EMPCCCC
This page last updated: December 21, 2012 as of October 2018
Land Action To Do: Everything :)
- Types of action: Main page has many suggestions, will list here as completed with possible sub page links. Digitrax DCC train and action control is below with its sub topics. Decisions have been made so Digitrax and Ardino are the topic subjects.
- Land_RFID is actually DCC JMRI RFID readers that transmit the information they receive from passing trains to a central receiver that inputs to JMRI.
Digitrax DCC train and action control
- Evolution Duplex Radio Set is the one to start with as you are going to get it anyway. Someday.
- PR4 Loconet Computer to Command interface - worthless as a decoder programmer for anything except Digitrax decoders : get a Sprog3
- The stationary decoders for switches ONLY do Tortoise and Atlas types, they DO NOT do Servos
- Occupancy Detector and Transponding are not really accurate enough for my vision of control. They only locate to within your predetermined and wired blocked zones. Programming arduinos with tags and readers might give better resolution - but again only to the location of the detectors. Definitely a TBD (To Be Determined) project.
- JMRI is actually the train control mechanism is it not. As of 2018 it is divided into three subprograms - although they all launch into JMRI - just different areas - so they say.
- Decoder Pro
- This is what is used to set the decoder data. Digitrax PR4 is used to interface the Command Station to the Computer. Use a SPROG3 to do any decoder decoding.
- PanelPro
- "PanelPro provides four separate ways to create Control Panels:" None seem to be a workable train control program.
- JMRI and XTrackCAD are both open source so translating into Delphi and building an actual working train control program is the priority that might never be reached.
- OperationsPro
- Yeah I got no idea. It looks like a database of your train.
- It is for Operations and I might never do any more than this.
- XTrackCAD is a drawing program for train layouts. Its results can be mported into JMRI.
- Computer Automated Traffic System (CATS) is a drawing program for train layouts. It interacts with JMRI. That is all I know.
- Sprog3
- Digitrax decoders
- Digitrax DH166PS and Digitrax Px112-2 Power Xtender for most anything that does not come with a decoder already. Px112-2 not really needed for 8 or 12 wheels and will not fit in anything.
- Digitrax DH126PS and Digitrax Px112-2 Power Xtender as some have the ditch lights hooked to the headlight and thus nothing else to do with the other 4 functions. Px112-2 not really needed for 8 or 12 wheels and will not fit in anything.
- Digitrax DN166PS and Digitrax PX112-6F Power Xtender as an N scale decoder it should fit in the little HO locomotives. Well the decoder will, the PX is the same as the PX112-2 except with different wires so it will NOT FIT in anything.
- Power Xtender sounds like a good idea but it will not fit in anything I have tried... SO get a resistor, diode and the largest capacitor that WILL fit and make your own.
- DH126MT For HO Scale Locomotives Equipped with 21MTC interface. ... and it did not work : DO NOT DO 21 pin there is NO STANDARD
- DZ126T etc... the smallest decoders do not do the Power Xtender even when they are the ones that would most benefit from having a glitch preventer due to the locomotive limited contact. DN166PS is only slightly larger and it has a connector location to hook up your own capacitor.
- Board replacements are all similar so check closely... NONE do the power extenders AFAIK :( So you have to figure out where to solder on the wires.
DH165A0 fits Athearn Genesis, Kato, Stewart, Atlas & Other HO Locomotives
DH165K0 Fits Kato, Stewart, Atlas & Other HO Locomotives
DH165K1A fits many Kato HO Diesel Locomotives.
DH165Q1 fits Atlas, Intermountain, LifeLike & Other factory sound-equipped HO Locomotives.
- Athearn Sprog3
- Tsunami : select from all of them for the locomotive you actually are decoding
- Athearns have bulbs :(
Changing out to LEDs means the board is useless as the resistor values negate LED use. SO : lots of soldering resistors to LEDs and wires. The best LED replacement is Al Mayo's Monster LED. They fit into the bulb hole after the bulb is moistened and then removed. Scrape off the red and green paint from the end of the wires with the side of an Xacto knife blade. Solder the provided resistor onto the green wire and to the headlight wire. Solder the red wire to the common.
