the same design, their pitch varied depending on which manufacturer
made it, the material used, the age and wear, the boiler pressure, etc. Therefore, two whistles have been
included and are selected using button 1. Each time you press the 1 button the number of beeps will change
to indicate that the whistle selected. If you wish to hear that whistle, press the Mute button on the remote
control to reactivate the sound then press the 1 button to start the whistle and then again to stop it.
Whistle 1 is a synthesised sound. That means that you are able to use the channel up/down buttons to vary
the pitch to select your personal preference.
Whistle 2 is a recording of 3830s whistle and is therefore a fixed pitch. (Default)
The volume of both whistles can be varied using the volume up/down buttons on the remote control.

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Button 2 Brake Pump. This will operate in two ways:
1 beep Manual. Sounds only if the 2 button on the remote control or the radio is pressed. (Default)
2 beeps Automatic. Sounds whenever the locomotive is stationary.
Button 3 Guard. This button is used to select the guard’s sounds from the list below.
1 beep Sounds a guard’s Acme Thunderer whistle.
2 beeps Sounds “All aboard”.
3 beeps Sounds “All aboard” and then the guard’s whistle. (Australasian Default)
Button 4 Safety Valve. This will operate in four ways:
1 beep Manual. Starts blowing when the button is pressed and stops when pressed again.
2 beeps Throttle controlled. When the loco is stationary, turn the throttle up a little and the safety valve
will blow off until you turn the throttle off or forwards to move off.
3 beeps Automatic. Blows for ten seconds once a minute.
4 beeps Automatic. Blows for ten seconds once every three minutes. (Default)
Button 5 Electric Generator. This will operate in two ways:
1 beep Manual. Sounds only if the 5 button on the remote control or the transmitter is pressed.
2 beeps Automatic. Sounds whenever the locomotive is stationary. (Default)
Button 6 Injectors. This will operate in three ways:
1 beep Manual. Starts blowing when the button is pressed and stops when pressed again. (Default).
2 beeps Automatic. Operates for twenty seconds once every two minutes.
3 beeps Automatic. Operates for twenty seconds once every four minutes.
Button 7 Steam Chuff. The locomotive chuff is generated by voltage variation.
Button 8 Brake Squeal. This will operate in either of two ways:
1 beep Not required.
2 beeps Automatic. Sounds whenever the locomotive comes to a halt. (Default)
Button 9 The Operating Mode. There are three operating modes available:
1 beep Indicates manual mode. In this mode all sounds are triggered according to the above settings.
The whistle will sound for as long as its button is pressed.
2 beeps Indicates simple automatic mode. This is designed for controllers which have no function
buttons, as is often the case with track power, or at exhibitions, etc, where you don’t want to operate
manually. The whistle will sound once automatically when the loco moves off and then once more three
times a minute when the loco is on motion. A reed switch can be placed under the loco and be connected to
the F1 terminal to make the whistle sound when the loco passes over a magnet. Another reed switch,
connected to the F2 terminal, can be used to trigger the bell. If the bell is set to one beep then it will ring
continuously until the loco passes over another magnet. If the bell is set to two beeps, then it will ring for the
set time.

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Setting the Steam Chuff. The chuff may need to be set to correctly match the loco. This is done with the
sound active. Starting from static, turn up the throttle until the loco just starts moving and then press the
Power button on the remote control. This will set the voltage at which the chuff starts.
Next the chuff rate needs to be set to four beats per wheel revolution for the 38 class. Before doing this
step it is a good idea to turn off all other sounds so that you can clearly hear the chuff alone. Then throttle
up the loco so that it is running at a scale walking pace and use the channel up/down buttons on the remote
to adjust the chuff rate to achieve four beats per wheel revolution. When you are satisfied then restore the
other sounds.
Setting the engine running speed. When the loco is in motion, even at slow speed, you can use the channel
up/down buttons to set the rate at which the chuff increases with speed. Aim for four chuffs per wheel
revolution for two or four cylinder locos and six chuffs per revolution for three cylinder locos.
Channel up/down buttons–Load Sensitivity. The soundcard can be programmed to make the engine loud
when accelerating and softer when coasting and slowing down. The channel up/down buttons change the
level of sensitivity as indicated by the number of beeps when pressed. One beep indicates maximum
sensitivity. Five beeps sets minimum sensitivity i.e. the engine will be loud all the time. The default sensitivity
is two and change to one if you want more sensitivity or three or more if the chuff sounds erratic.
Resetting the soundcard back to factory default settings. If you get in a bit of mess and want to start again
then you can reset the soundcard by holding down the 0 (zero) button of the remote control for three
seconds. You will then hear five beeps and all settings will revert to the defaults for the country you have
selected. These include the default sounds, 2/4 cylinders and a voltage controlled chuff. It will not change
the country.
You can change all the above settings whenever you wish and the changes will be effective immediately.
OPERATING THE SOUNDCARD
When using for the first time you must “wake” the sound card up. Make sure power is applied to the Battery
+ and - Battery terminals and then apply motor voltage to the two motor input terminals.
When the loco is running, the engine sounds should operate automatically, getting louder when accelerating,
and softer when slowing down or idling.
Where your controller has function buttons then you can use them as follows:
Where your controller has function buttons then you can use them as follows:
Button 1. Sounds the long whistle for as long as the button is pressed.
Button 2. The bell.
Button 3. Sounds the guard’s whistle or “All aboard”.
Button 4. Sounds the safety valve blowing off.
Button 5. Sounds the Air Pump.

