At last, information! I wrote Ulrich models and just got a response this morning. This is the low-down on upgrading the SD70ACe...
Hello Casey,The Tsu-1000 decoder is not difficult to install because under the shrink wrap there is a 9-pin connector that plugs into the Athearn DCC ready board harness. However, the decoder is too large for the SD70Ace. Resistors are not required when plugging it into the Genesis DCC ready board. However, changing to LEDs would require a complete rewire of the lights with resistors. The GN1000 decoder or At1000 decoder will work. However, you are limited to the EMD710 sound at this time. The speed control will match. I have installed the AT1000 in the MTH model and the sound can be heard in the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u_XTWLOYJoI have asked Soundtraxx to make the Ace sound available in the AT1000 board but I do not have an answer at this time.Regards,Steve Gill
Fitting the plain generic Tsunami might be an issue - the GN1000 board replacement one is the one you should be using, especially if this is the first itme you're attempting this.
I suspect if you hang on a little while, Ulrich will have a complete conversion kit for the 70ACe soon - you might want to call them. Theyhave a few but not that one yet, and they include everythign you need, the decoder, speaker, and depending on the loco, the lighting upgrades as well. In some AThearns they take advantage of the fact that the DC circuit boards have both 9 pin and 8 pin connectors to make everything, even the light fixes, plug and play.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks Rich. I set up an account and uploaded the files. Let's see if this works.
[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
To post pictures. Get a Photo Bucket account. There are four options. You want to copy the fourth, IMG into the message body. I just use the Paste option in my PC.
Make sure you determine what albums you want before uploading the photos to Photo Bucket. You can uplaod a lot of photos.
http://photobucket.com/
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.
Thanks for the info. I was hoping the picts would work, but they came up invisible. Must have done something wrong. I did search the Soundtraxx site and the 827115 is the one listed for the SD70ACe. The 828052 lists the SD70M but not the ACe. I think it may be just a difference in horn sounds, which is not a huge loss for me. Just having sound is a great thing to me at this point. The other good news is that the 828052 is $79 compared to $95 for the 827115 so I could save some money. The TSU-1000 does have a removable harness that supposedly allows it to work with the Athearn quick plug. Maybe (if it would fit) it would be a simple plug-in hook up, which would make it worth the money. From the pictures I have found, it seems the quick plug is for simple upgrading to dcc but not necessarily for sound. I keep seeing that for sound, the stock light board gets replaced. Of course all the instructions I have read and seen on YouTube, never show or explain the exact set up I have. There are always some differences.
Once this project is complete, I have (2) Athearn RTR SD45T-2s waiting their turn. I already got the Sondtraxx decoders and speakers for that experience. At least there is more info online for them.
I am going to try and post the link for the pictures. It is from the Ulrich site and shows the LED upgrade for the Athearn SD70ACe. This is the exact loco I have, except this is what it looks like with factory sound installed. Figure 2 is the best picture.
AthearnSD70ACeLEDupgrade.pdf
Thanks again,
Casey
I am unable to open your photos. So I can't see how much room there is.
Tsunami does make a decoder that prime mover is the EMD 710. That is what the SD70ACe used.
Now SoundTraxx lists two EMD 710 prime mover decoders. (1) 827115 which is the TSU-1000 series decoder and does say it is for the EMD 710 G3C-T2 prime mover. (2) 828052 which is the TSU-GN1000 series decoder. The information on this decoder just said it was for a EMD 710 3rd generation prime mover. Both of these decoders are for a 16 cylinder turbocharged prime movers. I would go to the SoundTraxx web site and listen to both. If you can hear any differance then pick the now you like the best. I for one don't think that many people will know the differance between a 3rd generation and the newer 3 tier prime movers.
The easy way to convert this loco is to use the TSU-GN1000 decoder. You remove the original light board and replace it with the decoder (828052) You are best off to solder all connections to the board. But you don't have to fight the lighting because the GN decoders are made to support the 1.5 light bulbs that Athearn uses. You just hook up the wires and your done. No resistors needed! Also you will see that the GN decoder has the capacitors made on the board, there for, you don't have to find a place to install the 220uf cap that comes with the TSU-1000 decoder. Sometimes there is just no room. On top of that with the TSU-1000 decoder you will find that it is much thicker and will require you to either solder a 8 pin plug on the ends of the wires of the TSU-1000 or remove the harness that is in the TSU-1000 and replace it with a harness that has a 8 pin plug on it. Again the TSU-1000 does not support 1.5 lights without using resistors for the bulbs. I would guess that this loco has at least 4 lights, so you would need 4 resistors, one for each bulb or at the least two resistors for two bulbs wired in series.
Hope this makes some sence. Hope it might help.
