DCC - Electrical
Alternative to lead weights in locos; regaining what's lost when fitting DCC decoders/speakers
Has anyone had to remove weight from a loco to allow fitting of a DCC sound decoder, speaker and/or KA capacitance device? I'm wondering if anyone has tried using tungsten as a weighting material in place of lead; tungsten is less dangerous environmentally (or so I've read) and can be up to about 1.8 times the density (weighing up to 1.8 times as much as an equivalent amount of lead). The Pinewood Derby guys sometimes use this stuff to weight their cars and it seems like something good for loco weights.
How do you clean loco wheels?
Now that I've managed my Labor Day goal of getting my track down (all 20 ft of it), I've discovered the wheels of my Bachman 44 tonner exude black gunk. After a just a couple of weeks on a shelf, it stalls randomly on shiny rails. It's particularly sensitive to track irregularities (nice of it to point those out), and starts up again with just a breath of a push, so it clearly has dead spots on the wheels.
Loksound Select Problem
Today I have been installing a Loksound Direct board in an Athearn RTR GP 35. This should be easy I thought!! Removed the Athearn board. Soldered a motor lead to the top motor contact, placed the Loksound board on a piece of insulated double sided tape and then stuck it where the old board was. All looked good so I then very carefully soldered the track pick ups and the two motor leads to the correct tabs. Then it was off to the programming track, fired up Decoder Pro, created a new roster entry, changed to a new 4 digit DCC address and wrote the changes.
Non-Sound Decoder for Genesis GP9 - Done
My Athearn Genesis GP9 just showed up at the LHS today, so I need to get a non-sound decoder for it. I've seen a few posts and videos on the subject on various other forum sites, and I do have one friend who messed around with some things getting his decodered some time ago. I didn't find a totally clear solution.
N-scale DL-109 Converted to DCC
This short video is of the new 2013 Walther's/Lifelike N-scale DL-109. It has been upgraded to run in DCC with a hardwired Digitrax DZ-125 decoder. This engine is a re-release of the previous 2006 edition and is not DCC friendly (as everyone thought it would be since the HO version was re-engineered to be DCC friendly) thus requiring a hardwired installation. I did not perform the install myself but had a professional do the install at the cost of $30 plus shipping/insurance. I provided the decoder.
A Tsunami that has become separated from its packaging
I have a Tsunami TSU-1000 decoder which has had its packaging misplaced (don't ever open one until you are ready to install it!). It is a steam decoder but I don't know which flavor (I have several but not even a process of elimination will help me here). I've looked at the definitions for the various CVs but I haven't found anything that would help me tell which model this is.
decoder problems
I have two decoders that are not responding to the motor commands from the Power Pro. One decoder is a TCS and the other is a Tsunamie. Both of the decoders respond the the motor commands from the power cab.
Sometimes I have to turn the Power Pro on two to five time to get the throttles and locomotives to act right. Am I trying to power too many locomotives, ( I do have a bunch of locomotives on the track) or is there something else I am doing wrong?
The Rio Grande in Alamogordo, NM
Roger Bodwell
strange happenings
I am having trouble with two of my decoders. One is a Tsunami, and one is a TCS. Both stopped taking motor commands from my Power Pro, but still take motor commands from the Power Cab. I have tried the resets from the DCC cheat card as mentioned in the MP15 question. The other locomotives act normal.
The only other thing I have noticed, the Power Pro sometimes has to be turned on more than once for every thing to work properly. Sometimes the Power Pro acts normal on the first power up, and sometimes it takes up to four or five power cycles.
converting DCS locomotives TO DCC
Has there been any articles on converting DCS locomotives to DCC? I thing I remember one within the last two years. It may not have been in MRH.
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