N-scale decoder installs

Denny,

That was a great and instructive article, also useful for me who is not an N-scaler.

In your GP20 you installed a Digitrax DZ123 decoder without the wrap. That might leave you without warranty.

The good news is that the newer Digitrax DZ125 is smaller so you might not need to remove the wrapping, and the decoder has BEMF.

The MRH mediaZine just looks so great. This was the first article I read exept Joes editorial.

Joe,

I model in ho scale, so I haven't read the article on installing decoders in n-scale locomotives, yet; but I did look at the 360 degree views of the models and it gave me an idea.

The old Mainline Modeler magazine used to do a short feature article each issue on detailing diesels from the prototype.   If you did something similar with the 360 degree rotation combined with the capability to pick a spot on the engine and magnify the detail for closer inspection, I think that would be a great addition to the magazine.  You might consider doing the same thing with freight cars or passenger cars as well.  Maybe one locomotive and one car per issue?  A friend of mine is planning to model eading Rs3's.  Reading had some unusual boxes mounted to the walkways right behind the cab on their Rs3's which made them unique from Rs3's used on other roads.  Picking a prototype like the Reading Rs3 with unique details would also be a worthwhile criteria for deciding what units to feature in the 360 degree format.

Russ

Russ:

The 3D click-n-spin format is ideal for presenting model detailing projects. In fact, we've got one coming in issue 2 - a Conrail caboose detailing article.

But we could use more - lots more! We can only publish it if you submit it - and we pay apon acceptance ...

An excellent article - almost makes me think I could do it.

The author does not mention the blue wire - I believe I can see it adjacent to the white wire on the LED PCB.

Any chance of a similar article for N scale steamers?

Art Armstrong  (Artarms)

Art:

If someone will produce it, we'll publish it. Did I mention we pay upon acceptance?

Knut:

Yes, removing the wrap voids the warranty, but at the time of the install that was the only choice. As you pointed out, the new DZ125 is smaller. I have tried one of them on a friend's engine and they run great. B-EMF makes a lot of difference in N scale smaller motors.

Art:

I don't use the blue wire, which is the common "ground" for lights (or other function outputs if any). I prefer to wire the headlight LED using one of the frame half as common. In N scale, you know, we have really tight spaces so I'm happy not to run any additional wire through the frame... I usually cut the blue wire short and never use it.

When you say you milled out the frame on one of the locomotives with a Dremel tool, what bit did you use to do it? I manged to (probably) kill my dad's grinding wheel by trying to grind down a weight from an Atlas locomotive.

It just coated the wheel.

Jeff,

I used exactly this one. It's a tungsten carbide tool, it's very hard and suitable for metals. I tried other standard tools, but found out they pretty much consumed themselves instead of milling the frame :)

I've got at least one or  two in my toolkit that look like that. I'll give them a try.

Denny 

Thanks for a most informative article, there are some very useful tips here.

I like you model in Italy and wondered where you source your US produced decoders from?  Importing electronics via the States has proved a risky and expensive venture given the Guardia di Finanza's propensity to open every package!

Any help gratefully received!

The most important thing while importing is do not try to fool custom offices! I ask the seller to fill the custom form with the description of package content (model trains, toy trains, toy trains accessories usually work) and with the exact value in USD.

I found out if those two things are clearly shown on the package, you just get a custom notice with fees to pay together with the package. Fees must be given directly to the postman. No package opened. This is cheaper than try to buy US stuff in Italy hobby shops.

I only had one bad experience with ME flextrack being opened by the custom offices: they pulled the flextracks out to check what was it, and they roughly re-packaged it all by violently push the flextracks in the cardboad tube they were in. Result? Three code 40 flextracks were completetly bent and unusable.

If you need any more help, feel free to ask! :)

it would seem this is another advantage to this e-zine.  I can look at a previous article (from Issue 1, no less), and comment/ask questions about it in hopes of getting an answer relatively quickly.  

Anyway - I have an older Kato E8 unit (N scale) that I want to convert to DCC and add sound to it.  I've seen the identical model with sound at a train show, so I know it can be done, but trying to figure out what I need is the trick.  I went back to review Denny's article in hopes it would help me and I was left with one likely obvious question, but just wanted to clear it up.  I don't see anywhere that you connect power through the contact strips from the trucks.  Does the track power come from the contacts and go through the frame?  I've installed three drop-in decoders, but this will be my first attempt at wiring one in, and then adding sound to boot, it should be a most interesting experiment.  I've been told that some people don't recommend sound decoders in N scale, but I want to give it a shot anyway.  I've seen it work and it didn't sound too bad.  Any help would be appreciated.

What sound decoder are you using?

If you can get it to fit.. then sound is fine in N. Sometimes the need to fit a speaker will cause you to lose so much weight that you can't pull anything. Sound from a smaller speaker will suffer.. and many cases just are not physically possible. My friend as a N scale E7 (I think..) that works great that came with sound built in.

MRC makes a line of drop in sound decoders that people have had a lot of trouble with. If you are using that particular brand you may run into issues. Most of the issues revolve around premature decoder failure. Perhaps they have resolved some issues. I have not followed the MRC sound decoder issue recently.

Chris

I'm not sure which decoder I'm going with yet - I have to determine the size and in my limited research, the size is often not stated.  The fuel tank seems the most appropriate place to put the speaker, but there are only three speakers I can find that would fit that area.  There will definitely be some milling of the frame to fit the speaker in (and likely a little more to place the decoder), but it is quite heavy as it is and will likely only pull 5-8 passenger cars at most.  If pulling becomes an issue from loss of weight, I'll likely get a B-unit to assist.   

I found the full specs for the Soundtraxx TSU-750 at Litchfield Station, and it should nestle in with some minor milling to the frame.  However, $112 to see if it "might" fit could be a little bit of a risk.  I'd have to mill some wire guides into the frame as well, but I think for the most part, not a lot of milling would be required so it should still have some solid weight to it.  

Wow! that is small.. that would work for the N-scale Bachman 2-8-0 I want to put sound in..