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Knowledgeable and local??
Knowledgeable and local??
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aartlib
Member since
November 2002
From: US
41 posts
Knowledgeable and local??
Posted by
aartlib
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 1:49 PM
Is anybody lucky enough to be in a town where there is an LHS that can intelligently sell/advise/repair/install the new DCC and DCC sound equipment??
Mail order (Tony's/Loy's etc) is a little awkward at best. Long distance.
Art Gordon
Reply
grayfox1119
Member since
August 2003
From: Cherry Valley, Ma
3,674 posts
Posted by
grayfox1119
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 6:14 PM
Hi Art, I can't tell where you live because your profile is not filled out, but I have to assume that you do not have a LHS nearby, or, one that has knowledgable people concerning your needs. This is a problem in many areas of the country, and around the world, just not the U.S. So you only have a few choices:
1. Use this thread or another equally good.
2. Use email to talk to Tony's and Loy's , both are excellent.
3. READ, get your hands on every book and internet article that deals with your issues.
4. Experiment, but only after you have read-up on the subject in question, otherwise, you might find yourself being another Edison, 1000 experiments before finding that Tungsten makes a great filament without burning out right away.
5. Save your gas money until you can afford to take a trip to a knowledgable LHS, maybe one withing driving range of where you live that someone on this thread can rate for you, IF we know where you live.
Does this help?
Dick If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got!! Learn from the mistakes of others, trust me........you can't live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself, I tried !! Picture album at :http://www.railimages.com/gallery/dickjubinville Picture album at:http://community.webshots.com/user/dickj19 local weather www.weatherlink.com/user/grayfox1119
Reply
railroadyoshi
Member since
March 2005
From: Eastern Massachusetts
1,681 posts
Posted by
railroadyoshi
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 7:07 PM
Well, in Maynard, MA there is a DCC specialist company (DCC only, not a general LHS)
Supposedly they do all of the things you speak of, and I will probably ask them to do the decoder install in my LL P2k GP38-2, as I've heard Life-Like locos are a paain to convert
Yoshi "Grammar? Whom Cares?"
http://yfcorp.googlepages.com
-Railfanning
Reply
cacole
Member since
July 2003
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
13,757 posts
Posted by
cacole
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 7:42 PM
The nearest "local" hobby shop to me is a 70 mile one-way trip, and the only knowledge they have is of G scale.
I do all of my own and other people's decoder and sound installs, because we have no other members in the local HO-scale club who even know how to solder or install simple "plug-n-play" decoders.
Reply
railroadyoshi
Member since
March 2005
From: Eastern Massachusetts
1,681 posts
Posted by
railroadyoshi
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 8:05 PM
The first time I tryed to solder (Building a working replica of the Marconi Tower on Cape Cod) I burned myself. That was one big owwy.
Yoshi "Grammar? Whom Cares?"
http://yfcorp.googlepages.com
-Railfanning
Reply
MisterBeasley
Member since
December 2004
From: Bedford, MA, USA
21,481 posts
Posted by
MisterBeasley
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 9:12 PM
Close to Maynard, Mass, and railroadyoshi, is Chelmsford, Mass. MaineTrians is also run by an expert, Gerry, who not only understands and installs DCC, but can also paint the exterior of locomotives or rolling stock to your specifications. I consider myself fortunate to live nearby. Don't underestimate the value of expertise and experience. So far, I've damaged 3 decoders. One is missing a front headlight function, one won't run a motor, and the last is, to use the gastronomical analogy, Toast.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Reply
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Posted by
Anonymous
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 10:04 PM
Around here I wouldn't say that the LHS knows how to do DCC but a few of the employees are very good with it. So, I guess that would be a yes.
Reply
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grayfox1119
Member since
August 2003
From: Cherry Valley, Ma
3,674 posts
Posted by
grayfox1119
on Saturday, September 24, 2005 10:11 PM
Well, between Yoshi and you Mr B., we all live near some pretty good assistance here in Massachusetts should it be needed. And, if you frrl like taking a nice Fall ride, we can make it to Tony's in Essex Junction Vermont in about 3 hours . I have been soldering everything from copper pipes to tiny microcircuits for 43 years, so soldering is no problem for me, however, I am new to decoder installs, so I will have to learn all about the do's and don'ts like we did when first handling MOS circuits in dry weather.
Dick If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got!! Learn from the mistakes of others, trust me........you can't live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself, I tried !! Picture album at :http://www.railimages.com/gallery/dickjubinville Picture album at:http://community.webshots.com/user/dickj19 local weather www.weatherlink.com/user/grayfox1119
Reply
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