Ready to bite the bullit and order a decoder for this, don't care about any thing but motor control and 8 pin. I will put in a sound decoder later when I finish the layout further. Also need one for a Stuart VO-1000 or 660.
Plain and simple.
https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1411
TCS offers great motor control.
Cheers, Ed
rrebell,
Yea, I put in the TCS LL8 in my Proto 2000 0-8-0 and it works great.
For the Stewart VO-660 & VO-1000, I opted for the TCS MC2A w/MC-VO harness & M1 decoders, respectively. Very pleased with the motor-control.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
T1 fits fine in the VO1000
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ok on the LL8, I have origingal Lifelike engines, I assume thes are not led bulbs ?
So I asume this decoder is a plug and play? do they make a sound version or can sound be added, still very confused, so many decoders and price points out there.
"Plug and Play" generally means the engine is DC but has a DCC receptacle where you can plug in a decoder without having to solder any wires to get it to work.
A standard decoder (or "motion and light decoder") will convert the engine to DCC so you can run it and control direction, speed, lights, etc. with a DCC system.
A sound decoder is basically a standard decoder but also has added features to produce sounds when running the engine - bell, whistle, brake squeal, etc. It has to have a speaker connected to it to produce the sound.
TCS, Digitrax, Soundtraxx, ESU-Loksound and MRC all make sound decoders.
You can plug in a standard decoder now, and later remove it and plug in a sound decoder and add a speaker. If your 0-6-0 is a newer one, it might have an opening in the tender for a 1" speaker, with holes in the floor of the tender to allow the sound out.
Lastspikemike https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1521 Also for the 0-8-0. Only the Walthers versions are listed but they seem very similar if not identical to the earlier lifelike versions.
https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1521
Also for the 0-8-0. Only the Walthers versions are listed but they seem very similar if not identical to the earlier lifelike versions.
wjstix Lastspikemike https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1521 Also for the 0-8-0. Only the Walthers versions are listed but they seem very similar if not identical to the earlier lifelike versions. Not sure about the 0-6-0, but I know the earliest Life-Like Proto 0-8-0 engines didn't have any power pickup from the tender wheels. If you have one of those, it's best to use a decoder with a "keep alive" circuit to avoid electrical pick-up issues.
Lastspikemike They advise you to also upgrade the locomotive smokebox light to LED. Not sure if this is mandatory
One of my L-L 0-8-0s was an early DCC conversion for me. I left the incandescent bulb in the smokebox.
It wasn't long afterward that I noticed light coming out of the smokebox just ahead of the stack. The heat of the bulb melted the plastic there.
Get rid of the incandescents, go with LEDs.
I did repair the spot with a patch that looks like the boiler shop riveted it on. Same thing happened to a Genesis F unit and a L-L Berkshire.
Sooner or later you'll forget to turn off the headlight and the heat will build up and melt something.
Good Luck, Ed
Yep, not worth the risk. For front & rear headlights I always upgrade to LEDs, if they aren't already.
Funny, on the one that I did the cheap decoder in the front light just stopped working, back one still worked after convesion back.
I have an early run of this loco purchaed in 2006.
I put a digitrax DH165LO motir decoder in that was plug n play. It has worked great. The engine creeps on speed step one and is the proverbial swiss watch.You don't have to change the bulbs with this decoder asit is set up for the incandescent bulbs.
I later added a sound bug that works fine too.
These engines have tender pickups unlike the early 0-8-0.
CN Charlie
How do you add a sound bug, heard of them but know nothing.
CNCharlie I have an early run of this loco purchaed in 2006. I put a digitrax DH165LO motir decoder in that was plug n play. It has worked great. The engine creeps on speed step one and is the proverbial swiss watch.You don't have to change the bulbs with this decoder asit is set up for the incandescent bulbs. I later added a sound bug that works fine too. These engines have tender pickups unlike the early 0-8-0. CN Charlie
Now I need to decide on the VO1000. Will buy two of the DH165LO for the Proto's.
Decoders on order, got two of the DH165LO's along with a few other things from Yankee Dabbler.
Just did a temporary install in my Proto 2000 0-8-0. It runs perfectly but there is a bit of motor noise at very low speed, might just be this engine as it has been around as a test engine for new track laying, haven't broken out the ones I am keeping yet as the layout is still being worked on.
Also as a side note, I took the shell of my Stuart VO-660 to see about decoder install, found out it already had a DZ143 installed, so I put the VO-1000 on, just buzzed, no decoder.