DCC for Athearn M15AC

[Montana Railfan]

Hello All,

 

Last time i was home from college i picked up an Athearn MP 15 AC along with a Decoder, while trying to install it at my hometown club i found out the gruesome reality that the decoder is to large to fit inside the body. After talking with a few friends at the local club they suggested going down in size for the decoder. 

 Is there any advice on which size to go to, i have heard N but i am not sure which one to get, and any advice would be fantastic.

 

Thanks 

 

Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 If you're looking to control the motor and the front and rear lights the Digitrax DZ125 will work. It's a Z scale decoder that robust enough for most HO equipment. How robust is it? I have a pair of Athearn SPD40F's here that I installed the DZ125 decoders in and they run beautifully. I have them in 75% of my DCC equipped locos.

[jasperofzeal]

Train Control Systems (TCS) has an illustrated decoder installation guide for the MP15AC.  The guide shows the option of installing a TCS DP2X decoder or the T1 Decoder.  Either one of these will work fine in the locomotive, but if you want to get the light feature that David mentioned, I'd use the T4X since it has four functions as opposed to the two functions that the DP2X and T1 decoders provide.  You could also probably use NCE's D13SRJ decoder as well.  Here is a link to the guide: http://www.tcsdcc.com/decoderpics/Athearn_MP15/Athearn_MP15.htm

[WSOR 3801]

 I put a TCS T4X in both of mine, using the 9-pin plug.  It is a little tight, but it does fit.  On the second one, I unsoldered and removed the 8-pin plug, gives just enough room to make things fit a lot better.

 

[harbor558]

Hi

I have an MRC 1804 drop in sound decoder for the MP 15. it fits right in and sounds pretty good.