I am looking at a Bachmann Steam engine that says DCC ready. I have never installed DCC in an engine before. However it says Our DCC-ready model has a factory-installed 8-pin socket for the DCC decoder installation of your choice.
what decoder/speaker do I need to buy to install DCC?
hudson5405I am looking at a Bachmann Steam engine
Hello,
It helps to specify what particular locomotive you're considering.
I like to refer to the TCS website even if I choose to use a different brand decoder. Their excellent photos of the inner-workings help to get an idea of what to expect when the guts are exposed. For example here is a Bachmann 4-8-2:
https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1221
I recently upgraded a pair of Bachmann B&O EM-1s and in my case I chose to completely remove the existing "DCC on board" electronics and basically "start from scratch" but this isn't always the only solution, especially if you are just beginning in do-it-yourself decoder installs.
Hope that helps, Ed
Decocoder for an 8 pin, I always go with Digitrax as they make many decoders for older engines. Now when you say sound, you are into a whole new ball of wax and Digitrax is not the best solution for a sound decoder and designing a space for sound and getting it to sound right (to me) is just not cost effective, though I have tried.
Several manufacturers make sound decoders, you can use any one that is made for steam sounds. Most common are decoders with a nine-pin connection; you will need a harness that connects to the nine-pin decoder connection with an eight-pin plug on the other end. You remove the "dummy" plug from the engine's eight-pin receptacle and plug in the eight-pin harness. The harness costs a couple of dollars. Do take a look in the tender first, some Bachmann engines require a "UK harness" where the wires are connected a bit differently than the regular US version.
Generally the connections for the speaker are on the other end of the decoder. Some manufacturers make decoders and speakers where you can just plug in the speaker connection, others you may need to solder wires to a speaker. Whichever decoder you select will also sell speakers, some include a speaker with the decoder.
FWIW I have several Bachmann engines that came with their "Sound Value" sound decoder installed at the factory, and find them to be quite good.