I am beginning to research DCC decoder installations for my growing fleet of D&RGW and SP Athearn RTR tunnel motors and SD45's. I own a Digitrax Chief system. Everything is currently stored and in boxes from a recent move so I I was wondering what kind of plug is in the new Athearn RTR tunnel motors and SD45's. It has been recomomended that I use the TCS-T1 decoders with these loco's due to the BEMF control and gyra light effects. They come in 3 styles, 1) with harness, 2) with harness and NMRA socket and 3) no harness. Is it possilbe to use the no harness version? Anyone have photo's of the guts of the tunnel motors or SD45's?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
You want the no harness version, those locos have a 9 pin plug that will plug into the socket on the decoder. The harness will simply be spare parts if you get the decoder with one. I thijnk the no harness is a buck or so cheaper than the one with plain wires.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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You can use the TCS T-1 without the harness because the Athearn RTR locomotives have a JST plug in them and the T1 has the JST header. So does an NCE DA13SR or Digitrax DH123 or DH126. All you need to look for is a decoder with the JST 9-pin header.
Super duper. They are cheaper with out the harness. The T1's with the harness, what is at the end of the harness? Is is just a nother JST header but with a 7-inch harness to the decoder to allow you to situate the decoder in a different part of an engine interior? And what of the NMRA socket? What loco's would be using that - its a rather costly add-on I noticed.
TCS decoders can come with a wide variety of harnesses. The suffice on the decoder usually indicates which harness it is bundled with. You can get the T1 with no harness, with a plain wire harness (9 pin plug goes to the decoder, plain wires on the other end), and with a wide variety of harnesses that end in an 8 pin NMRA plug - the differences are mostly in how long the wires are, although some are arranged so that the 8 pin plug is perpendicular to the decoder and some are arranged to flip the decoder to the opposite side of the plug. Since I usually solder all decoders I usually get the ones with the plain wire.
I would recommend getting a TCS T4X for these. 4 function, so you can run front and rear headlight, and the Gyralight. Plug it into the JST harness. Then, figure out if Athearn wired up the engine properly, or you might have to do some rewiring.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com