ASA Discussion (split from New Blue Line Car Discussion)

diburning wrote:well, I used to like the female voice on the "yellow line" before they changed over to the new monotone voice.

I agree -- the voice on the old Clever Devices bus announcements sounded good. But the ding before each announcement was annoying.

The voice on the newer Transit Master announcements sounds artificial, because the pitch makes Each. Word. Sound. Like. Its. Own. Sentence. They could easily fix this, even if they needed to save memory by reusing the recordings for words like "street".

I'd really prefer no bus announcements at all. My commute passes a few dozen stops, and the announcements really get irritating. I recently rode in a car along the route of my commute, and after a while I realized why it was so much more relaxing than riding the bus -- no announcements every few seconds.

It's a rare situation where the announcements actually help someone find their stop -- people who don't know where they're going have to ask the driver for help anyway.

Frank Ogelsby is the voice of those announcements as well.

Does the Blue Line ASA system still consistently announce that the doors are opening on the opposite side of the car? I wish there was a station with platforms on both sides to see if it would announce that the doors aren't opening on either side!

TrainManTy wrote:Does the Blue Line ASA system still consistently announce that the doors are opening on the opposite side of the car? I wish there was a station with platforms on both sides to see if it would announce that the doors aren't opening on either side!

Yes, they do. There are actually 2 ASAs being used right now, but one's only a test. (Hopefully it'll replace the one in service.) Also, it the test version only flashes it once, and only says "DOORS OPEN RIGHT" or "DOORS OPEN LEFT" as compared to the scrolling, repeating notice.

Hey, question about the stop announcements on the green line.

The structure is, of course, as follows:

1) Next Stop: (Station).

2) Entering: (Station). Doors will open on the left/right.

3) (Station name, again). The destination of this train is: (Destination).

Now, how come sometimes step 3 is announced once the doors open, and other times it seems to be broken--it is announced IMMEDIATELY after the train says "Entering..." (right after step 2)? Is this a malfunction, or a setting that some operators change? It seems silly if it's an option, as I think it should announce it once the vehicle is stopped and the doors are opened.

Thanks!

CircusFreakGRITZ wrote:Hey, question about the stop announcements on the green line.

The structure is, of course, as follows:

1) Next Stop: (Station).

2) Entering: (Station). Doors will open on the left/right.

3) (Station name, again). The destination of this train is: (Destination).

Now, how come sometimes step 3 is announced once the doors open, and other times it seems to be broken--it is announced IMMEDIATELY after the train says "Entering..." (right after step 2)? Is this a malfunction, or a setting that some operators change? It seems silly if it's an option, as I think it should announce it once the vehicle is stopped and the doors are opened.

Thanks!

That's been like that; I think it's a glitch in the system. When I take the Green Line in to school every day, more often than not, it'll be fine. There are a considerable amount of times where it's impatient and just says the station name and destination right after "Entering:".

The last message where it says "<STATION NAME> The Destination of This Train is: <DESTINATION>" is supposed to be tied into the interlocks on the doors. When a door in either car is opened, the message would play. However, since the Type 7s were converted to trainline with the type 8s, the message is played right after the ENTERING message because of the door interlocks on the type 7s being old.

It's just an "interesting variety," and isn't a problem that needs to be fixed right away if at all.

diburning wrote:The last message where it says "<STATION NAME> The Destination of This Train is: <DESTINATION>" is supposed to be tied into the interlocks on the doors. When a door in either car is opened, the message would play. However, since the Type 7s were converted to trainline with the type 8s, the message is played right after the ENTERING message because of the door interlocks on the type 7s being old.

It's just an "interesting variety," and isn't a problem that needs to be fixed right away if at all.

So does this vary depending on if a Type 7 or a Type 8 is leading?

It doesn't matter what's leading. If theres a type 7 in the consist, it will do it since the cars are trainlined.

diburning wrote:The last message where it says "<STATION NAME> The Destination of This Train is: <DESTINATION>" is supposed to be tied into the interlocks on the doors. When a door in either car is opened, the message would play. However, since the Type 7s were converted to trainline with the type 8s, the message is played right after the ENTERING message because of the door interlocks on the type 7s being old.

It's just an "interesting variety," and isn't a problem that needs to be fixed right away if at all.

This is totally false. I have been on many type 7s where the ASA announcements are timed properly. I wouldn't rule out that some type 7s might cause it play wrong but it's definitely not a flaw in every set that has a 7 in it.

I guess I neglected to say that although most of the type 7s do it, not all of them do.

What I meant was that if the set has that problem, then it's almost always the type 7 that causes it.

Are we going to start a tracker list for the ones that do and don't do it?

I'd say the problem was very common in the beginning but it seems for the most part it's been fixed now. I'd say majority of rides I take now the ASA works properly.

If you ever look up into the part where the door slides along the track, you'll see that the majority of them have rusted out. If the ASA is hooked up to that, then it could be a contact issue.

Hmm, thanks for the responses guys. I feel like I've been on single type 8's where this has happened, but they were probably coupled to a 7.

I wouldn't be surprised if some type 8s have the same problem. The door mechanisms appear to be similar, but the mechanisms on the type 8s haven't rusted yet (with the salt used in the winter, they may rust faster than usual).