Decoder choice

[Anonymous]

I am about to begin construction of a pair of f-units. They will be Stewart shells on Stewart/Kato drives and detailed for the Maryland Midland. [:D]This means they will not only have head and Mars lights, but also an amber rotary beacon on each.
Question:[?] I've narrowed my decoder selection down to either an NCE DASR or a Digitrax DH163AO. Any pros or cons I should be aware of? [%-)] Or maybe is there another decoder out there that will drive all these functions "better". I've done Mars lights before, but with the addition of the flashing beacon (maybe mapped to the bell function?) I'm just a little nervous.
If it matters, the primary usage will be on NCE systems.

[cacole]

Since you're using a Kato drive, the NCE DASR would probably be your best choice, since it will just snap on top of the frame in place of the constant lighting board. According to the data sheet that came with my DASR decoders, it supports 14 different lighting effects (Mars, strobes, beacons, etc.), and has function mapping so you can reprogram it to suit your needs. NCE's decoders are the best there are and offer more flexibility than other brands.

[Anonymous]

The Digitrax DH163KO is also a drop-in board for the Kato drives that works very well, and supports 6 FX3 functions (which include the lights you want to add). You should probably go to a site like Tony's Trains or the vendors' sites and compare the two decoders and see which best fits your needs.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jsalemi

The Digitrax DH163KO is also a drop-in board for the Kato drives that works very well, and supports 6 FX3 functions (which include the lights you want to add). You should probably go to a site like Tony's Trains or the vendors' sites and compare the two decoders and see which best fits your needs.

[:D]Thanks for the suggestion! I went to TTX and found that the DASR will do the job, plus is about 4 bucks cheaper than the DH163KO! Times 2, thats 8 bucks I'm saving, an important fact for the bean-counter (wife). Plus the NCE has the NMRA performance warrant, something Digitrax seems to be lacking. [%-)]
Thanks for the help, now I gotta call my LHS and see if he has them in stock!

[michealfarley]

Another benefit of NCE.......

Customer service is huge! Call with any question during business hours and you will receive some sort of answer. NCE is not bashful about replacing faulty decoders for free, and even if you fry one, they'll replace it for $10. I've installed over a dozen of the DASR with great results. They are a snap.