hi ya there ma1308
The actual physical size of the 'noisy thing' isnt that large it could, if you wish, be mounted on a board along with the amplifier as there are only 2 plugs & one set of leads from the noisy thing
2 wires go to your amplifier; 1 plug to the receiver, the other plug to your speed controller - then you will have, on your amplifier, a set of wires to go to your speaker and 1 set of wires to power the amplifier possibly from your main battery or a separate battery - the only thing is, which you have to consider, is where you are going to place this speaker on the model - cos 9 times out of 10 you are going to have to make this a permanent fixture in your model so although you will be able to transfer your amp and sound module to another model - I would be doubtful if you would be able to locate the speaker in a suitable place - in the 2nd model without having to make it permanent. But, not knowing which models you are going to use them in or where you want to locate your speakers its difficult to say - as for programming the sound module - you get all the stuff required, e.g. a CD, USB lead and a comprehensive instruction manual written for all to understand as long as you read and digest the instructions, it's pretty straight forward. There are several people on this forum who have reprogrammed the noisy thing to the sounds they require. I have included a few pics of the sound module fitted into my model of the RTTL - which I built many moons ago - and as you can see the noisy thing is situated at the back of the model - the amp and speaker are at the front end of the model - and you will see how I mounted the speaker in a reflex box. The outlet of the box is open to the air via the grille on the rope locker on the front of the boat. This was found to be pretty loud, as when we tried it on the lake there was a fairgound playing - over the road - and we could still hear the engines start up and run over the top of the noise of the fairground - whilst it was in the middle of the lake.
The only complaints I had were from the crew on the boat - they didnt have ear defenders on - and I had a right job with the Sailor's Union, as they all tried to claim against me for deafness and vibration white finger.
aye
john