MisterBeasley Just how big are these decoders? I was looking at them as a candidate for replacing the decoder in a Bachmann 0-6-0T tank engine. This small locomotive is nice looking, but it has trouble maintaining contact on normal track, and is a very poor performer on the girder-rail street-running track down by the carfloat terminal, where I'd intended to run it. Thanks for any info.
Just how big are these decoders? I was looking at them as a candidate for replacing the decoder in a Bachmann 0-6-0T tank engine. This small locomotive is nice looking, but it has trouble maintaining contact on normal track, and is a very poor performer on the girder-rail street-running track down by the carfloat terminal, where I'd intended to run it. Thanks for any info.
I can fit a TSU750 (Small Tsunami) in my 0-6-0T's with a small capacitor into the cab.
Most people shove the decoder into the steam chest. If you can run a wire to the cab, you'll be in good shape. There might even be room inside the backhead. (That's where I shoved my speaker)
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
MisterBeasley Just how big are these decoders?
Just how big are these decoders?
They are about the size of the TCS T1 decoder (which is what the decoder bit actually is) but more than double the thickness. I can't measure mine without dismantling the loco, but this is off their web site
Dimensions: 1.31” x 0.65” x .29” or 33.4mm x 16.5mm x 7.4mm
If this is the dimension of the decoder itself, then it is a tad misleading because the harness connection takes up a bit more space as well. But it is that .29" or 7.4mm thickness that caused me all the problems.
I suspect you might struggle with your loco. The dilemma is that it is small, short wheel base locos that would most benefit from this, and this is where they don't fit. TCS promotes the idea of putting the decoder in a freight car, permanently attached to the loco for N scale.
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
Sir Madog Nice shot of the A4! Thought I heard a bit of a 25-mile-west-of London accent.
Nice shot of the A4!
Thought I heard a bit of a 25-mile-west-of London accent.
Nah, way off.... I grew up near Maidenhead, which is 30 miles west of London Actually have spent more years living in Illinois, so those formative years are obviously a big influence.
The A4 is part of a Hornby special pack with the rake of coaches. One of their higher detailed models and it is beautiful. I picked it up recently as a great deal on eBay.
Hi Crandell.
The problem I have been experiencing, which has been really quite annoying, has been the performance of some of my British tender driven steamers. The pickup arrangement is not great and they tend to suffer from intermittent connection on insulfrog turnouts. I have fitted decoders like TCS T1 in these tender drives, but the extra thickness of the KAT12 meant that it would not fit. The A4 I ended up fitting it to is not a tender drive, but has similar pickup, except for the connection between tender and loco. This was a recent acquisition and I never tested this with any other decoder, so it might not have had the issue in the first place. The Great Western 4-6-0 was did stutter quite a bit with its previous DN series Digitrax decoder (non BEMF) and its slow speed performance and ability to traverse the Peco's was dramatically improved by the MC2/KA1 installation.
I've been thinkign about picking one of these up and trying it out - I have no probems at home, even my 44-tonner creeps ove rmy unpowered frogs, but since the club layout is modular and the older sections still use fitter pieces when put together, there are often short dead spots between sections, making runnign trains with just a single power unit nearly impossible. Even doubleheading can be a problem if one unit doesn;t have the power to both pull the train and push the dead one, I already have T1's in most of these, and I think the smaller of the two keep-alive versions would give me enough time. It would be worth it to file a bit of the weight to make it fit if needed. Ironically, steam, at least modern stuff that picks up on both sides of the loco as well as both sides of the tender, actually runs best becauseof the long power wheelbase. Sound is usually ok, although my Atlas Trainmaster tended to get stuck, My MTH never did - that's what I pulled the camera car with, but that really is two powered units. Wierd with those is the sound cuts out on bad spots but the motor keeps going.
Nice that TCS has both options now, either built in or external. For slightly cramped spaces it might be easier to install a new T1 that has the connector for the KAT modules and use the seperate power module located elsewhere. The new Loksound decoders have conenction for keep alive, which can use either theirs or the Lenz module - wonder if the KAT modules would work too..
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Simon,
Thanks for the info on the KAT12 decoder. The Lenz Gold and Silver decoders are pretty much in the same ballpark price-wise as the TCS KAT12s.
For me - low speed response is THE most important feature in a decoder. I can live with or without sound. However, if I have a switcher that starts out on speed step 001 at 5 sMPH - even after tweaking - it's pretty much worthless to me.
And, given the locomotives you were demonstrating in your video clip, Simon, the "accent" was quite appropriate - for whatever worth that is.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Simon, I hope you won't mind my question, but against what circumstance that has plagued you, with what other decoder, on what length of dead track/frog, and what locomotive, have you compared the new decoders with whatever it was you used before. I am intrigued by the whole idea, but have read so many pooh-poohing posts across various forums about the recent offerings with 'keep-alive' capacitors, that I have been put off them. So, what was bothering you, and would you agree that this latest item really does deliver in your situation?
Crandell
Hi Tom, I need to take a look at a Lenz Gold myself, I got burned by some low end Lenz years ago and kind of stayed away from them since. Not fair of course, because I know that the LE1000 was meant to be a real cheapy low-end decoder. I paid $42 for the KAT12 from this vendor http://store.sbs4dcc.com/tcskat12dccdecoder.aspx I had never used them before and had a good shopping experience with them.
You are correct the MC2 equipped loco was a shade faster. However, it was not pulling anything and the other loco had a rake of 3 coaches, that may have been the difference?
Hey....I paid extra for the fake foreign voice over! I have lived here for 25 years, and I can't even do a good impression of an American accent. It's not all bad though, I got voted favorite lector at Church by the quilting ladies (Average age 75!)
Thanks for the vid, Simon. That was VERY impressive! The low-speed response was as good as the Lenz Silver and Gold decoders. My Walthers SW1 with a Lenz Silver MP decoder will do a whopping 0.33 sMPH @ speed step 001...and I didn't do any tweaking to it, either.)
It looked like the MC2 decoder was just slightly faster than the KAT12. I'll have to keep those in mind in the future.
Simon, what did you end up paying for the KAT12 decoder, if you don't mind me asking?
P.S. Better work on the voice-over, Simon. It makes you sound like you're not from around here.
I have been playing around with one of the new TCS KAT12 decoders with the built in Keep Alive. What I found is that it is rather a large decoder and it would not fit into my original candidate locomotive. So I installed it into a steamer to see how well the keep alive technology would work in conjunction with TCS' auto BEMF.
This video shows the decoder running at speed step 1. I made no adjustments at all to the decoder other than change the road number. It absolutely crawls and does not miss a beat when crossing the dead frogs of the Peco Insulfrog turnouts used on the layout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBgCaBHZ8UU&list=UU2p1cqCGy-W5bPsoinOHZmA&index=2&feature=plcp
In the latter part of the video I show a loco with a TCS MC2 coupled to a separate KA1 module. This has essentially the same performance as the KAT12 but because the MC2 is small and the keep alive module connected by wires, it was much easier to find the space to install it. This second model is an older Bachmann Branchline model.
I must say that I am really impressed with these new decoders.