I just won an older (yellow box) Atlas RS-11 HO on eBay and haven't yet received it, but I will be in the neighborhood of my "local" hobby store (75 miles from home) tomorrow. I wanted to pick up a decoder while I was there. I have converted the newer Atlas offerings with the Digitrax DH165AO and NCE DASR drop in decoders, but have no experience with the older models. I have seen pics on the web, and it looks like I may be able to use the same decoder, but would need to remove the light and the the metal slab that runs over top of the motor.
Does anyone have experience with installing this type of decoder in this model? Is there a better choice amongst Digitrax/NCE offering? Is there anything to look out for (ie. is the motor isolated from frame?, anything I need to disconnect to avoid frying the decoder? )? As always any helpful suggestions and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
davidmbedard Should be an easy install. Remember that the light pipe can be remove, shortened and re-used with the addition of an LED heat-shrink-wrapped to the ends. David B
Should be an easy install. Remember that the light pipe can be remove, shortened and re-used with the addition of an LED heat-shrink-wrapped to the ends.
David B
Thanks for the tip. Are the "guts" generally the same as the newer run "Classic" locos (with the obvious exception of the light)?
Pretty much the same as the current Atlas models.
Here's a writeup I did last year when I converted a few of mine.
AlienKing Pretty much the same as the current Atlas models. Here's a writeup I did last year when I converted a few of mine.
Great write-up. Thanks for the link.