Hey Guys,
I bought my grandson his first train set, an Athearn Warbonnet, and had it sent directly to him out of state. Consequently, I never got to look at the loco. So I have a question or two,
1) Without going to a dual DC/DCC decoder, can I get a decoder that will work as sound only on a DC setup? Will A soundbug work if its just wired hot to the DC rails? Or will an old DSX work? Can anyone scan an exploded view of the loco that might come in such a set? HELP! He has become used to sound on my layout when he visits but Im all DCC. Now he wants to be like Grandpa ( You gotta love this kid)!
Thanks in advance,
Doug aka dansgrandpapa
Contact Litchfield Station. They do answer email. They have helped me.
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php
Also, study the below links.
http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_sfx004.p
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=999002735&cat=0&page=1
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
A Soundbug will make motor sounds but that's it on DC, there's no control of the horn or bell or anything. An old DSX will fry when run on DC, they don't support running on DC.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Why not buy him a cheap DCC system such as the Bachmann EZ Command or whatever it's called, and then put a good sound decoder into the locomotive. .
Putting in a good sound decoder would be nice (sound drives me nuts so I prefer not to have it) but the EZ Command can only access the first 8 sounds. If that's all you need that's OK but if you want a sound it can't access, well you're just outta luck.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
8 gives you allt he important ones. Beats flipping the reverse switch like a maniac to turn on the bell and blow the horn.
hey guys!
Thanks for the thoughts! What do you think of that new Zepher that was MRR ? I suppose if I think long term, he will probably end up with this monster collection anyhow someday. He certainly has the skills for the hobby! He could solder by 5, (his mom did NOT approve)......But the review said you could plug common power packs into it and use them as additional throttles.......loconet and 3 amps.....
Then I could just send him a nice piece at a time......?
Doug....aka....dansgrandpapa
Long term,t he Zephyr is a better option. You can assign cab numbers as addresses, access 29 functions, and easily expand with more throttles and so forth. The existing train set power pack can be used as a second throttle via the jump ports, although controlling functions via the jump throttles is slightly cumbersome. Speed and direction are controlled just like it was a plain power pack. For a train controlled by the Zephyr's throttle, functions are easy.