First off i feel a little dumb asking this since iv been in the hobby and building loco's for over twenty years i thought id have done this years ago. I'm installing A line motors in my loco's and converting over to dcc. I'm wondering which decoders would be best, I'm thinking digitrax cause they have nice looking wiring harnesses and I need one that's able to operate functioning gyra lights front and rear along with headlights and beacons. I might add sound later down the road but not sure is there decoders out there that offer all the light functions plus has hook ups for sound if I choose to add it down the road. ANY advice in this would be helpful please!!
If these were my engine's TCS is my first choice, NCE would be my second. I use these based on quality of the decoder and t he excellent customer service they provide. Digitrax is the only one that you could add sound to a existing decoder(there sound decoder) IIRC at a later time. With that said if you want to add sound I would recommend ESU Lok sound decoders.
I use Warm white Led's. But you can use either Led's or bulbs. It's really up to you to pick which looks better to you. If you like I can post a video of a resent NCE decoder install showing Led's with both the red and clear Gyra light.
Erik
Erik C
CEO Warren Bay Route
SE Michigan
Modeling the D&H & EL and Detroit Terminal (1976- early 80's)
www.sprbackshops.com www.facebook.com/SPRBackshops “Appear like a duck, calm and controlled on the outside, struggling like hell underneath.”
TCS all the way. I have a few locos with NCE decoders, but I prefer TCS's motor control and lighting functions. Most of the NCE units are slated to be converted to TCS as funding permits.
The majority of my fleet is Atlas units, so my standard decoder is a hardwired TCS A4X. A few of my early installs used TCS T1s with an 8 pin harness.
Nick
Last Edit: Nov 30, 2013 20:49:05 GMT -5 by nbrodar
Here is a link to the video. This is all LED's with a NCE DASR decoder.
Erik
Erik C
CEO Warren Bay Route
SE Michigan
Modeling the D&H & EL and Detroit Terminal (1976- early 80's)
www.sprbackshops.com www.facebook.com/SPRBackshops “Appear like a duck, calm and controlled on the outside, struggling like hell underneath.”
I think I'm gonna go with the TCS T4 LED only question I have is what do I use for a wiring harness since most of my loco's are the old blue box athearn's?
SP8315 You have two choices: 1)hard wire the decoder directly to your loco or 2) hard wire the harness to the loco then plug the decoder into the harness. Just depends on if you think you'll ever have to change a decoder. But you shouldn't have that many problems w/ TCS to need to put a harness in.
Andy Jackson Santa Fe Springs CA ATSF/LAJ Fan & Modeler
Athearn had one side of the power truck transmit power through the tower and metal clip. The other side transmitted power through the frame to the bottom of the motor. I have been soldering to the side of the truck for that side. Make notches in the frame for the truck to turn.
Make sure everything is insulated from the frame!!!! If you are not careful, you could toast a decoder.
Here is a TCS A4X in an Athearn H24-66. Attach the decoder to the motor in some fashion (I used double-sided tape) and solder wires to the appropriate terminals. I ran wires from both sides of each truck.
The A4X and A6X have onboard resistors to run LEDs without having to add any resistors elsewhere. The A6X also can run 1.5 volt bulbs without adding anything, just solder to the proper place on the board.
