Model Railroading > Digitrax DH165IP connections for SFX006 Soundbug, Quick & Easy

I installed the decoder in a KATO SD40 then got a good deal on the Soundbug which is compatable. Unlike other DH165 decoders which have an 8 pin socket for the Soundbug Digitrax says hardwire connections must be made. I cannot find the required connections anywhere. Is it as simple as connecting the 9 and 10 terminals to track power or am I going to need to make additional connections to the decoder which has an 8 pin plug but no other solder terminals.

I have opened a support ticket with Digitrax about this.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/19 21:45 by fbe.

I've had questions before, and called Digitrax direct . The lady that answered the phone transfered me right away to someone in another area and he helped me on the spot.
Opening a ticket for me takes a day or two. After the hurricane last fall, things might have changed.

Steve H...

Folks, Do Digitrax and yourselves a favor. Use the 8300 person Digitrax Groups IO support group for help. You will get instant help from a large and experienced audience.  These are the old Yahoo groups that have moved.

You can join here.

https://groups.io/g/Digitrax-Users

https://groups.io/g/Digitrax-Users/topics

Digitrax has a small staff and was wiped out by the recent hurricane. They are operating out of a small building right now and are still rebuilding. Help them this way,

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/19 04:53 by brfriedm.

Here is the response from Digitrax.

"The 9 and 10 terminals reconnected to track power. See page 4 of the manual:

http://www.digitrax.com/media/apps/products/sound-decoders/sfx006/documents/SFX006_flattened_rev.1.pdf

The 8 pins are not used."

Since the Soundbug does not control the movement or lighting the polarity of 9 and 10 may not matter.

Off to the Portland so it will be next week before I make the connections and program the address.

Thanks to all for the help.

I had some time this evening so I took the Soundbug and clipped the 9 and 10 terminals to my test track. There was no sound until I selected address 03 with the throttle. Bell, horn, throttle and other sounds were controlled with the throttle.

Next I disconnected the power wires from the track and connected 9 & 10 to the left and right power connection plates on the KATO motherboard where pick up wires from the trucks are connected. That DH165IP decoder was on address 03 and both operated properly from one throttle command through all Functions. The polarity of the 9 & 10 connections made no differnce.

Final step will be to download the SD40-2 project from the Digitrax Sound Depot and install it to the Soundbug.

I think I would generally install a new sound decoder in a locomotive but if I had an already installed nonsound decoder with a lot of lighting connections and perhaps some advanced operations programming I would apply an SFX006 Soundbug if there is a good sound project file for the locomotive I was working with. The Soundbug unit will work with non Digitrax decoders as well.

I downloaded the Digitrax SD40-2 sound project to my computer. The locomotive sounds are good but the horn and bell sounds are pretty poor and sound like they are computer generated. The GP38 horn and bell sound much better. Is there any way to move the horn and bell sounds from the decoder files to the SD40-2 file on my computer?

Thanks.

https://groups.io/g/Digitrax-Users 

https://groups.io/g/Digitrax-Users/topics 


fbe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I downloaded the Digitrax SD40-2 sound project to
> my computer. The locomotive sounds are good but
> the horn and bell sounds are pretty poor and sound
> like they are computer generated. The GP38 horn
> and bell sound much better. Is there any way to
> move the horn and bell sounds from the decoder
> files to the SD40-2 file on my computer?
>
> Thanks.