Well I finally came out of the stone age and made the switch to DCC. I settled on the new Prodigy Advanced 2. As advertised, the system is very user friendly, making it easy to operate. I'm still amazed by the capabilties of DCC, and have just started to fully understand its capabilities. As far as decoder installations go, I've taken small but steady steps forward. For my first loco conversion I picked a simple "plug-n-play". From there, I tackled a soundtraxx DSD-LL080LC (sound decoder) for my Proto 0-8-0 steamer. Let me tell you, I was reluctant to turn the power on in fear of having made a mistake and "frying" the decoder. But after checking , then rechecking all of my connections, all turn out OK. That loco never ran or sounded so good!
Next I will try hardwiring my MDC Climax Loco, following the "nicely done" thread by chip (Spacemouse).
Have Fun.... Bob.
Bob
I am sure you will be throughly tickled with DCC. It opens up so many more oportunities for running trains and the layout. I started with DCC so I can't say much about DC but I am glad I didn't have to go thru the re-learning process. How is the new layout coming along? You have always been such of an inspiration to me with your excellent modeling skills. I can't wait for some pics.
Terry in Smokin FLorida
Bob:
Welcome to 21st century model railroading! You should be very pleased with the PA2 system, I find their user interface to be one of the best of all the systems -- right up there with some of my favorites, NCE and EasyDCC.
The ability to individually tune loco performance is one of the best parts of DCC. That's something you just can't do with straight DC.
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
On the Climax, the motor is a snap. It's the lights that are a PIA.
BTW: I was disappointed with the RL, until I came across your article on the last page. Thanks for that.
SpaceMouse wrote: On the Climax, the motor is a snap. It's the lights that are a PIA. BTW: I was disappointed with the RL, until I came across your article on the last page. Thanks for that.
Did you have a hard time isolating the motor on your Climax? My ohm meter shows mine grounded to the frame. So i'm planning to insulate the motor with electrical tape, and add a nylon mounting screw. As far as lights, The headlight seems easy enough, but the rear light looks like a challenge. We'll see how it goes... I might forgo the lights all together and just stay with the white jewels.
Once you disconnect the blue wire you're cool.