Download Athearn Veranda Sound Install Revised 8-11-2010

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Athearn Veranda Sound Install
Revised 8-11-2010
Author: Steve Gill, Ulrich Models
Abstract
The Athearn Veranda, Gas Turbine is the second release of UP gas turbines from Athearn.
Since the model comes without sound, a sound upgrade is required. With the installation of
this QSI sound kit, great sound is added to this attractive model.
The speakers used in the original Athearn Gas Turbine Upgrade Kit will not fit into the
Veranda due to the reduced interior space. The reduced spaced is caused by the Veranda
recessed walkway.
The Athearn Veranda runs well and is a nice looking model with great paint and detail.
However, it is messy inside and Athearn really made no effort to provide a place for a sound
decoder. With such a large shell, the decoder has to be crammed in and barely fits. The
location of the shell mounting posts is poorly thought out and creates issues with decoder
mounting and wiring.
Athearn did not use the normal Genesis DCC lamp board which includes an integrated 1.5
volt regulator for lamps. Instead, the turbine has new electronics that use current limiting
resistors for lighting control. The resistors used are designed for the maximum DC analog
voltage of 14-18 volts instead of the DCC nominal 12 volts. This makes the lighting
unacceptably dim when driven by a DCC output. Even with the correct voltage and current,
the micro bulbs used by Athearn would not provide prototypical illumination levels.
Ulrich Models offers an LED upgrade kit for the Athearn gas Turbine to improve the lighting.
See our website for more information. If you purchased the LED Lighting upgrade, it needs
to be installed prior to installing the sound upgrade kit.
Install Kit
The sound install kit is shown below. The speakers are pre-wired and have been phased
correctly. They are connected to the decoder by a two-pin connector for ease of
installation. A gasket is used to seal the 1.1” speakers to the speaker recess floors.
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Figure 1 – The Install Kit
Installation
The first step is to remove the shell. The shell is held on by four screws located under the
front and rear trucks. Once the screws are removed, the shell slips off easily
Figure 2 – Completed Install
The kit is fairly easy to install; since all the speakers are prewired, soldering is not required.
The speakers in the kit are mounted flush to the bottom of the speaker recesses using
adhesive gaskets. We have supplied four gaskets per kit even though only 2 are required. It
is easy to damage a gasket so we sent spares. Before sealing the speakers to the floor,
check for burrs or flashing around the holes in the speaker recesses. If the floor of the
speaker recess is not perfectly smooth, use a small flat file to remove the flashing. Once the
flashing is removed wipe and blow off the floor to removes any filings. Since the speaker
cones are so close to the floor, the bits of metal flashing can protrude up far enough to hit
the cone and cause distortion. The flashing can also interfere with the speaker gasket seal.
Mount the Front Speaker
The front circuit board screws needs to be loosened so the circuit board can be raised to fit
the speaker underneath without damaging the gasket. If you decide to remove the circuit
board so it is totally out of the way, the headlamp assembly will need to be rotated to
obtain clear access to the front screw. To rotate the headlight assembly, remove one screw
and loosen the second screw to rotate it out of the way.
Remove one side of the protective paper on the 1.1” gasket. Then carefully attach the
gasket to the speaker using the tip of an X-Acto knife blade as shown in figure 3. Once
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the gasket is partially sealed to the speaker, you can rotate the blade to free it from the
adhesive. Try to keep your fingers off the adhesive as it may pull the gasket off the
speaker. Once attached, remove the outer protective paper from the gasket.
Orient the speaker so the wire connections are towards the back of the frame. Slip the
front speaker under the board and press the speaker to the floor to seal the gasket. Hold
it down firmly to make sure it seals. Once the speaker is installed, secure the headlight
assembly and circuit board by reinstalling and tightening the screws. After installing the
rear speaker, we will route all the wires. Again, care must be taken to keep the wires
away from the shell mounting posts or the will be caught and damaged when the shell is
installed.
Figure 3 – Front and Rear Speaker
Note:
Although the speakers look smaller than desired, it is not looks that produce the best
sound. The 28 mm Soundtraxx speaker with the gasket seal sounds as good as any other
speaker that will fit.
Mount the Rear Speaker
Install the rear speaker with the speaker wire terminals pointing towards the front of the
locomotive. Again, keep the wires away from the shell mounting post holes. Install the
speaker using a 1.1” adhesive gasket.
Install the Decoder
Unused decoder wires in the decoder rear harness can be removed. To remove the
wires disconnect the harness from the JST connector and remove the wires; pull the
wires out of the 8-pin harness one at a time. The two purple wires are required for this
installation. The other three wires are only there in the event that additional decoder
functions are desired for some purpose and are not needed for the install.
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Plug the decoder into the 9-pin JST connector. Orient the decoder so the rear connector,
with the purple speaker wires, is towards the front of the locomotive. There is very little
clearance between the decoder and the locomotive roof. It is important to locate the
decoder as shown. The decoder must be flush with the plastic shield. Do not run wires
under the decoder. Route the wires around the side of the decoder and under the tape.
Again, I used Kapton tape. I highly recommend it.
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Figure 4 - Decoder installation
Finish the Installation
Secure the wires at the front of the frame with tape as shown. The decoder capacitor
wire is run under the tape. The capacitor can rest on the two semiconductor silver cans.
Bend the capacitor wires up to clear the gear box. If desired, the capacitor can be
cemented to the cans with Goop or E6000 so it will not move around.
Put the locomotive on the track without the shell and test it to make sure it runs
correctly and the lights work.
Install the four screws in the bottom of the frame that secure the shell. Check each hole
before inserting the screw to make sure you can see the threads and there is not a wire
trapped under the post.
Be sure that all wires are inside the shell mounting holes in the frame; wires outside of
the holes will be caught and crushed during the shell reinstall.
Next, put the shell back on. When sliding the shell down over the frame and
components, be sure all wires are clear and do not get caught between the shell and the
frame.
Figure 5 - Competed Install
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