It seems like there has been nothing new in non-sound decoders since the Keep-Alive stuff hit the market almost 2 years ago. I've been waiting for a Keep-Alive board replacement decoder (non-sound of course) for my Atlas SD35's.
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WHat is there to add, really? Manufacturers are making locos now all with very similar circuit designs so every new loco no longer needs a special decoder. Long-time manuactures have finally settled down and are making them pretty much all the same now, so again a new model doesn;t need a new decoder, it has the same form factor and takes the same decoder as all the prior releases. Alas board format decoders that can take a keep alive are already out there.
There HAVE been changes nonetheless - the 21 pin format compatible with sound and non-sound is taking hold with some manufacturers, and there are 21 pin nonsound decoders to go with the 21 pin sound decoders. Same decoder for EVERYTHING, just a different board to suit various internal designs. There have been drive improvements, as well as a general shift to make the non-sound version compeltely compatible with the same decoder vendor's sound version, both to amke it easy to swap and to allow a multi unit consist to run with a mix of sound and non sound decoders.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Carl, what features are you looking for?
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainwhat features are you looking for?
The only real item on my wishlist is a one piece drop-in replacement for the boards in my Atlas SD35's that includes keep-alive and direct support for LED's. You could say that the TCS motherboard with the EU621 decoder fits that requirement, but that solution cost more than 2X the current KAT decoders (on sale at MBK).
Other than that, I confess to being the average tech consumer - I don't know what I want until the manufacturers tell me. The Keep-Alive is a good example - I had no idea I couldn't live without it until TCS (and Digitrax before them) announced it.
It seems like there is something new in sound almost daily. I'm just curious about the state of the non-sound market.
I think you are going to see this all transition to the motherboard-duaghtboard decoder model going forward. Why? Because the motherboard part is easy to alter to fit various models, there's only limited electronics on it and relocating and rerouting traces for those is simple compared to redesigning the whole decoder. Plus then they only really need to make 2 decoders - a non sound and a sound one that plug in to the 21 pin interface.
As an added benefit to the modeler, once you have the proper motherboard, you can install any brand 21 pin decoder.
Even this isn't totally new, on the sound side anyway. The Loksound Select Direct decoder is actually a 21 pin decoder and an Atlas/Athearn board format motherboard packaged together. The WOWSound board repalcement versions from TCS were like this as well, now they more or less all are, although they still have the ones with wires for hard wiring.
It's sort of liek the old days, TCS had all sorts of harnesses to go from 9 pin JST plugs to 8 pins, with different wire lengths, different twists, etc. Digitrax had the one that had all the clips for Athearn BB locos. With neither of these did you have to use that manufacturer's decoders - the Digitrax Athearn BB harness worked perfectly fine with a 9 pin TCS or NCE decoder. So now I think we will see various manufacturers offer a selection of motherboards to fit specific brands of locos, which (hopefully) will work with anyone's 21 pin decoder.
rrinkerBecause the motherboard part is easy to alter to fit various models, there's only limited electronics on it and relocating and rerouting traces for those is simple
If the motherboard and decoder are each only half of the solution, then why are they $40 each when a KAT24, which by that logic is harder to build, is only $50?
The separate loco specific motherboard and universal decoder is a great idea, but only if it is delivered at a price point that is competitive with an old style decoder. There has to be value for the customer, not just the manufacturer.
* I guess the A6X with a KA2 is a more direct comparison, but together they're still only $65.
Gotta ask TCS I guess. I used to get T1's for $15-$20, they were my go-to non-sound decoder and I have at least a dozen of them, I prefer to hard wire most installs. Now they're $30, or $35 for having the extra two wires to attach a KA to. I can get ESU Lokpiliots for less and they have the bonus of perfectly matching my Loksound sound decoders (only kind I use).