Hi everyone,
Well, I am on the fence as to buying the decoder and speaker, or just buying another dcc and sound equipped loco. I have been looking at how complicated the install would be for me (would be my fist upgrade). I did check on the proper decoder and the Soundtraxx 827115 is the only one listed for the SD70ACe on the Soundtraxx site. The question is, whether or not it will be possible to install a packaged and tailed decoder instead of a decoder that is just a circuit board. I am guessing I would have to remove the stock lighting board completely, and just connect the wires (hopefully, the NMRA wire colors would make that easy) but what about the speaker wires? If the new decoder is wrapped, how do you connect them? The speaker install would be easy, because the loco has the pocket for it already there. Below I tried to attach pictures of the inside of a dcc equipped SD70ACe just like mine, and of the Soundtraxx decoder. Wish it all truly was just a "quick plug" upgrade! Thanks for any ideas or advice.
Hi,
Thanks everyone for the great responses. I think I have already learned my first valuable lesson in DCC! Will definitely think about spending the extra $$$ to get the sound equipped to begin with.
Thanks again!
The decoder and speaker you noted are not the correct parts for your SD70ACe. They are the correct parts for the older Athearn Genisis SD70 MAC. Same family, but different sounds and different speaker capabilities. I'm assumiing that you want both ACE's to have the same sound. The chasis for the ACE has a built in speaker pocket and will accept an 810054 Soundtraxx 1.1"" speaker. The part you mentioned is an oval shaped speaker due to the fact that the older SD70 does not have the built in spkr pocket and this shape spkr will fit the narrow hood.
Also be advised that the decoder used in the ACE with the factory installed sound will be a different format than the aftermarket part, 827115. The light board style board in the factory install is custom made for Athearn for the ACE and not available to us. The aftermarket part (827115) is wrapped in the blue shrinkwrap with the "tailed" harness. Same sound and same capabilities but in a "one size fits all" format..
I'm not really that smart, but I ran into this same situation on a pair of MP15AC's, one with factory sound and one not. The factory install is a custom lightboard style decoder. The aftermarket is the tailed version in the blue shrinkwrap covering. Same sound and funtions, but different formats requiring different install techniques. So..........if you want your ACES to both have the correct sound, the Soundtraxx parts you want are 827115 decoder and 810054 speaker. Can't tell you anymore about the intstall.
Oh, and by the way, you are correct about buying your locos with factory installed sound. As you have discovered, it's going to cost you $100 to have the fun of installing sound vs factory installed and ready to go. In most instances the factory install is the way to go.
It is pretty easy to install a dcc decoder that matches up with Athearn's quick plug. However, installing sound is a whole other beast. I say beast because I fried a decoder trying to install sound. I've got alot to learn as well.
Look at the below site. Don't know this particular loco.
http://www.mrdccu.com/install/hods/AthearnGenesis-SD70MAC-820041.htm
Study all the links at that site.
Also store the links as suggested in the previous message. You will need them. Litchfield Station has answered questions from me before and has free shipping over $75.00 the last time I ordered.
There are many, many variables in DCC and sound.
Athearn doesn't list recommended decoders and speakers because there are too many choices on what will and will not fit into each different model, and Athearn does not make or sell any of those products. Just like SoundTraxx doesn't recommend Athearn locomotives (or any other brand).
You'll probably get a more accurate recommendation of which decoder and speaker will fit into your locomotive by checking the web sites of some of the custom installers and see what they have used.
http://www.ulrichmodels.biz/servlet/StoreFront
http://www.litchfieldstation.com
http://www.tonystrains.com
http://www.empirenorthern.com
I am new here and getting back into the hobby after a long time away. Been reading about DCC for a while and couldn't resist. Just built a 4' program track last night. This will actually be my "starting layout" for the time being while I get to know DCC and try programming. My first controller (NEC Power Cab) will be arriving tomorrow. I have two new locos waiting; an Athearn Genesis SD70ACe w/ DCC and sound, and a second one that is just DCC ready.
I have been searching the SoundTraxx website and I think I have found the decoder needed to upgrade the DCC ready loco (TSU-GN1000 EMD 710 (3G). They also list the speaker to go with it (810113) but I noticed in the Athearn manual, that the speaker shown in the schematic doesn't look anything like the one that SoundTraxx listed. They make it sound like it's so simple to plug in DCC, but the manual tells you nothing about upgrading (i.e. they could at least list the recommend part numbers)!
Is this the right decoder and speaker? My goal is to simply make the DDC ready loco exactly like the sound equipped one for my first consist. After seeing that the upgrade for the loco will cost about $100, next time I will just get the sound equipped loco to begin with! If anything, I guess it will be a good learning experience.
Thanks for any info,