Please believe us when we say that this All Digital Sound / Power System
SOUNDS EVEN BETTER than it LOOKS! In fact, it's nigh unto
UNBELIEVABLE!
P-B-L has been in the "Sound" business ever since realistic "Sound" for Model
Railroads has been available. If you read the "About P-B-L" story, you already
know about our affiliation with the world famous PFM ® Sound / Power System
which dates back to 1970...
Well, for the past several years, we've had the same fellow who developed those
milestone systems working on
The Sound / Power System to end all Sound / Power Systems
for us. The single basic premise is to bring every facet of ones model scene
to life through the re-creation of
all
of the sounds that make a Steam Locomotive what it is; or a Diesel Locomotive
what it is, if that be your preference.. Or even the likes of the famous
(infamous?) Galloping Goose of the most written about railroad of all time, the
"Rio Grande Southern"; complete with gear changes which YOU effect yourself!
All of these sounds are recorded, then digitized and stored in memory chips,
which are controlled by three serious microprocessors, and able to be brought
back at your command via a wireless remote control! Truly a Sound Power
System without peer in the industry!
These astonishingly realistic sounds include:
STEAM SOUND FEATURES
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14 - Real Steam Whistles! All "Playable", plus TWO "Canned" Grade Crossing
sequences, complete, exactly as recorded on location! ( You can also "play"
these same "canned" whistles on your own, if you choose! )
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6 - Real Steam Bells
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4 - Real Steam Airpumps. Even an easily invoked "Pump Up" sequence!
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8 - Real Steam Exhausts with adjustable "cut-off"; Add enough cutoff and you
get the effect of the exhausts barking off of canyon walls!
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Fully Synchronized Exhausts or Autochuff, at your option!
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Two Cylinder and Three Cylinder Exhaust modes for your Shays and other "Three
Cylinder" locomotives, like that S.P. "5000"!
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A real "Spool-Up / Spool-Down" Steam Generator that also controls your Lighting!
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Mud Ring Blowdown! For real! Hearing this sound every morning and evening for
over 16 years impressed it indelibly into our minds... We just had to have this
additional bit of realism for
our own layout! This system is a steam lovers dream come true!
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An unbelievable, Real "Pop Valve" sequence!
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Real Synchronized "Rod Noise"; 2 selectable styles!
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"Drifting Exhaust Mode" for yard work, downgrades!
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Real Cylinder Cocks; - 2 selectable styles! Activated automatically, or at your
command!
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A coal shoveling routine that can be invoked; or not, at your command; or that
can be set to activate on its' own at random intervals!
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Coupler Noise! Two different sequences! Long train; Short train.
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Brake valve "dump"... At the press of a button!
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Wheel Noise! Slow; Medium; Fast... Programmed to "fade-in" and "fade-out"
rather than come on abruptly... Great for those long downgrades! Or even long
yard train movements!
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Plus Much More!
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Unapproachable Realism! It's the next best thing to being inside the cab of a
real locomotive!
DIESEL SOUND FEATURES
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4 - Diesel Locomotives; Early EMD; Early Alco; Late EMD; Late GE
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4 - Real Diesel Horns;
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2 - Real Diesel Bells;
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2 - Real Dynamic Braking Tracks! Both EMD and GE!
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Independent control of diesel prime mover RPM vs. throttle setting, with
"Chug-Up" just like the real thing!
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AND
COMING REAL SOON
: "Diesel Upgrade #1".
Click Here
for a taste of some actual SAMPLES of what this is all about!
AND, GET THIS
YOU ALSO GET THE WORLD FAMOUS "GALLOPING GOOSE" SOUND SUITE!
Can you believe it? The world famous "Galloping Goose" of the Rio Grande
Southern is included in the price of the basic system! Operating a "Galloping
Goose" Motorcar on our traveling layout, "Chama", never fails to evoke smiles
from even the most stoic of faces, and it's guaranteed to get a rise out of
you too!
FEATURING
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Real "Goose" Bell
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Automotive-style "Klaxon" horn.
