Station melodies

[leegodwine]

Not sure if this is the right location for this.  But has anyone try incoporating station melodies to their layout?  My thought is that to use a simple MP3 decoder for each station and a small trigger, so when the train stop or depart, we can trigger it to playback the same station melodies that play at different JR station

Thoughts?

[Martijn Meerts]

I've thought about it, but it'd be computer controlled somehow.

[CaptOblivious]

I've thought about it too, but I haven't begun implementing anything yet for two reasons:
1) MP3 hardware typically can only play one channel at a time. I want more than station melodies, I want train sounds and crowd noise and ATOS announcements. I'm thinking of using software called Boodler (google it :D), but I don't know how to combine this software with independent hardware installations in a layout.

2) Even if I didn't care bout 1) above, MP3 hardware is expensive! e.g. http://www.cutedigi.com/product_info.php?products_id=4327

BUT, if all you want is something simple, and you have the money, combining the above hardware (or like) with an Arduino and some simple light sensors would actually be very easy. Hell, I'd even help out, just out of interest.

[bill937ca]

It's common on many Japanese You Tube videos of model trains. I've read a 10 second length for the prototype which you might want to shorten.

An example.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/htlYw4KX2RE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/htlYw4KX2RE</a>

On sennokaze619's Channel look for trains with open doors and you will get some station melodies including some private railway and subway but not much JR.

http://www.youtube.com/user/sennokaze619#g/u

[leegodwine]

Nice, thats exactly what i wanted to do.  I downloaded almost everything from this site:

http://melody.pos.to/

So now, its just a matter of time to figure out the trigger to play it back (ST has a cheap MP3 decoder, but I will need to manually program up a microcontroller of some sort) and a timing device for it...

But this is a cool idea.

Another option is to use those little key chian I bought from KTM (and some from the Saitama Railway musuem), those thing plays some nice quality train melodies

[to2leo]

I have to admit, those station melodies can become very distracting and annoying especially during rush hours in Tokyo, Uneo, Shinjuku and many other multi-lines stations.  Fortunately, I don't have to wait long to hear the melody for my train. 

[leegodwine]

Yeah, I suppose if you have to listen to it daily.  But for people like myself who only gets to visith Japan a few week per year, it is pretty cool.  I actually have set some of it as ringtone on my BB :)

[CaptOblivious]

Yeah, I suppose if you have to listen to it daily.  But for people like myself who only gets to visith Japan a few week per year, it is pretty cool.  I actually have set some of it as ringtone on my BB :)

Same here; Yamanote Line at Tokyo Station is my ringtone ;)

So, first, a question: How do you anticipate triggering the melody? By hand (which is pretty much how it gets done on the prototype), or by sensor? If by sensor, what kind? There are lots of options here: magentic reed switches triggered by magnets in trains (allows you to be selective about what triggers it, but requires installing magnets in undercarriages), optical sensors (cheap and easy, but depending on the arrangement may not work in some lighting conditions; also non-selective about what triggers it), fancy-pants DCC-with-feedback (hella expensive and hella complex, but you get total control)?

[scott]

only...a few week per year

[boggle] I hope to get there for a couple of weeks...ever! 

I haven't tried to set up anything complicated or automatic, but before my old computer died I had a simple OS 9 program that let you trigger sounds manually from the keyboard. So it wasn't great for perfect simulations, but it was a fun addition to running the trains. (Which I can't do right now, since most of the tracks are pulled up for scenery work...)

As Jeff will tell you, I find too many automatic things creepy. :-)

[leegodwine]

only...a few week per year

[boggle] I hope to get there for a couple of weeks...ever! 

I haven't tried to set up anything complicated or automatic, but before my old computer died I had a simple OS 9 program that let you trigger sounds manually from the keyboard. So it wasn't great for perfect simulations, but it was a fun addition to running the trains. (Which I can't do right now, since most of the tracks are pulled up for scenery work...)

As Jeff will tell you, I find too many automatic things creepy. :-)

I love to automate everything if i can :) 

CaptOblivious For starter, it will probably be a simple touch switch burried unerneath the track, eventually, i want to use optical sensors. 

The keychain i was referring to are these things:  http://www.strapya-world.com/categories/12_60_2455_4911.html  I bought like 30 of these when I was in Japan during October/November.....

[CaptOblivious]

CaptOblivious For starter, it will probably be a simple touch switch burried unerneath the track, eventually, i want to use optical sensors. 

The keychain i was referring to are these things:  http://www.strapya-world.com/categories/12_60_2455_4911.html  I bought like 30 of these when I was in Japan during October/November.....

A touch switch, how? As in a button you press, or a button that a train presses…not quite clear how that would work.

How much are you opposed to destroying them? The easiest thing to do would be to pull the circuit board and remove the button on the keychain, design a simple circuit based on a 555 timer, and just wire the thing directly to the keychain, in place of the existing button.

[leegodwine]

It will be a button that the train will press.  its similar to release switches on older manufacturing robot, just that its a lot smaller, it will play once when press.  When the train arrive it will go over this switch.  The spring on the switch will be removed so that it doesn't derailed the train

I have no problem with destroying them... and I agree, accessing the PCB directly is probably the easiest thing to do, but I probably will not use a 555 for this, i don't want it to trigger off a timed elapse

[CaptOblivious]

It will be a button that the train will press.  its similar to release switches on older manufacturing robot, just that its a lot smaller, it will play once when press.  When the train arrive it will go over this switch.  The spring on the switch will be removed so that it doesn't derailed the train

I have no problem with destroying them... and I agree, accessing the PCB directly is probably the easiest thing to do, but I probably will not use a 555 for this, i don't want it to trigger off a timed elapse

The thing is, trains are very long; you don't want it triggered over and over again as each car passes over the sensor. I figured a 555 could be used to suppress extra triggers, in addition to introducing a delay before the melody began.

[leegodwine]

It will be a button that the train will press.  its similar to release switches on older manufacturing robot, just that its a lot smaller, it will play once when press.  When the train arrive it will go over this switch.  The spring on the switch will be removed so that it doesn't derailed the train

I have no problem with destroying them... and I agree, accessing the PCB directly is probably the easiest thing to do, but I probably will not use a 555 for this, i don't want it to trigger off a timed elapse

The thing is, trains are very long; you don't want it triggered over and over again as each car passes over the sensor. I figured a 555 could be used to suppress extra triggers, in addition to introducing a delay before the melody began.

Ah i see what you mean, so the plan for now is to use this setup only at station end, only one car will trigger this off.