Last week, after spending way too much time reading about DCC, I took the plunge and purchased a DCC starter set (Digitrax Zephyr). The cost of the starter sets is not that steep and neither are the decoders. For me, the greatest amount of frustration I have had is with decoder installation.

I, of course, wanted to be able to convert a loco to DCC as soon as possible so I bought the Digitrax recommended DH165A0 for an Atlas U-23B HO locomotive. The installation type was listed as "board replacement" -- sounds easy enough. But for someone who's hardly ever taken the shell off  a loco it was a bit of a learning experience.

The problem I had with the install was with getting the existing circuit board off those plastic retaining clips. I had to exert so much force on those darn things that I just knew I was going to break something off. And then getting the new board back on to those clips was just as difficult. Daymares of ripping off capacitors, resistors, and diodes tortured my brain as I struggled to snap the decoder into place.

But once I got it in place, and was able to run the loco on my test track I was impressed with how smoothly it ran (admittedly, it already ran quite well on DC). Unfortunately, for an unknown (to me) reason, the headlamps didn't work. (I conveniently offloaded this work to my friendly neighborhood DCC/locomotive guru).

For my next DCC project, I decided to tackle a different kind of decoder installation -- converting an Athearn (pre-Genesis) F7. For this loco, I bought the Digitrax 163AT. The 163AT consists of the Digitrax 163D decoder along with a pre-made wiring harness. This installation would prove to have its own set of "opportunities". The biggest problem with this decoder was the general lack of documentation. Thank God for the 'Net!

I assumed that the harness would come with (as Arlo Guthrie could appreciate) twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows. Unfortunately ... no. And you know what, it really wouldn't have mattered. I eventually scrapped the no-solder harness (other than the wires themselves) and simply soldered the connections myself. The copper clips on the harness (that replace the clips on the top and bottom of the motor) do not add much value and my fat fingers were quite adept at breaking the soldered harness connections. As far as the little clips that hook onto truck clips, the fit was so loose that I had little confidence in a reliable connection. 

Once, I resigned myself to the fact that I wasted $7.00 on the harness, things went a lot smoother. I soldered the red wires from the decoder to the truck pickups (those L shaped metal tabs that stick up), the orange wire to the top motor clip, and the gray wire to the bottom motor clip. 

After thinking that I had everything ready, I put the loco on the track and fired up the Zephyr ... and ... nothing! No movement whatsoever. After banging my head (and a night's sleep) I realized that I had to hook the black wire to the frame! The Digitrax documentation indicated that this wire was to be connected to the front headlight post. First, of all I had no idea how it "connected" and, second, I wasn't even worried about the headlight at this stage I was ignoring that silly old black wire. This oversight, as I see in retrospect, prevented the whole animal from working! (Live and learn).

In the meantime, I had taken off the headlight assembly from the loco (to try and reduce the variables). When I realized that I needed to connect the black wire to the frame, I simply soldered it to the headlight post stub (now I see!). I hooked up Rail A and B to the Zephyr ... and what do you know ... THE F7 MOVED!

Okay, now I was feeling ambitious! I soldered the white wire to the base of the headlight bulb and the blue wire to the side of it (realizing in the meantime that my old 25-watt soldering iron is a piece of junk) ... pressed F0 ... and the light turned on and off !! 

Then I did a little dance with the super-weight, all the extra wiring of the harness, and some electrical tape and (after breaking and re-soldering one or two connections) got the whole thing back together and the shell back on (and it still worked!).

All in all, I think DCC will be a lot of fun. I certainly have learned a great deal so far. My next project is to wire up my Tortoise motors to stationary decoders.

I also purchased (and recommend) DCC Projects and Applications by Mike Polsgrove. It came in the mail today and I have already learned a great deal from it.

Unfortunately, I didn't document my experience with photos ... I will definitely do that in the future. If you haven't taken the DCC plunge, I say "go for it". It brings a whole new dimension to model railroading.

(Note: I am definitely not trying to bash Digitrax here ... I think their equipment is top-notch. I just feel for those modelers who don't have access to the Web. I used this very helpful note from Digitrax for this installation. And there are a lot of other online sources ... just google "Athearn decoder installation" ... check out the killer YouTube video that shows a much more professional install than my hack job.)