I am looking at the new Athearn GP38-2 due out soon.. The Athearn site does not state its DCC ready , where the old GP38-2 says they are .. Its hard to believe any new engine would not be DCC ready. My question is , are all the new Athearns DCC ready. I wrote TCS and Athearn and have not heard back..
Thanks Folks
None of the new announcement RTR locos say anything about DCC. Since every recent RTR model HAS come with a DCC 9 pin connector, there is absolutely no reason to assume these will not as well.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I assume you're talking about the RTR GP38-2's?
My experience with Athearn RTR's is that the ones that use the former RPP shells ARE DCC ready, while the ones that use the "old" Athearn shells are NOT DCC ready. Since the GP38-2's don't use RPP shells, they fall into the "not DCC ready" category.
But f you have a link to someplace on the Athearn Web site that says the older GP38-2's are DCC ready, please post it here. I'd like some documentation for when I complain to Athearn that the two I have aren't DCC ready.
As far as being "hard to believe any new engine would not be DCC ready", remember that the GP38-2's aren't "new". Maybe new road names or paint schemes, but the basic shell and drive have been around for years.
I have emailed , Athearn , TCS and Model Train Stuff's tech support. I will post if i hear anything.. On the TCS site the GP38-2 is a hard wired install.. I guess this is one of the reasons I hesitate getting Athearn engines.. I do not want to try wiring a non DCC ready engine..
HO Athearn are super easy compared to an N scale split frame I did for a club member. The last one I will ever do. I am kind of glad I did HO and not N.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Just got an email reply from Athearn , the GP38-2 does not have a DCC socket, boooooooo
I thought about it and my problem is eye sight and the abiltiy to solder any more,
Years ago i would have no problem but age is creeping up. I do N scale also and have had to limit what I can take on.
Thanks Hal
Hal.
I smell what your cooking. I have to use the reading specks to solder in decoders now. It's tough getting older. Anyway Digitrax had a decoder especially made for Athearn with no soldering. It is their model DH123AT. According to their website it is still available.
I REALLY wonder about their decisions on this, as they claim these new ones have the upgraded hex drive. So they still make locos with that goofy giant contact bar across the top? I did install an older one that did not have a socket but it did have a circuit board clipped to the top of the motor instead of the old bar. It's really easy to hardwire a decoder to these.
Here is what I believe is the real skinny.. Athearn said no socket , Model Train Stuff said no socket but most likely could use the Digitrax decoder suggested above. And TCS said they really didn't know. I am quite new to this DCC stuff and am really glad for all the info relayed from this forum
Thank You
Hal
rrinker I REALLY wonder about their decisions on this, as they claim these new ones have the upgraded hex drive. So they still make locos with that goofy giant contact bar across the top? I did install an older one that did not have a socket but it did have a circuit board clipped to the top of the motor instead of the old bar. It's really easy to hardwire a decoder to these. --Randy
The hex drive has been out for a while now, 15 years or so. First showed up in SD40-2s, long before DCC became commonplace. The board on a RTR clips on top of the motor, so it is pretty much the same motor the contact strip would clip to.
I don't think we will see a Athearn DCC-ready GP38-2/40-2/50/60 anytime soon. The box below the dynamic hatch cuts into the space where the Quick-Plug board and such go into. There seems to be no interest by Athearn to retool these, and to put a decent motor in. A Kato motor should fit, hook up to the hex drivelines, work better, etc., but they seem to be out of stock at the current time. Example here
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com