Hi all, I'm going to convert my older DC engines to DCC in the near future. Can anyone suggest what decoders would be best for the following locos? Mantua GP20, MRC C420, (both 10-15 yrs old), Atlas RS3 from about 7 years ago, and the latest version just released, (don't know if there's any diference? Also P2K FA/FB1. After reading a lot of posts I will stay away from MRC'c decoders but have found good repsonses about their Prodigy Adv. systems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I left out one very important thing, that these are HO scale, sorry.
Some of the decoder manufacturers have lists of recommended decoders for various locomotives. I generally look at both TCS (my favorite) and NCE but I know Digitrax has a listing, also. I found your Atlas and PK2 locos both on the TCS and NCE lists but didn't find any listings for Manua or MRC locos. For those I suggest you contact Bruce at Litchfield Station. He will undoubtedly know which decoders will work in those, both of which may be tricky installations since they may not be DCC ready.
Good luck!
The two decoders that I use most are the TCS T-1 and NCE DA13SRJ. As a general rule, these fit most locomotives other than newer models that require specific board-replacement types.
If you purchase a bulk pack of 10 decoders from Empire Northern Models the NCE DA13SRJ is less than $12 each.