I have no hands on experience with DCC but I am very interested. I have purchased two new engines that are DCC-ready that I use on my DC layout.
Having a small switching layout at this time, I don't plan on converting to DCC until I start my larger layout.
My questions may be stupid. Can I buy and install sound decoders in my two new DCC-ready engines and have limited sound on DC? I know I wouldn't have access to all the sounds without DCC but I have read of engines having sound on DC.
Or should I just buy a DCC decoder with sound? Do they make sound only decoders and if they do, could I still use them when I do install a DCC decoder?
A customer at my local hobby store said I can have sound on DC, just got to buy the right decoder. My two DCC-ready engines are an Athearn switcher (my avatar) and an Atlas FM H-14.
Pat Bandy
Most recent sound decoders are "dual mode" i.e. they work on both DC and DCC. You're correct in that you won't have the control on DC that you would on DCC, but they will work if they're dual mode.
The biggest issue is space for the speaker. Both engines you cite will be tight for a sound install, but if they are recent runs, they may have a space already made that the speaker will fit into.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
OH! So DCC-ready does not mean sound ready, as in a speaker is installed. Will have to look at schematics of both to see what is installed inside. Yes, they are new runs.
I would have looked at the schematics before I posted but I'm still drinking my coffee.
Atlas said Gold version will be sound equipped. I don't know if I have the Gold version. At the great price I paid, I doubt it but that would mean it would have room for sound!
DCC ready used to mean that a decoder install would be relatively painless, probably a plug and play deal if really that way.
DCC-sound ready means there's a spot provided in the cast weight or the fuel tank where a speaker can easily be mounted. You don't have to cut or otherwise extremely modify it to fit a speaker. This does, in most cases, reduce the tractive effort of the loco because it weighs less.
First, pull the shell and look. I have yet to hear of a loco that is DCC ready with a speaker. Usually the two speaker wires have to be soldered.
Your two locos might not be an issue but there are many different setups used in other locos.
To date, DCC ready has meant, motor contacts isolated from pickups. Nothing else. There are many variations in DCC ready locos.
Not all have a speaker location. Steamers have decoder and speaker in the tender.
I have a variety of diesels and steamers.
SoundTraxx and TCS have some examples of sound installs.
Decoders come with wiring diagrams. Manufactures don't include wiring diagrams. You have to know what you are doing and how to solder in some installs.
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.
Thank you Mike, you have been a big help.
Both locos I described are not "sound" ready. I have the Silver version of the H16-44 and the Athearn SW1500 says no under sound. Gives me a reason to buy another loco, one with sound so I can see if I like it. I don't like it when I hear it on large train displays I've seen. Just doesn't sound real to me.
DCC Ready means exactly nothing. There's no standard for the use of the term, so on some locos it will mean it will take more time getting the shell off than installing the decoder all the way to you have to do some wiring changes to make it work properly.
However - int he case of Atlas, if you have the Silver series version of one fo the locos that was sold as a Gold series with DCC/Sound already installed, it will have the speaker frame already in place, with a weight in place of the speakers, so they are pretty easy to install sound in - just get a pair of speakers the same size as the original ones and you're good to go. Plenty of room for the decoder, too.
A few other locos come 'sound ready' with a space available for the speaker to mount in with little more effort than unscrewing a weight that may be in the speaker space, but there aren't many of those. There are numerous resources on teh web with pictures of sound installs so you can see where to locate speakers in locos that otherwise don't have a space provided. Some are simple, others may require cutting or grinding some of the weight to make room.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
<duplicate post somehow>
rrinker DCC Ready means exactly nothing. There's no standard for the use of the term, so on some locos it will mean it will take more time getting the shell off than installing the decoder all the way to you have to do some wiring changes to make it work properly. However - int he case of Atlas, if you have the Silver series version of one fo the locos that was sold as a Gold series with DCC/Sound already installed, it will have the speaker frame already in place, with a weight in place of the speakers, so they are pretty easy to install sound in - just get a pair of speakers the same size as the original ones and you're good to go. Plenty of room for the decoder, too. A few other locos come 'sound ready' with a space available for the speaker to mount in with little more effort than unscrewing a weight that may be in the speaker space, but there aren't many of those. There are numerous resources on teh web with pictures of sound installs so you can see where to locate speakers in locos that otherwise don't have a space provided. Some are simple, others may require cutting or grinding some of the weight to make room. --Randy
Thank you Randy, that is good news about having room "built in" for sound. It may take me a bit to get up the nerve to install sound. I have several 35 year old BB Athearn locos that I have cleaned up and they work okay. I am so impressed with today's detail on locos out of the box, that I'm a nervous working them. My old BB GP-9 that I spent hours super detailing and installing an interior, still doesn't compare to the switcher I just purchased out of the box.