athearn decoder socket

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

I am looking at the new Athearn GP38-2 due out soon… The Athearn site does not state its DCC ready , where the old GP38-2 says they are … Its hard to believe any new engine would not be DCC ready. My question is , are all the new Athearns DCC ready. I wrote TCS and Athearn and have not heard back…

Thanks Folks

2

None of the new announcement RTR locos say anything about DCC. Since every recent RTR model HAS come with a DCC 9 pin connector, there is absolutely no reason to assume these will not as well.

–Randy

3

I emailed Athearn a few months ago and was told that they will not have a DCC ready plug. I’m interested in the ONR one.

4

I assume you’re talking about the RTR GP38-2’s?

My experience with Athearn RTR’s is that the ones that use the former RPP shells ARE DCC ready, while the ones that use the “old” Athearn shells are NOT DCC ready. Since the GP38-2’s don’t use RPP shells, they fall into the “not DCC ready” category.

But f you have a link to someplace on the Athearn Web site that says the older GP38-2’s are DCC ready, please post it here. I’d like some documentation for when I complain to Athearn that the two I have aren’t DCC ready.

As far as being “hard to believe any new engine would not be DCC ready”, remember that the GP38-2’s aren’t “new”. Maybe new road names or paint schemes, but the basic shell and drive have been around for years.

5

I have emailed , Athearn , TCS and Model Train Stuff’s tech support. I will post if i hear anything… On the TCS site the GP38-2 is a hard wired install… I guess this is one of the reasons I hesitate getting Athearn engines… I do not want to try wiring a non DCC ready engine…

6

Don’t be afraid, it really is a very easy install. I did a couple of their GP40’s a few months ago.

7

HO Athearn are super easy compared to an N scale split frame I did for a club member. The last one I will ever do. I am kind of glad I did HO and not N.

Pete

8

Just got an email reply from Athearn , the GP38-2 does not have a DCC socket, boooooooo

9

I thought about it and my problem is eye sight and the abiltiy to solder any more,

Years ago i would have no problem but age is creeping up. I do N scale also and have had to limit what I can take on.

Thanks Hal

10

Hal.

I smell what your cooking. I have to use the reading specks to solder in decoders now. It’s tough getting older. Anyway Digitrax had a decoder especially made for Athearn with no soldering. It is their model DH123AT. According to their website it is still available.

Pete

11

I REALLY wonder about their decisions on this, as they claim these new ones have the upgraded hex drive. So they still make locos with that goofy giant contact bar across the top? I did install an older one that did not have a socket but it did have a circuit board clipped to the top of the motor instead of the old bar. It’s really easy to hardwire a decoder to these.

–Randy

12

Here is what I believe is the real skinny… Athearn said no socket , Model Train Stuff said no socket but most likely could use the Digitrax decoder suggested above. And TCS said they really didn’t know. I am quite new to this DCC stuff and am really glad for all the info relayed from this forum

Thank You

Hal

13

The hex drive has been out for a while now, 15 years or so. First showed up in SD40-2s, long before DCC became commonplace. The board on a RTR clips on top of the motor, so it is pretty much the same motor the contact strip would clip to.

I don’t think we will see a Athearn DCC-ready GP38-2/40-2/50/60 anytime soon. The box below the dynamic hatch cuts into the space where the Quick-Plug board and such go into. There seems to be no interest by Athearn to retool these, and to put a decent motor in. A Kato motor should fit, hook up to the hex drivelines, work better, etc., but they seem to be out of stock at the current time. Example here