Just happened to re-read the wording in that MRC ad on the back of the August MR.
"A sampling from of our vast range of sound decoders".
Huh? "...from of our..."? Apparantly they put the same level of care into their ad copy as they do their sound decoders!
;-) Ken
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
This doesnt make for good reading on MRC decoders as i am milling out an SD-40 N scale chassss to accept the speaker, should i continue or return the decoder to the guy who sold it me, i would like to purchase an N scale big boy for the layout but reading this post has made me have second thoughts.
I wouldnt want to get one and have it blow out on me, rather run my S.P and U.P. locos with a sound system under the boards on speakers.
MisterBeasley wrote:I wish Athearn would take a closer look at this situation. Putting MRC sound in their engines is probably hurting sales. From what I've read on this forum, I wouldn't buy an Athearn sound engine, just because I don't want to have to deal with these decoders and their problems.
loathar wrote: pastorbob wrote: Can't stand it any longer. My experience with MRC sound? snort, ugh, bah, humbug,and stronger words. Ripped it out of two new Genesis units and put in new decoders from another source.No more MRC on my railroad.BobWatchya gonna do with that crappy MRC sound decoder you ripped out??
pastorbob wrote: Can't stand it any longer. My experience with MRC sound? snort, ugh, bah, humbug,and stronger words. Ripped it out of two new Genesis units and put in new decoders from another source.No more MRC on my railroad.Bob
Can't stand it any longer. My experience with MRC sound? snort, ugh, bah, humbug,and stronger words. Ripped it out of two new Genesis units and put in new decoders from another source.
No more MRC on my railroad.
Bob
Watchya gonna do with that crappy MRC sound decoder you ripped out??
You would have to search one of the city dumps in Kansas City to find it. It left the house encased in garbage and trash in a Glad Bag.
davidmbedard wrote: loathar wrote:Don't know about the sound units, but I've had a 100% success rate with MRC decoders.(I own 1 and it's worked fine for over 8 months.) That's more than I can say for an NCE I had that croaked after 6 hours.I do wonder how many MRC decoders turn into smoke units due to faulty installations and the decoder itself??Most of the failures come from factory installations. Also, I have had a 70% return rate on aftermarket sound units.David B
loathar wrote:Don't know about the sound units, but I've had a 100% success rate with MRC decoders.(I own 1 and it's worked fine for over 8 months.) That's more than I can say for an NCE I had that croaked after 6 hours.I do wonder how many MRC decoders turn into smoke units due to faulty installations and the decoder itself??
Most of the failures come from factory installations. Also, I have had a 70% return rate on aftermarket sound units.
David B
Yeah, but I know some people that install things at factories that are total morons and some supervisors that let complete garbage out the door just to hit their numbers. (what country are these being installed in??)
And with the 70% after market failure rate, how many of those people aren't really smart enough to use a soldering iron, meter and wire strippers?
I'm NOT saying MRC doesn't have a quality issue, I just wonder how many of these AREN'T MRC's fault directly.
I think it's only fair that I say that I have a MRC #1663 sound decoder in my Atlas S2 that just keeps on running beautifully. It's the wrong sound but that doesn't bother me. The motor control is excellent.
I also have an Athearn F3 with MRC that has been running for a long time. The only probelm here is motor control. I hate the "jump" starts and abrupt stops. I'm in the process of changing it out to a Digitrax with a Sound Bug.
Jerry
Rio Grande vs. Santa Fe.....the battle is over but the glory remains!
On the subject of broken siderods, you wouldn't believe how careless some people are when they pick their models up. They grab them with their fingers and thumb solidly on the siderods, pushing them against the wheels, then have the audacity to blame the manufacturer for defective equipment when the rods bind against each other.
As far as the decoders go, I'm not sure haw good the ones in the N Scale models are but the ones in the HO Scale models are well and truly junk.
Right now,I'm strongly questioning my purchase as these models have rapidly become available on Ebay.OK,Athearn may have litterally stormed the market with these so that there are so many,but it doesn't look normal to me that this type of model has become so easy to get on the "used" market so soon after their introduction.
Even worse,there is an Ebay seller (Hobb-e-Mart) that regularly has defective units of both Athearn models (Big Boy and Challenger) available.Defects vary though from non responding motors to broken side rods or binding trucks,etc but some do suffer from defective decoders.Obviously,these are offered with no warranty whatsoever.The fact that owners have elected to ditch them on Ebay instead of fixing them has me wondering indeed that I may regret my purchase with time,but then only time will tell.
So far,mine doesn't seem to have any mechanical problem.Nothing broken,motor is silky smooth wich means I will try another decoder when it fails but I admit it does upset me somewhat since this is an expensive model to start with.
Jacktal wrote:Well...you guys have just made my day...sort of.I just purchased an Athearn N scale Big Boy
Well...you guys have just made my day...sort of.I just purchased an Athearn N scale Big Boy
maybe some of the N scale guys can jump in , but i don't recall reading anything bad about MRC's N scale decoders . then again i'm in HO and may have missed any N scale threads
ernie
Well...you guys have just made my day...sort of.I just purchased an Athearn N scale Big Boy about a month ago and only used it about five minutes on a length of track (DC) and it has been absolutely flawless...so far.You pretty well convinced me that I should sit down firmly when I get to try it on the club's layout...and keep the fire extinguisher on hand...pretty reassuring indeed.
