I’m thinking of snatching up an Athearn Genesis GP9 and a Skyline MT-4 before they’re all spoken for. But it’s likely going to be a long time before before I jump into DCC (I’m sure there’ll be some who want to jump in right here). I’d like to pick up the DCC versions but have read a number of thisngs that give me pause - on top of the extra bucks. First is the out-of-the-box chuff for the Mountain and other settings that should be changed. Of more concern is the news that some get get their units off the line well in DC mode because of the drain of juice prioritized by the decoders (and more will CERTAINLY jump in here). So the DC units are being considered, too. Question: is “DCC-Ready” perhaps a bit of trade euphemism or is it really fairly easy to drop in a decoder later on? Thanks, everybody, let’s see if I’ve opened an old can of worms here.
John
All of the Athearn DCC ready locomotives that I have purchased (9 of them) they are pretty straightforward. You remove the jumper board from the 9 pin socket and plug in the decoder. It’s really that simple. When you place the loco on a DCC layout, you program it to your liking and you good to go.
Sound in DC to me is a non-starter, unless EVERY loco has a sound decoder. You simply can’t get away from the fact that to be able to make sounds BEFORE the loco moves, then it will take some voltage to get the electronics running before the motor can be allowed to turn. Otherwise you would have a loco creeping around at yard speed makign no noise, then when you get out on the main and go faster, suddenly the sound starts - hardly realistic. That’s just the way it is and there is no easy way around it.
DCC Ready is mostly just a marketing term, but int he case of Athearn it really is simply removing the 9 pin dummy plug and connecting a decoder. Not all ‘DCC Ready’ locos are created equal, there is no industry standard for use fo the term. But Athearns are easy.
–Randy