I noticed that the straightline speed curve that is stock on Tsunami2/Econami decoders is not the most optimized for low speed settings with Genesis/RTR Athearn locomotives. After using the "Switching Speed" function in the Tsunami2, I felt the decoder was more capable of finer low speed control then was initially available OOTB. The trick wasn't to use the 3 point speed curve, but to enable the 28 point speed table and shift the mid values closer to the top of the speed curve making a shallow curve on the low end and a sharper curve towards the top speeds.

Way back in the 1990s Model Railroader published a DIY circuit for a reefer sound generator with a 555 timer, a pseudo transducer, plus a myriad of parts. It was powered by a simple 9 volt battery. As crude as this thing was. It sounded more like a clicker, you get 2 or more of these things together then it started sounding more like a refrigeration unit. It was kind of a cool effect and back then onboard sound in any sort of capacity was pretty unique.

I had a moment to write a bit of a commentary and reflect a bit on DCC over the past 20 years to now.

http://free-mo.org/node/304

In response to my article, Dave Falkenberg asked me to what wifi control system I was looking into trying out. In terms of comparison only. It's nice to look at control systems for the other hobby markets. These are two that I found that had ether immediate potential usage or possible usage in the future with possible reduction in unit size.

Hobby King 4Ch WiFi Receiver

Can't claim these colors are "dead ringers" an exact match but they should get you pretty close.