- As of summer 2018 they claim to be going to LEDs... they still need to be heavier and stronger.
- Atlas Sprog3 ( Most of mine are Dash 8-40BW models - thoughout time.)
- new? : LokSound Select Dual-Mode
- Old? : QSI sound and the ones that have a switch to go from DC to DCC.
- non sound ... Digitrax DH126PS
- Some older models have bulbs so ditto aka Athearn bulbs.
- Bachmann
- Get the DCC or DCC with sound, not worth buying a decoder to put in these.
- Broadway Limited Sprog3
- Select Paragon 3 Diesel do NOT select Rolling Thunder as none of the tabs have information and other problems. Or Paragon2 Diesel if that is the type for that locomotive.
- If you want sound buy this brand.
- Fox Valley HO GP60M is a POS. Requires a 21 pin decoder none of which have any standards.
- Fox Valley HO GP60M with a ESU Lok Pilot non sound 21 pin decoder does NOT even show up as being a locomotive
- Fox valley internals are so intricate it will be hard to even manually wire to the motor and lights, skipping their board and its 21 pin nightmare.
- and it worked but i forgot to take before and after pictures, just middle of the road...
- Intermountain Sprog3
- Old? : Tsunami : select from all of them for the locomotive you actually are decoding
- New Tier 4: ESU® LokSound® Select sound decoders OR ESU® LokPilot® V4.0 non-sound decoders
My new favorite locomotive is the Tier 4 non sound version as it comes with a decoder, is inexpensive, looks great, and is Heavy.
- Kato
- SD 80 and 90 can use a Digitrax DH126PS as that is all they need with the ditch lights running off of the headlight light tubes
- There are black wires on both sides of the decoder plug - make sure the plug goes all the way in and is not blocked by the wires - move them to the side when plugging in the decoder.
- GP35 ... probably a a Digitrax DH126PS OR a DH166PS if Ditch lights are added on.. and then put on a rotary beacon too.
It comes with a weight at the top which negates ANY decoder - so it was removed. Older GP35 models are NOT DCC able.
- MTH Sprog3
- Not really much to set other than the locomotive long address, nothing much else shows up on the tabs.
- Get the sound version as it is the only one to come with the remote couplers. That and confusion about putting in a decoder in the non sound versions.
- There is NO ROOM for a decoder and after getting it apart it will have to be GLUED TOGETHER to keep the lid on.
- Walthers
- Many pre DCC were heavy and strong, new ones are overpriced considering BLI, MTH, Intermountain.
- Weight and thus pulling power
- Athearn SD70ACE: 17.4
Athearn GP60M 12 oz
- Atlas Dash 8-40BW : 16.24
- Broadway Limited 21.2 Oz ..25.0
- Intermountain GEVO 17.5 2018 Tier 4 : 24.9 oz
- Digitrax
- Use the Funcion mapping tab so you can map F2 to F1 so you will be able to turn it on ... normally these (F1 and F2) are for Ditch lights except for sound versions they are the bell and horn. Since F2 is the horn it is only on while you are pressing it.
- BEWARE : short address range is 0 to 127 and those numbers will NOT work as long addresses.
- Dead locos
- A Stanton in a coke pusher with a z123 , think it fried at first programming track power - my bad soldering or what. Removed the DCC and reverted to DC.
- A Walthers SW1 with a DH126PS that had a broken pin, tried to solder into the hole and bring it out - Dunno what - it programmed and got nothing on the Main line track. The plug would not go all the way into the holes - so maybe why - i desoldered the plug and put in a different decoder and the locomotive is fine - the decoder plug is DOA so I switched out with another one and the decoder works.
Copyright © 1991..2018 by Ivan Lee Herring
