Very nice and the engineer did a good job . What are you using for the beacon lens? I have some N scale U50's that I'd like to add working beacons to. Sumner
I have two of the second gen and both have the same issue with the number boards as you mentioned. Oh, those installs weren't that much easier even though they had the updated single PCB board. I wound up stuffing the speaker in the drivers cab so I didn't have to mill as much in the frame to get the micro boards to fit in the rear. Fortunately no shell trimming to get them to fit. I did have to glue the pico LEDs directly to the forward and reverse lenses though (bondic UV glue solves a lot of problems lol) I do have 3 FVM GP60 units (2 being 60B) and an SD70Ace. All require shell mods to accommodate the micro board. Because of that I just put DCC in the 60B units. Now with the smaller board I might try and put sound in them too. I use either the zimo 8x12 or SBS4DCC 8x12 speakers for my narrow bodies and never had an issue fitting width-wise. The zimo enclosures are a little taller but you can trim them down if needed.
Thank you kindly sir. I used orange 2mm tower LEDs but I just trimmed off the tower part, drilled out and stuffed my own orange pico led in it then tossed the rest of the original lamp. According to my research that scales pretty close to real life for the larger beacons that were used (12.5").
Pin vise with appropriate micro drill index. I think I used a .8mm bit but it's always best to start with a hole a little smaller than what the pico needs then work up till it's just big enough to take the LED. I use a sharp #11 blade to start the pilot hole as just about any bit will walk trying to get it started. Also be aware that the plastic on the LED is very brittle so use a razor saw to remove it from the rest of the LED. Cut longer than you need and sand down to get the proper height. You may want to test setting pilot holes to figure out the technique before you set the final height of the beacon. Trick is to proceed slowly and carefully as there isn't much room for error if off center or drilling at an angle. Don't press your luck and drill deeper than enough to get the pico lamp in place. I also affix the LED to the beacon housing with UV glue and use the wire tension to keep it all in place. It's a lot of work at first and you may even toss your first few tries like I did but given our option this is what worked for me.
Thanks that helps a lot. On the drill I got a drill like this (different seller/not listed now) and love it. Use it all the time where I would of used a pin vise drill before.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/203513032792?hash=item2f62527058:g:yQUAAOSwOBhfWMBb Google -- mini micro small electric aluminum hand portable handheld drill chuck dc 5v Sumner