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A starter sequence you must initiate yourself!
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Door open / close sounds, completely user-controllable!
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Even the sounds of a real 4-speed "Crunch Box" that you upshift and downshift
yourself!
[Watch out though, there's no synchromesh in that gearbox! Crrrrrrrrrrunch!]
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Even a separate track for reverse! Lotsa gear whine noise here!
OTHER SOUND FEATURES
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5 - Different "wheel noise" tracks! 4 at various speeds, plus flange
squeal! These are the coolest ever when you're drifting! We use it
often when working a locomotive through our traveling display
"Chama!" Selecting the "slow" soundtrack you can even hear
track "creaking" and protesting under the locomotive's ponderous
weight! It's just like "being there! Super realism!
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Locomotive-Storing Memory Stores over 90 locomotives! Stores
Steamers ( Including your "Autochuff" settings. ), Diesels, Geese,
or Electrics, and brings 'em back at your command, exactly as
they sounded when you saved 'em!
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Fully computability with previous FSS-1 including REMOTE-REMOTE, SWITCHMAN and
BLOCKMAN!
AUDIO CONTROL FEATURES
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Full digitally-controlled stereo preamp & power amplifier provides
all necessary audio power for your locomotive mounted speaker,
plus additional "floor" speaker or speakers. Has bass, treble, mute, plus
enhanced stereo controls.
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Also included is a specially engineered, fully adjustable Digital Crossover
Network that totally eliminates unwanted "Highs" from your floor speaker! You
can turn those floor speakers into Sub-Woofers if you like! You want "Lows"?
You got 'em! ( This feature adds an immeasurable amount of "Presence" in both
Steam and Diesel modes! )
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Improved Digital Sound sampling rate ( over the FSS-1) for even Higher
Fidelity-to-Prototype Sounds!
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Independent Volume Controls for ALL Audio Functions including
Bell, Dynamo (Turbo Generator), Whistle, Airpumps, Exhaust,
Pop Valve Sequence, Mud Ring Blowdown, Brake Application,
Cylinder Cocks, Synchronized Siderod Clank, Coal Shoveling, Couplers, plus
Overall-to-
Track, Overall-to-Line-Out, Bass & Treble, Etc. Etc. Etc.
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Independent "Tone" Controls for Track & Floor / Line Out;
THROTTLE CONTROL FEATURES
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Wireless Remote Control of ALL Locomotive Functions! Including
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Engine Speed; Via a velvety-smooth, step free Throttle!
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Fully Adjustable and Programmable Minimum and Maximum
Voltage Settings! So your lights stay lit! You can set limits
for each individual locomotive's starting voltage and top speed, tailoring 'em
to fit the characteristics / purpose of each individual locomotive, and
then "save" em to that model!
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Heavy Duty Power Supply! Full 2.5 Amp Continuous Duty Output
for the basic system! Upgradeable to a full 5 amp Continuous Duty
System to satisfy the demands of the most power hungry Large
Scale models, and still remain "ice cold" while doing it!
OTHER FEATURES
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"Beep Mode..." This feature can be invoked while you're "learning"
how to operate your system. We've included this feature so you no longer have
to "watch the lights" to know whether or not your system received that latest
command! Now you can watch your trains instead!
And yes, you can even choose to have that "Beep" be a single "Ding" of the
bell, or "toot" of the whistle, if you like!
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Onboard Diagnostics Included! Coded numbers in the LED's and/or coded error
"beeps" can enable us to pinpoint any problems that might arise long-distance!
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Even the factory settings of all EEPROM / Program values can even be reset by
the user if he so desires!
Also, the system is manufactured with readily available, easily
field-replaceable "through-hole" components for the maximum in serviceability.
All IC's, etc., on the FSS-II are socketed, so there's nothing you won't be
able to easily unplug & replace, should the need ever arise!
Obviously, your new P-B-L FSS-II has been engineered and designed
to provide you with years and years of enjoyment!
