DCC sound decoders

[richg1998]

The standard NMRA plug which is in most DCC ready locos in an 8 pin plug but almost all decoders come with a 9 pin plug.  What do you do with the extra connection?

You can buy a 8 pin to 9 pin adapter. The 9 pin is what is known as a JST connector.

I have some Micro-Tsunami decoders. They have no connector. You hardwire or solder a a 8 pin connector or a 9 pin JST connector. I model old time steam with not much room in the tender so I usually hard wire. Decoders come with installation instructions and the info is also available on the 'Net. Use Google to search for the decoder manufacturer. I either solder an 8 pin or 9 pin to the decoder. I built my own decoder tester which uses a 8 pin connector.

I belong to a couple DCC Yahoo groups and they have a files and photos section with a lot of data. I hesitate to recommend Yahoo Groups anymore as the spammers sift out the groups and spam people. Every time I post a message to a Yahoo Group, my bulk folder fills up with spam but my mail program deletes them for me. This group is much more secure. Your mileage may vary.

Rich 

 

[dadret]

The standard NMRA plug which is in most DCC ready locos in an 8 pin plug but almost all decoders come with a 9 pin plug.  What do you do with the extra connection?

[nyc4me]

I hard wired both a light and a heavy tsunami and am getting ready to hard wire a medium soon. I hard wired because the instructions don't really say it's ok to peel back the shrink wrap to expose what looks like a plug. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I even missed something, but that's the way I read the install guide.  Everything does just fine though.  If you haven't already downloaded the tsunami installation guide, I'd recommend it. I'm sure it'll help in your decision process. I have no experience with mrc decoders. hope this helps.

[dadret]

I'm going to make my first attempt at installing my own decoder into an HO DCC ready loco.  Up till now I've always bought locos with factory installed DCC and sound (BLI, Proto) but I really like a couple of the new IHC steam models which are only DCC ready.  I'd like some opinions on which decoder to use (I know everyone on here has an opinion).  I'm not going to ask which is the best one as that would be like asking who the best college football team was last season but I would like some pros and/or cons on each of them.  With some research I've narrowed it down to the MRC Sheer Brillance Steam, the Soundtraxx Tsunami or Micro-Tsunami Medium or Heavy Steam.  Digitrax looks a little complicated (I want true plug n' play) and so does ESU's LokSound but I'd certainly like any opinions.  I really want to just plug in the module, program it, and go play with the trains.  I'm using a Prodigy Advance system for control (which I soon hope to convert to wireless) so I'm leaning a little toward the MRC decoder but I've heard some bad reports about the new Athearns with factory installed MRC decoders (I think those may be the basic decoder, however).  Thanks for any help.