# Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU T1000



## RCE (Sep 14, 2009)

I'm thinking of using the Airwire /Gwire control system in my engines. I was told by Soundtraxx that the TSU 1000 would work.
Has anyone used the Tsunami TSU 1000 in there trains, if so how do they sound?Do you put a resistor across the motor leads to simulate a load for motor noise? 
Thanks, Richard


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

I have one TSU-1000 in a large scale USAT speeder. I just tested it by running it up to speed and then physically stalling it so that the motor does not generate any BEMF and act like a resistor. The Speeder stall current is within the TSU-1000 average current spec. 

Unlike a QSI or ESU decoder which relies on BEMF to determine the loco speed to set the temp of the sound, the TSU-1000 just keeps running. You'll probably have to use the AirWire TX to program CV29 to turn off analog conversion. The TSU-1000 would be hooked to the decoder output of the AirWire RX. 

The TSU-1000 doesn't make a whole lot of audio power and you may be disappointed by meagre level of sound.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I used one, and it did not handle current well, my Accucraft Casey Jr would cause it to overheat. It also did not like my 23 or so volts DCC. 

Run at a lower voltage, I still got overheating and shutdown. 

Replacing it with a Zimo MX642 (another HO decoder with sound) eliminated all problems. 

You can buy my TSU-1000 cheap.... but you have to promise you won't return it... using it as sound only might have no problems other than what George said, I was not happy with the sound output, but it was OK, just not capable of loud. 

Greg


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## mapper65 (Feb 15, 2009)

Sorry this reply may be a little late but I used a TSU-1000 in my Bachmann Eureka & Palisade and it works great. I used a Digitrax DG583S decoder for the motor and a TSU-1000 for the sound. Below is a link to a video of what it sounds like. The video was shot well before an additional 3 or 4 hours of tweaking was put into the two decoders to get the thing to run and sound correctly. The chuff adjustment took the most time to get right. Being that one decoder is made for for G and the other for HO you have to juggle the numbers around when it comes to acel, decel and chuff sync.

I should post an updated video because this thing sound really good now despite how unsynchronized the chuffing sounded when I first powered it up and shot the video. This engine comes standard with a chuff cam which I eventually wired up through a spare wire in the tender harness but soon found that it was unreliable being that they use two tines for the triggering and they don't always make contact at the same time or at times it sounds like I would have needed to build a denounce circuit to help clean things up. Being that I would have needed to use a shoe horn to get anything else inside of the boiler or tender because I used a pretty large speaker I decided to go back to auto chuff sync. I found some pretty good settings that I'm very happy with and the chuff cam would have only made things slightly better for the decent amount of extra work that was going to need to be done.

I mentioned in the video that I still had to add a resistor. I never did. I used a resistor on the TSU-1000 so that I could read back the settings into Decoder Pro while I was programming it and then removed it prior to buttoning it up. It didn't seem like it did anything as far as the changes in sound goes for back EMF so I just left it out. 

I have to disagree with Greg's statement about the decoder not being loud. Mine is plenty loud in fact a few if the sounds needed turned down. In the video you'll actually hear the sound of the whistle distorting the camera's microphone although it sound much cleaner in person. A buddy of mine that I run with always tells me that I should cut the master volume back a little. I like it right where it is. 

Have fun!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNcKhSOM_BI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## RCE (Sep 14, 2009)

mapper65 
Thanks for posting the video. It sounds good to me. 
For now I am using a Aristo track side T.E. in a box car for RC. but when I go to Air wire/GWire control I'll be looking at the TSU1000 for sound. 
Richard


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks for the video. I have to agree--that sounds plenty loud for my ears, certainly adequate for how I run my trains. I might just have to get one to play with. Question--why not just use the mechanical chuff trigger on the 4-4-0 instead of using the "auto chuff" feature? 

Later, 

K


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

As he said, the mechanical triggers often don't work well, and I agree "debouncing" is what is needed, but that is just my opinion. Need to verify with a scope. 

Greg


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

They do bounce. However, by slightly increasing the tension on the two wipers the bouncing is usually stopped.


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## mapper65 (Feb 15, 2009)

That was the first thing that I tried. I have a friend that also put sound in his Eureka and his does the same thing and it sounds funny at low speeds but clears up at about 20% throttle. I think mine sounds fine on auto chuff so I'm sticking with that, in this case it's not worth anymore trouble. I'm not that much of a rivet counter to worry about it. Close enough on this one is good enough for me.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I had the same experience with an AML K4 and their 0-6-0.... they miss a beat sometimes. 

The autochuff is more reliable, and good enough for me, although at some point in the future, I intend to put magnets in the "drum" and use a sensor to pick them up. 

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

...As he said, the mechanical triggers often don't work well... 
Didn't register that on first read. I've had good luck with the B'mann 4-4-0/2-6-0 chuff contacts, but all of the 2-8-0s I've worked on suffered terribly from that illness. The solution there, I found, was actually _less_ contact. In between each of the metal contact bars on the cam, I placed a thin piece of shim styrene so the metal "brushes" for lack of better word didn't make contact with the rod except when it was right at the apex. Since that's the only point of contact, there's less opportunity for the contacts to "bounce," eliminating the multiple chuffs. Also, giving them a good once-over with some 400-grit or finer sandpaper (whatever I had handy) to polish the contacts seemed to help. They're now as reliable as any optical or magnetic system I've used. If I do begin to have issues, I'll just solder a reed switch across the metal contacts, bend them back a bit, and glue magnets to the cam. 

Alas, I _am_ something of a rivet counter when it comes to properly quartered exhaust, so I'm glad to know that it's not something inherent in using the Tsunami in this environment which would mandate using auto chuff in lieu of a cam. When I compare all the time and energy I've spent trying to get the "auto chuff" (technically BEMF chuff) on my one non-cam loco properly calibrated to what it would have taken me to install a proper cam when I was building it in the first place... ugh! Won't make that mistake again. Alas, fixing that now would require major surgery to the loco, so I'll live with it. It's not _that_ noticeable unless I'm watching really closely. 

Later, 

K


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I prefer exactly timed chuffs too, the auto chuff is easy to set with the QSI, but very difficult with others. But still, it's really nice to have it chuff when the piston is in the right position. 

But, if I have to choose between the right frequency but not exact piston position AND right piston position but skipping chuffs often, I'll take the former. 

I really have not found any purely mechanical (metal contacts on metal) that is reliable enough for me. 

Greg


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