Atlas DCC ?

[D&HRR]

 I am just starting my new layout and I am going to DCC for the first time. The question is I am running HO scale and I have several Atlas Classic rs-11's and rs-3's. They are not DCC ready, How do I install decoders in them? Do I need to replace the stock pc board and what methods do you use to complete this task?

[Texas Zepher]

D&HRR

The question is I am running HO scale and I have several Atlas Classic rs-11's and rs-3's. They are not DCC ready, How do I install decoders in them? Do I need to replace the stock pc board and what methods do you use to complete this task?

DCC ready is a stupid marketing thing that is in all practicality quite meaningless.   The Atlas Classic are some of the easiest locomotives to convert to DCC.

1.  Get a drop in decoder for it - (I prefer NCE DA-SR decoders, but also Digitrax DH165A0, and if they have the Kato drive then DH165K0)
2.  Remove the existing "circuit" board by sliding the power feed wires off the ends and take the stiff wires off.
3.  Cut and then solder the stiff wires on to the four corners of the new decoder (see pictures of the DH165KO  those already have the wires on them).  Cut two more pieces and solder them on either side of the decoder to make loops for the motor contacts.
4.  Add head and tail lights to the locomotive.  I usually remove the fiber optic light system, but it can be used for the new lights.  Just trim it down a bit.
5.  Add appropriate resistors for the lights (or cut the appropriate traces on the Digitrax units) to match the voltage of the decoder to the lamp.
6.  Solder the new lamps to the appropriate connections.
7.  Drop the decoder onto where the original circuit board was, working the motor wires around the new loops created in #3 above.
8.  slip the track power wires onto the new decoder.
9.  test

 

[ericofmaine]

 I'll second Texas Zephyr.  I used a DH165KO in my RS-11.  Simply pull the old "harness" off, install this one, solder the track leads and motor clips, and a couple of LEDs for lights.  As for the light pipes, I cut mine back about 1/2" from the end and put the LED right behind it.  I used the now vacant trench through the weight on the truck as a convenient light holder.  It really was easy!

 

Eric

[wjstix]

TA462

Texas Zepher

DCC ready is a stupid marketing thing that is in all practicality quite meaningless.   The Atlas Classic are some of the easiest locomotives to convert to DCC.

 

I just recently purchased a few C424's and a couple more RS3's in the Classic line and was surprised to find they had the 8 pin plug in for a decoder just like the Silver series has.  I wonder if all Atlas Classic loco's have this board now.  It's probably cheaper for them in the long run if they did.  Give me the 8 pin plug in anyday over hard wiring in a decoder. 

A board replacement installation isn't a hard wire installation. Unfortunately DCC terminology doesn't have a lot of hard-and-fast rules - which is why "DCC Ready" can mean anything from "the engine has an 8-pin receptacle" to "the motor is isolated from the frame and there's room to fit a decoder in the body somewhere" - but in normal use there's three types of decoder installation:

Plug-and-Play means you remove a dummy plug and plug in a decoder, using either an 8-pin or 9-pin plug.

Drop-in means you remove the light board and replace it with a decoder the same shape as the lightboard. Connections can be soldered, or just use the rubber plug gizmos holding the lightboard wires in place.

Hardwire means you have a decoder with nine wires sticking out of it, and you have to manually connect the wires to corresponding wires in the engine and solder them together.

A drop-in installation is very easy to do, since the wires are already in place on the original lightboard so it's very easy to see where they connect on the decoder. It's especially valuable in a sound installation, since the lightboard replacement sound decoder doesn't take up more room than the original ligytboard, so all you need to do is find room for the speaker and it's enclosure.

[nbrodar]

 I use TCS A4Xs for my Atlas units without plugs.  Just undo the connections on the stock board and drop the A4X in place.

The rest of my units with plugs get TCS T series decoders.   My RS11s have the 8 pin plug, but not my RS3s.  I'll have to check the latest run, to see if they do.

Nick