Frequently Asked Questions
Audio Kits
Our audio kits were created to be used with Train Simulators and Model Railroads. Each kit is a collection of real, raw audio from a defect detector that has not been its audio quality diminished by transmitting it over the radio. Each kit contains every possible word, letter, number, and direction to make your own custom defect detector messages for that particular model.
Sample audio recordings from real defect detectors are also included to help you get the words in the right order and the correct timing of each message.
Sample audio recordings from real defect detectors are also included to help you get the words in the right order and the correct timing of each message.
You can use our audio kits in conjunction with defect detector add-ons for various Train Simulators, or use them to add some life to a model railroad.
Some notable defect detector add-ons for Train Simulators include Searchlight Simulations' for Dovetail Games' Train Simulator, Jointed Rail's for TRAINZ Railroad Simulator, or Run 8 Studios with its built-in defect detector.
Note that all we provide is the raw audio - this is not a finished product, and still needs to be integrated into the respective project. How to accomplish this is beyond the scope of our website.
Some notable defect detector add-ons for Train Simulators include Searchlight Simulations' for Dovetail Games' Train Simulator, Jointed Rail's for TRAINZ Railroad Simulator, or Run 8 Studios with its built-in defect detector.
Note that all we provide is the raw audio - this is not a finished product, and still needs to be integrated into the respective project. How to accomplish this is beyond the scope of our website.
Audacity is a popular freeware audio program that can do anything you would ever with these audio kits. Due to its popularity, there are also numerous tutorials available on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet.
No, we do not accept audio recordings synthesized from these audio kits. The whole point of a database is to share audio of the real defect detectors out in the field, not a hypothetical representation of what they might sound like. This would be akin to having ChatGPT generate an image of a train for you, then claiming it to be a real photo that you took.
Unfortunately, we only have what we have. Getting this level of audio quality requires access to firmware files or the actual defect detectors themselves, and that is something that very, very few people have access to.
As time and resources permit. We have a very big to-do list for this ever-growing website, and we all have lives outside of here, so...eventually.
If you have access to real world defect detectors or the vocabulary firmware files for them, then you can help. Vocabulary firmware files can be easily converted to raw audio, while older detectors that only utilize EEPROM data can have the audio extracted through a chip reader. Reach out to us and we can discuss specifics.
Audio Recordings
You can submit an audio recording by using the Submit A Recording form.
Please check out our Recording Tips to learn how to obtain the best results for your audio recordings.
Please check out our Recording Tips to learn how to obtain the best results for your audio recordings.
To find a list of defect detectors in our database that we currently do not have any audio recordings of, check our Detector Audio Needed page.
If you have a noticeably higher quality version of an audio recording we already have on our site, or that detector catching a defect or other message we do not currently have an audio recording of, then please submit it.
If you have a noticeably higher quality version of an audio recording we already have on our site, or that detector catching a defect or other message we do not currently have an audio recording of, then please submit it.
If you have recordings on old cassette tapes, we can help. We have a cassette-to-USB converter and can convert them for you. If you prefer to convert them yourself, check out this link.
There are several reasons an audio clip you sent us may not have been uploaded: it may be cut off, it may not be high enough quality, or it may be a duplicate of an audio recording already on our site.
However, if the duplicate is a noticeable upgrade in audio quality over the version currently on the site, we will replace it.
However, if the duplicate is a noticeable upgrade in audio quality over the version currently on the site, we will replace it.
The only reason audio recordings are replaced/removed are when a noticeably higher quality version is submitted to us. We don't play favorites - even the founders of this site have replaced some of their own audio recordings with higher quality versions.
If you want to learn how to improve the quality of your audio recordings, check out our Recording Tips.
If you want to learn how to improve the quality of your audio recordings, check out our Recording Tips.
Defect Detectors
Employee timetable is the preferred source for location names, and sometimes what a railroad calls something may not correlate with local geography. Nevertheless, as this is a website about railroads' defect detectors, what the railroad chooses to label a detectors is what governs.
If no location names are used, as is often the case with western Class Is, we simply use the nearest township or geographic landmark.
If no location names are used, as is often the case with western Class Is, we simply use the nearest township or geographic landmark.
Yes we do! You may download a current Excel spreadsheet of all of the defect detectors in our database here.