PLUS THERE ARE OPTIONS AVAILABLE TOO! LIKE:
COMPUTER INTERFACE CAPABILITY!
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Another optional feature you can add to your FSS-II is our RS-232 Port
Interface! If you are one of those guys who's into computers, you'll be
ecstatic to know that we've available an extra cost option which allows you to
plug the system directly into your computer!
Plug it in, load our software, and you now have direct access to your trains
from your computer, as well as from your wireless remote!
This feature allows you to use your Wireless Remote to "write programs on the
fly", as you operate your locomotive; then edit them any way you see fit using
your computer along with a supplied direct-access editor for writing /
downloading / uploading programs so you can later send your trains on their way
to accomplish
some task "on their own."!
Of course any programs that you create can be "saved" as "script file" which
you can later invoke easily from your wireless remote! Or which you can edit
over and
over again using your computer!
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Or you can add an infinite number of additional locomotives to your stored data
base.
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Or an infinite amount of programs for your locomotives / trains
to work their way through, etc. etc. etc...
And with laptops getting so cheap on the "used market" these days, who wouldn't
want to add this feature? It has been our experience that, during shows, when
we were trying to answer questions and run models in "Chama" at the same time
we tended to make monumental screwups! Trust me, Running a locomotive up
against a turnout thrown the wrong way and blowing the circuit breaker really
blows the illusion! But now, with some easy-to-edit "Script Files" we created,
we can simply punch in a "code number", [ Code As in the "number" we assigned
to a specific script we created.], and our locomotive performs its' task
flawlessly! And I mean FLAWLESSLY! Possessing the opportunity to "get it right
a second time", or a third or fourth time makes all the difference in the world!
"RADIO" CONTROL!
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Although the P-B-L Foreground System comes to you with a
perfectly-adequate-for-most-environments "IR" [Infra-Red] Remote Control. But
because some situations call for control that's not line-of-sight or close to
it, we now have a "Radio" type hand held that looks identical to the IR unit,
but displays the "Radio Equipped" Slogan once commonly seen on Southern
Pacific's "Hood Units"...
What our "Radio Control" does is pretty amazing. In actual tests we have been
able to perform such tasks as blowing whistles from up to a quarter mile away
from our shop! [Far enough away that we had to use "relay signals" to verify
this was happening!]
It's available as an extra cost option, so if you don't need it, you don't have
to pay for it.
"SWITCHMAN!"
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Imagine having at your fingertips the capability of controlling your Turnouts
directly from your Wireless Remote!
Well sir, many folks have seen the Foreground System in operation
on our traveling display, "Chama.." Each turnout on "Chama" can
be thrown directly from the operators hand held remote control! A complimentary
product we call "SWITCHMAN" is responsible for this! In fact, we use
one single SWITCHMAN on "Chama" to control all of its'the turnouts, [ there
are 13 of them], plus we use it to control our operating Water Tower and Coal
Towers, and the sounds for each as well!
Each SWITCHMAN controls up to 20 different devices requiring DPDT or SPDT
circuitry, directly from your Wireless Remote, or from your PC! Yes, you can
even create "script files" on your PC to do multi-tasking events, such as
throwing a sequence of turnouts in your yard, the same way a "matrix" used to
do it! But with only a few keystrokes, of either your hand held remote, or on
your PC instead of a bunch of complex hard wiring!
Not only is each individual SWITCHMAN capable of operating 20 of the slow
motion type switch machines, each FSS-II is capable of handling up to 256
"Switchmen"! [ 'You think that's enough to get you by? ]
"Switchman" are now being built and will become available early this coming
spring [2003]. We're figuring some time in June / July. Get your reservations
in NOW
so as to be able to take full advantage of this incredibly easy to install and
wire, time saving device!
"BLOCKMAN"
The FSS-II's Are IN STOCK and AVAILABLE NOW!
CLICK HERE
TO GET IN THE "QUEUE" FOR DELIVERY OF YOUR NEW FSS-II !
(Don't forget to include your proper Mailing Address and Zip or Postal Code.)
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