# Airwire G3 with Soundtraxx Econami?



## Giant23Heavy (Jul 21, 2016)

Hey everyone, 

I recently purchased an Aristo SD45 from eBay and wanted to give it the whole overhaul (Sound, Battery, etc) and was feeling to trying something other than Phoenix. I liked the samples from Soundtraxx and wanted to see if anyone had experience with Airwire, Soundtraxx, and Aristocraft products all mixed together. I also saw the CONVERTR series from Airwire but wasn't sure how they've would be compatible with Aristo. I know Airwire has the ADAPTA board for an Aristo/G3 combo.

Thanks, 

Gary


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

The AW Converters are a RC device that is designed to drive a DCC decoder with battery power. They are very simple to hook up, two wires from the battery, two wires to the decoder. They have up to 6A output.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, a Convrtr that plugged into the Aristo socket might not be a bad product.

Or maybe they will offer the Adapta boards with a Convrtr built in.

With the costs of quality DCC motor and sound decoders coming down, paying for an "extra" motor control circuit seems to be an unnecessary cost.

Greg


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

Yes, the best application for them is to power a sound, motor decoder like Zimo.


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## Giant23Heavy (Jul 21, 2016)

Thanks for the info guys! Looks like I'll just stick with a G3 and Phoenix. But dang does that soundtraxx sound good...


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Woah! You asked about G3 and Soundtraxx instead of G3 & Phoenix.

Some discussion on going Convrtr and an even better sound card (full decoder, not sound only)

So sorry, maybe we did you a disservice by suggesting an alternative that was different from the 2 choices you asked about.

Have you compared the soundtraxx to the Phoenix directly, in person?

Greg


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## DocJ (Apr 3, 2012)

*Convertr-6 and Soundtrax Econami-400*

The combination of a CVP Airwire Convertr-6 and a SOundtrax Econami-400 is a wonderful solution. The Econami-400 can power a 2 or 4 motor G Scale engine and give you wonderful sound AND motor control. THe Convertr-60 can put out enough power for the Economi-400 and gives you great wireless control by just hooking the unit between the battery & the Soundtraxx. An alternative to the Economai is a QSI Magnum which gives great sound and great motor / function control w heavy amp capacity. The QSI remote option is no longer made but you get the same thing with the Convertr-60.

If you have your heart set on a Phoenix I'd pair that with a CVP NW2 adapter board (built in radio and motor / function control). But the Economai and the QSI have great motor/function control & sound at a great price. The NW2 board also has built in support for the Phoenix remote control couplers - a real plus for switching operations. The NW2 board is small enough for most engines but you may have to fool with the daughter board w switches (meant to go behind the NW2 radiator).


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Actually I believe the QSI radio receivers are once again available.

And to just help people reading, there was a product called a QSI Magnum that predates the current production unit called a QSI Titan... The titan has the "locomotive simulator/emulator capability"..

I'd like to hear more experience on the Econami power handling, especially in a 2 motor USA trains diesel.

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Greg Elmassian said:


> Actually I believe the QSI radio receivers are once again available.


That'd be good news if true, if for no other reason than to be some faint sign of life from QSI which has been comatose for quite some time. From whom are they available? I've seen nothing from the online guys (Tony's, Litchfield, TrainTek, etc., to say nothing of Reindeer Pass or RLD specific to large scale suppliers.)

With respect to the Econami, I had one in my B'mann K-27 until just recently. (I moved it to a B'mann mogul.) The current draw on the K-27 is about the same as my NW-2, based on battery life under normal operation. I had no issues at all with the Econami in the K, running for hours on end at club displays. I only replaced it because I got a Zimo board, and I felt it a better fit sound-wise for how I run the K-27. 

Later,

K


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## Giant23Heavy (Jul 21, 2016)

Greg Elmassian said:


> Woah! You asked about G3 and Soundtraxx instead of G3 & Phoenix.
> 
> Some discussion on going Convrtr and an even better sound card (full decoder, not sound only)
> 
> ...



No, no disservice was done. No feelings hurt here...

But I did contact some people at Soundtraxx and Airwire and they seem confident that an ECO-400 would work with a G3... Comes in the mail at the end of the week, we'll see how it goes! 

Gary


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