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TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE
The Remote Control won’t work
Start the soundcard, press any button on the remote control and the LED should flash. If it does not flash
then the battery probably needs replacing. If the LED flashes but the soundcard does not respond then the
Sony™coding may have been lost and can be reset as follows.
If using a MyLocoSound remote control. Switch on the van or loco so that you get the steam hiss. Point the
remote control at the receiver and do the following:
Hold the mute button down. The remote control will go through its list of codes until it gets to the correct
one at which time the sound will go off. When that happens, let go of the mute button immediately. The
correct code should now be selected. Test the remote by pressing the mute button again to turn on the sound
& then test the functions. It may not work & you may have to try several times. Releasing the button
immediately when the sound stops is critical.
If using a locally purchased remote control. Refer to its instructions for resetting the Sony coding. You will
probably find a number of codes listed for Sony and will need to try each one until you get to the code which
operates the soundcard volume, mute and function buttons correctly.
The code for K Mart Home & CO IR remote controls is 0140.
If the remote control still does nothing then the problem may be the infrared receiver on the loco which must
not be painted or obstructed.
I get no sound at low speeds when using trackpower.
You may get no sound at low speeds until the track voltage gets up to about nine volts. This indicates that
the support battery is flat. Charge the battery by running the loco at half speed for ten minutes.
I get no sound at all.
GO BACK AND READ “OPERATING THE SOUND CARD” ON PAGE # 9
Press the Mute button on the remote control in case the sound has been accidentally turned off.
Switch the loco off and then on again. When the soundcard starts, the LED should flash three times. If not,
then use a multimeter to check that there is at least nine volts at the B+ and B- terminals. If not then check
your wiring in case something has come adrift.
Check that the speaker is connected correctly.
The soundcard makes a clicking noise or shuts down.
This most often occurs when the whistle is sounded. It is caused by the soundcard restarting because there
is insufficient voltage in the track or the battery to sustain the volume setting. Recharge the battery.
When installed in a loco, the loco and sound stop intermittently and I have to reset the controller to get it
going again.
The soundcard maximum output is 1.5 amps. If this is exceeded as a result of a large motor, a heavy load
and/or high volume settings then the soundcard will shut down. Also, if the soundcard is installed in a very
confined space and is run for a prolonged period at high power, then it can overheat and switch itself off while
it cools down.
The sound is erratic on track power only. Not radio control.
When using track power, some controllers have an output which is so rough as to cause the soundcard to run
erratically. This can be cured by fitting a 220µF bi-polar capacitor across the M1/M2 terminals to smooth the
DC pulses. The capacitor rating needs to be at least 30 volts to ensure that it is more than the maximum
voltage of the controller. A bi-polar capacitor can be connected either way around.
My radio control has become erratic.
If the soundcard is installed very close to the loco radio receiver ie, back to back, then it can interfere with
the radio commands and operation can become erratic. To avoid this problem move the soundcard a little
away from the receiver. You can also avoid the problem by wrapping the soundcard in silver paper but would
have to be very careful to avoid shorts and component overheating.

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USING AN EXTERNAL AMPLIFIER FOR RIDE ON RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES
When used in 5 inch and 7¼ inch ride on railways there is a lot of environmental background noise. The one
watt output of the soundcard is not sufficient for these environments and an external amplifier needs to be
used. The wiring diagram below shows how the soundcard can be interfaced to a commercial stereo
amplifier in a loco powered by a 12 V battery.
A 24v battery powered loco will require a 24v to 12v DC converter as shown alongside. Note that the
soundcard can handle a maximum of 24 volts DC. A battery which is labelled as 24 volts will typically output
28 volts when fully charged and will therefore damage the soundcard
if connected directly.
In Australia, the 2x15 watt AA0487 amplifier from Jaycar is suitable.
Other amplifiers may require the 100Ω resistor to be changed. If the
output volume is too low then raise the value of the 100Ω resistor.
A single speaker can be used on the right output or two speakers on
the left and right outputs.
Any of the five functions can be used by means of a pushbutton
between the function terminal and ground. The sound functions
available are whistle, bell, guard’s whistle, safety valve and brake
pump.
The installation can be made more robust by using two blobs of
silicon to attach the soundcard to a
plastic box in which the capacitor and two resistors are placed as shown
above. The whole can then be fixed to the top of the amplifier, again
using silicon.
Select a speaker which matches the impedance and power output of the
amplifier. In the case of the Jaycar AA0487, a 15 watt speaker of four
ohms impedance is needed. It is also important to make a soundbox
which is an airtight fit to the back of the speaker. This will improve both
volume and sound quality.

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PLC009 RCS Blue pcb Steam Instructions.doc 08/02/18
For more information, please visit the web site at www.mylocosound.com or e-mail
[email protected].
Copyright © 2013-7 Peter Lucas Consulting Pty. Ltd.