Now,when it does "smoke",I suppose that if I send it back to Athearn on warranty,they'll replace the decoder with the same junk.Waiting two months or more to have it back with both ways shipping at my expense only to see the cycle most likely repeat itself,I'll be better off buying another brand of sound decoder and install it myself.
Since I was already planning to order a Micro-Tsunami for my forthcoming Kato Daylight (in the mail right now),I might just as well order two just to be safe.I've been told they are good and I have other locos that can use it,should the Big Boy keep on ticking after a while.Thanks for the info...sad...but helpful......
Maybe they are the leader...in defective decoders.
Rotor
Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often you won't even notice ...
The other thing that gets me with this ad of MRC's is the picture they used. Look, I love FL9's as much as the next guy (well, probably more-so, considering), but why o' why did they use a picture of one that's dirty & rusty? There have to be thousands of color FL9 pics to choose from, and they picked that? Jeez...BTW, what does an FL9 have to do with MRC sound anyways? It's not even one of the sound effects listed.
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************P.S. Hey, look at the ad! They even say that their Atlas S-unit board is an ALCO 244! Unbelievable... M.R.C. = J-U-N-K
I have one MRC Brilliance steam sound decoder that I installed in a Spectrum USRA Heavy Mountain about two years ago. It has worked fine ever since, although I admit that I run the locomotive only a few times a year. Every other MRC decoder that I have tried to install, either for myself or for others, at best ran once before dying. MRC's dc throttles are the best out there, and their Prodigy DCC system is a very good one for the cost, but their decoders stink!
John
If everybody is thinking alike, then nobody is really thinking.
http://photobucket.com/tandarailroad/
truth in advertising
falls in the same catagory as
jumbo shrimp
military intelligence
airline food
Those of us who haunt this forum know that MRC decoders should more accurately be advertised as smoke generators, but how many thousands of gullible modelers are there in the world who don't know of the bad reputation they have? If MRC can convince 1/10th of them to buy a sound decoder their advertising is paying for itself, whether true or not.
Sorry, I see this as normal advertising. You should read some of the health product ads - MRC is pretty tame in comparison. As for truth in advertising unless they make a specific verifyable claim that is false there's no grounds for complaint. After all what it means to be the leader is different for different people, same for easier to install, unbelievable sound quality, etc.
The only real claims they make are that it will work with any NMRA compatible system, have 28 functions, come with speakers, and use sounds recorded trackside. And they have a table of drop in replacements for 9 locomotives. All the rest is just normal adverstising blather.
No issue here for me and I love their dc power packs.
Enjoy
Paul
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
This is a typical piece of advertising hype - and MRC is far from being the only culprit!
If this originated in-house, they should either:
If it was some outside ad agency's brainstorm, they should consider shifting accounts.
As a user of analog DC, I swear by MRC for propulsion power, but I do have to wonder about a company whose ads are so obviously divorced from reality.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I worry about this thread, but I will say that I agree with you, Simon, and others who feel the message is laughable. C'mon, there are so many complaints about the MRC decoders that there's almost nothing left except to laugh. And really, isn't the meta-message in the subject claim the same as, "Hey, you...ya, you....you look stupid, so have a read of this?"
I feel it is a serious mistake to diss your client base.
Marketing spin which discredits the entire company.
If you make a claim, and the vast majority of the viewing public regard it as a false claim, then you devalue your brand. When they next make a statement, which may in fact be true, many will simply dismiss it.
This is simply an appalling error on their part as it eliminates decades of goodwill that they have developed.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
You did start something. Watch your blood pressure guys. Stuff happens.
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.
MRC DC power packs are probably the best on the market. Before converting to DCC I had two MRC 20s with walkaround throttles and they worked great. A few years ago I gave my nephew a train set which included a cheep power supply, however I purchased a nice MRC power pack to go with the set.
On the other hand, MRC DCC decoders have been a big let down! They will need to make a lot of improvements before they get my DCC business.
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
After the experiences I and other club members have had with MRC non-sound and sound decoders over the years, I'll never touch another one.
The are and have always been the leader in DC power pack technology, but their DCC decoders are the worst product on the market.
Sure, MRC is "The Leader" in sound decoder technology...if you're running backwards. Hey, they never said how they were "The Leader" (should that be "Fearless Leader"?) or even in what way.BTW, they are bald-faced liers. They lied right to my face at Springfield (MA) at the Big E. I asked them straight out that I had heard that their Atlas S-unit sound board was actually using an RS-3 (244) recording. The guy at the MRC booth said that they record all their own sound, and that it was an S-unit (539) prime mover. The next month, Model Railroad News reviewed the decoder, and the headline reads something to the effect of, "MRC Releases Authentic Alco 244 Sound for Atlas Switchers!"
Personally, I'd call 'em "The Leader in sound decoder technology failure"...which has certainly been the case in my club.
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************