Recent Interent searchs failed to list how to make my Athearn/Digitax Lamp Board upgrade successful, thus I'm writing to those who have not yet gotten their upgrades to fly, the first time.
I have several photos that show what I discovered and how I got my DCC Locomotive Decoder to use the 8-pin NMRA Std. plug on the "Lamp Board", if I knew how to get them on this "community", I would.
If you are lucky enough to get a Digitax RTR Lamp Board, with the Athearn Box marked "DCC-Ready", you most likely can open the "shell" and remove and discard the "Jumper Board" plugged into the colored ribbon cable. Your 8-pin standard decoder plugs into the main lamp board and you're done!
If you are like me, I have no plans to open the shell again AND I use the directional "lamps" while I'm running the HO Train, so I know before it moves, which way it's going to go. The main disappointment I had with the Digitax (Internet) documentation was, they did NOT tell you to remove both 150 Ohm resistors "under" the circuit board, just above the flywheels and replace them both with 1,000 Ohm resistors. Wait! You're not done yet! To make the "old 1.5-volt" light bulbs work, they (Digitax) uses two diodes (surface mount) in series with the 150 Ohm resistors as well as in parallel with the light bulbs. To get my L.E.D.s (Radio Shack bright white "hobby" L.E.D.s) to work, I had to remove those series/parallel diodes from the ends of the Digitax Lamp Board; CR1-CR4, CR5,CR6,CR8,CR9.
I did not expect all this work and you better be really good with a 40-watt pencil soldering iron and solder wick. I used a toothpick at the end, after I removed as much solder from the ends of the diodes as I could, the toothpick "popped them off" nicely and you then go back and simply clean up your mess. After the diodes were gone, my DCC Convesion of my Athearn/Digitax lamp board was complete. The L.E.D. wire polarity is easy to figure out, if you get it backward. Test the unit before you cover up all your work.
I hope this helps someone in the near future? I used the Bachmann 8-pin DCC Decoder a set of 1K Ohm resistors and a lot of solder wick to finish the job. Oh Yes, a set of Radio Shack Hobby L.E.D.s.
All fit nicely into the GE C44 Dash-9 CN #2544 "shell" and while I was at it, I cleaned the motor contactor drum and any luck, with L.E.D.s on board, I won't have to open her up ever again? Why a Bachmann Decoder? I like to do D.C. performance ops/comparisons with my other locomotives. DC/DCC decoders are the only way to go! Yes, the L.E.D.s show direction in DC as well as DCC.
End
/EX
Hi and welcome to the forum.
Just one question, are you referring to the Athearn R to R as a Digitrax lamp board? I don't believe that Digitrax has anything to do with the standard Athearn DC light board?
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
I have converted about a dozen Athearn RTR with the 9 pin jumper. I have used TCS T1 and NCE D13P decoders in them plugged directly into the 9 pin plug without going into all that stuff. I really don't see why Athearn put the 8 pin socket on it. This only confuses some that do not read instructions or have not done too many instals. One guy in my club just did that without pulling the jumper out and fried a decoder this weekend.
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!
The easiest thing to do is use a 9 pin decoder and put it int he 9 pin plug. A TCS T1A (no harness) works great. If you want to use the 8 pin plug, you also need to remove the dummy plug inthe 9 pin plug, otherwise you will just short out the decoder.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.