I bought an IHC 2-8-o steamer, the engine is DCC ready. I would like to install a decoder and a sound decoder. The engine has an 8 plug (medium plug) . a fellow sold be a DA165OA decoder, and told me I would have to solder wires from the loco to the decoder and solder the Sund Bug SFX004 to the pads on the DA165AO decoder. no problem, I have installed many TCS T1 decoders in many of my diesel locos,with no trouble. I have never installed a sound decoder before, My problem is that the loco has a plug between the engine and the tender. My problem is that there is 8 wires to connect the tender to the engine. They are all black, with no colored wires anywhere, How can I determine which ones are for what? Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks, Bob, sego65liklly@msn.com
SANDY SOUTHERN RAILROAD
You would have to take the loco apart to figure out witch wires are for the lights,motor, & track power,
you would also need an ohm meter. If your not in to all that just get a decoder with an 8 pin plug on it and just plug it in. The sound bug only has a black and red wire for power you can solder those to the same color wires on your decoder plug. The sound bug is a generic sound decoder it will do steam or deisel depending on how you set one of the CV's. I tried one for steam and it was terrible so i took it out reprogramed it and put it in a deisel. MRC makes better sound only decoders for steam that sound better and connect the same way.
davidmbedard 1. I would return that decoder for something a bit more appropriate. 2. Soundbugs require you to buy a PR3 to program them.....unless they come pre-loaded, you are out of luck. 3. A Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-1000 Medium steam with a 9pin to 8 pin interface is a much, much, much, much, much, much better choice than the dated Digitrax sound chip. Not to mention a heckavalot easier to install. David B
1. I would return that decoder for something a bit more appropriate.
2. Soundbugs require you to buy a PR3 to program them.....unless they come pre-loaded, you are out of luck.
3. A Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-1000 Medium steam with a 9pin to 8 pin interface is a much, much, much, much, much, much better choice than the dated Digitrax sound chip. Not to mention a heckavalot easier to install.
David B
Soundbugs come preloaded with a diesel and a steam sound file. You flip between the two by changing the value of CV60. CV60=0 is for steam and CV60=1 is diesel. Having said that, I agree to use the right decoder for the job and one which is easier install. A QSI U decoder or the one you mention will be a better solution. Digitrax is coming out with a new decoder, SDN144PS, that has an 8 or 9 pin option and includes sound, light and motor control. This is currently a big hole in their offerings. As for requiring a PR3, we'll continue to disagree on the value of being able to download different sound files. I see it as an advantage. I suspect Soundtraxx will eventually determine this also.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
DAVID---Thanks for the information. I took your advise and purchised a new decoder. All is well now. If you have time, I have another question---I have several TCS T1 decoders I have installed in some of my diesel locos, they work fine,, My question is, the instructions state "the purple wire and the green wire are not used". Are these wires have 12 volts or what? What could these be used for?
Thands, BOB
Those purple & green wires are auxilary function wires. Lets say some day you want to add ditch lights, mars light or even a becon light. These would be the wires you use for that application. you can go to TCS' web site to learn witch CV's control functions to each wire and proper connection for them.
Truck Those purple & green wires are auxilary function wires. Lets say some day you want to add ditch lights, mars light or even a becon light. These would be the wires you use for that application. you can go to TCS' web site to learn witch CV's control functions to each wire and proper connection for them.
The TCS T1 only has 2 functions, but the 9 pin JST harnesses are generic and include the extra 2 function wires, even though they don't connect to anything on the decoder. I don;t have any locos that will ever need more than front and rear lights so I lop them off close but not flat agaisnt the JST plug so I can always sodler on extension if need be, and add the cutoffs to my ever growing pile of short peices of decoder wire. I never seem to have enough black, red, and blue though.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
My appoligy, I should have checked first to see if that decoder supported four functions. Before I posted a comment on the purple & green wires.Like Dave says
But hey, what do I know.