Hi, I just ordered a Atlas B&M S4. MRC makes a decoder with sound that fits in it with some filing of the wieght. Has anyone done this? Just wondering how much I will need to file. Will be getting the decoder by the weekend.
Greg
Caution. If you get the decoder this weekend you'll be returning it by next weekend.
Stay away from MRC decoders. The forums are full of complaints from some very unhappy customers. There are alternatives. I would try to find an alternative first.
Springfield PA
Edit:
I didnt' notice your original post noting sound so I removed the suggestions which was non sound.
Soundtraxx has a TSU-750 micro sound decoder that has the S4 sounds.
It's the Alco 539T
Great, I already ordered the decoder. Are they as bad as some people say? I also ordered one to fit the Athearn RS3! I hope they work.
All I suggest is that you use the search feature.
I'd cancel the order If I were you.
They really are that bad with a lot of failures or units that don't last too long.
Greg I have 3 of the Atlas S-2's in service with MRC sound decoders . They work in my steel mill and have been doing so for almost 2 years now with no problems. The decoder for the Athearn RS-3 has also been no problem with the exception of one glitch on the early versions. The early versions had a problem with address 124 on NCE systems only. It would do strange things only on this address. The later versions do not have this problem. A number of the early MRC sound decoders did have problems, this included some that were installed in Athearn Genesis units. I've had good sucess with the Atlas S series, Athearn RS series, Atlas RS series and the sounders which are a sound only decoder. --------- Ken McCorry
Greg,At our club, MRC sound decoders have a 50% failure rate. Out of all the engines that we've ever had at the club that have been powered by MRC sound decoders, around half of them had to be returned because they no longer worked (or never worked at all). And FYI, our club has 70 members and over 1000 engines on our roster...of which, perhaps 50 are MRC (so around 25 got sent back). That's counting all the MRC installations and all the Athearn Genesis and Rapido Turbos from the factory.
Our No. 1 problem with MRC decoders is that they don't like to be programmed at all. One isn't supposed to use the programming track with MRC, one is supposed to program them on the mainline (Ops Mode) only. Because of that, they cannot be read, either.
Changing the address is very risky, as sometimes it does not take. But it's not like it doesn't program anything, it seems to take a completely random number. This makes it very difficult because in order to program them on the mainline, you need the correct address. Well, if the address changes to something completely random, how do you know what the address is in order to change it to something else? There are some "tricks" to program a loco on the mainline without knowing it's address, but that doesn't always work. These locos get sent back to MRC.
But the worst problem with the Atlas S-unit sound board from MRC is that it's the wrong engine sound! Yep, it's true, it's even listed in their ads as wrong. The recording they used for this sound board is from an Alco 244 V-12 diesel engine as found in an RS-3. All the S-1 & S-3's had an Alco 539 Straight 6 diesel engine, with piston bores large enough to stick your head in. The S-2 & S-4's had the same, but with a turbo (539T). The 244's had smaller pistons and more of them, producing a much different sound (not to mention they all had turbos).
Alco 539 on Start Up:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdhYQ8fsvBE
Alco 244 idling:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugTI-K7sz48
As you can hear, the 539 has a deeper, throbbing sound, while the 244 is lighter and chirpier. The MRC sound board sounds just like a 244, and not at all like a 539.
The other problem that was highly annoying with MRC sound decoders is that when they shut down, they stopped moving. In order to get them to go again, you had to restart each one of them. If you had an ABBA set of F-units and you had a track short, it meant that you had to access each loco and turn it back on manually with the throttle function that starts it. Huge pain to deal with that, especially during a show operation.
IMHO, MRC Sound decoders are J-U-N-K. I don't say that because I hate MRC (in fact, I still love their DC throttlepacks), but after long, hard experience, I have more than enough evidence to conclude that MRC soundboards are poorly made, poorly engineered, and vastly overpriced for the quality they provide. If these were $30 decoders, I wouldn't complain nearly as much. But that's about what they're worth, IMHO...and that's only when they actually work. And MRC's over-the-top ads only throws fuel on the fire...
Paul A. Cutler III
Good Post Paul. Ya pretty much covered most of the issues. The amount of posts on the subject is a bit lower than normal. People are probably sick of hearing about these things.
Whatever you decide Greg, good luck with it.
Greg, Paul is correct about the prime mover ( engine ) sound file being incorrect. MRC used a 244 Alco when they should have used a 539. I knew the difference but decided I liked the sound and went along with it.The sound file in the RS-3 decoders is correct. The other problem Paul mentioned about having to restart the sound before the engine would move does not exist in the Atlas S series decoders or the Athearn and Atlas RS-3 decoders. It appeared in the original Athearn SD-45-2 units with MRC decoders also the Genesis Athearn F units. In fact a fix exists for this problem but you have to send the decoder back to MRC. I had a number of my Athearn SD-45-2 units upgraded with the fix and that took care of the restart problem. Currently only MRC makes a drop in sound decoder for the Atlas S series . Soundtrax makes a 539 Alco in the Atlas style decoder but fitting that in a S-2/4 would be a pain.Soundtrax makes a Tsumani for the Alco 244 for the Atlas RS-3 and the decoder will fit fine but the problem with those engines is getting a speaker to fit without a lot of grinding of weights.
Most of my sound fleet is Soundtrax with a few Lok sound and about a dozen MRC . All give me good reliable service . ====== Ken McCorry
He just posted a thread noting a possible problem with one out of 2 new MRC decoders. if it turns out to be the decoder Paul hit it on the head with 50%. Hopefully though it's just a short in the install.
I have 2 RS3 decoders and the first one overloaded. Checked the loco and could not find anything. It worked fine in DC mode. I took a chance and tried the 2nd decoder and it worked great! I also added the S4 decoder to the Atlas loco and it works fine also. The dealer is sending me a new RS3 decoder. Hope that one works! I am starting a 4x16 layout and plan on keeping the loco fleet small (I hope!)