Fitting TTS decoder to A1 Tornado

[Foxee1980]

Hi all

I'm new to all this.  Purchased the R1169 Tornado Express DCC ready set for my son at Christmas. 

We have already decided to upgrade to DCC so I have purchased the Elite Controller and have bought a  Hornby TTS decoder for the Tornado which arrived today. 

The instructions that came with the chip are pretty shockingly bad... 

I've removed  the chassis from the shell and basically have no idea what to do next!

Help please!  :) 

[96RAF]

Yours looks like the one in service sheet 366.

The factory TTS one is shown in service sheet 406.

Download these from the downloads - service sheets area of the main menu on the main site.

The main difference between the two variants being the decoder socket has been moved to the tender Where they have made space for the round speaker.

Your easiest installation is to grab a replacement 8 ohm sugar cube type speaker and install it in front of the decoder socket. People have put them in the smokebox on the Flying Scotsman.

Rob

[Foxee1980]

Thanks for advice.  Yes 366 seems most like my train.  I have to say that feel a little bit aggrieved that I have spent over £40 on a chip and speaker for my specific loco and I have to modify it just to get it to fit anywhere.

Why don't Hornby make it easier to upgrade them to sound? 

[96RAF]

They do now, but yours was probably designed long before TTS was thought of.

Rob

[dynax]

I have the same loco, and have just ordered the same TTS decoder( earlier this morning), and was going to fit it tomorrow afternoon ( due to arrive by 11am), but looks like it will have to wait, till i can order a suitable sugar cube speaker, i have no intention of messing about with the tender, also looks to be the same with my FS model too, so that will also have to wait,

[Foxee1980]

Any idea what one to buy?  I guess the smallest possible? 

[Fishmanoz]

If you do a forum search on sugar cube in post content not just thread title, you’ll find many recent posts giving examples of sugar cube speakers, part numbers and who to buy them from. 

[Howbi]

@Foxee.........have a look at these, many sizes available......... http://www.youchoos.co.uk/Index-Shop.php?L1=Speakers .........HB

[Foxee1980]

Thanks :) 

[96RAF]

I just installed 2 Zimos complete with plastic boxes (resonance chambers). Both 8 ohm impedance 1 Watt Rating.

 

Sugar cube L15xW11xH12mm in the cab of a Jinty and a Micro cube L12xW8xH8mm in a Merchant Navy where it sits on the chassis directly in front of the decoder socket, with the decoder stuffed in the smokebox above it.

 

I could have used larger ones but these were the only ones I had to hand.

 

Rob

[dynax]

@ foxee

don't know yet, but HB's link offers some good choices, might have to buy a couple of each and see what works best lol,

thanks for the link HB, cheers,

@RAF,

any chance you could give a rough size of the TTS decoder, i have used an r8249 in my caledonian 0-4-0 pug, but if i could squeeze in a tts i will as there are some very small speakers that would probably fit in too,

[96RAF]

TTS decoder is 28mm long x 14mm wide x 5.5mm thick not allowing for wires or any necessary insulation.

 

I bought the Zimo micro cube speaker for my 0-4-0 diesel but used it already, so got to wait for my next UK trip to stock up.

Rob

[Bongi66]

I resently brought a TTS sound speaker and decoder for my R3093  Tornado Pullman and when I took the body of, there was no space for it (the speaker that is) apart from behind the flywheel and inside the smoke box. Does anybody know which one of these 2 spaces are best? Many thanks

[96RAF]

The standard round speaker supplied is designed to go in the tender of later (TTS Ready) models where there is a space for it and a decoder socket, but this not the case for the earlier models, which were designed before TTS was thought of, hence as the instructions say there may be a need for some modelling skills to install the retro kits. Some folk have said they got a small speaker into the smokebox where the decoder would normally go in which case you have to find room for the decoder now. Others found space to sit a cube speaker on the chassis leaving the smokebox for the decoder.

You have two choices - find room in the loco to mount a small cube speaker to replace the round one - (unsolder it at the speaker end not at the decoder) - or you can unsolder the round speaker and run extension wires (with or without a 2-pin plug and socket) across to the tender where the round speaker may fit.

[ColinB]

You could do what I did. Initially I fitted a decoder into the loco body, but my one didn't have tender pickups and kept stopping on points, so I bought the newer tender bottom that has the mountings for the dcc socket in it and more importantly pickups. I then rewired the loco so that the decoder is now in the tender, which I eventually changed to a TTS decoder.You can then use the original speaker.

As everyone else says, if you use a small suger cube speaker it will just fit in the loco body, there is enough space to fit the decoder in the smokebox. The advantage of having the decoder in the loco is you can wire in lights and cab lights. In my case as before I did the decoder move I had wired in cab lights and loco lights, so I had to add a function decoder to the loco.

[96RAF]

@colin 

TTS supports direction lights on F0 and an aux function on F25., so why the extra function decoder.

[ColinB]

Simple, the TTS is now in the tender, so unless you want a 7 way connector between loco and tender that is the only way to power the lights. As I said originally the decoder was in the loco, so lights were easy. Once I added sound and had souced the new tender bottom, I wired it as per the latest Hornby locos, decoder in the tender with a 4 way connector between loco and tender.