I have a few 15 year old Atlas HO diesels that I would like to convert to DCC operation.
Can anyone suggest decoder makes and models that are intended to be installed in older Atlas engines? Any related hints or suggestions?
Thanks.
John,
Welcome to the forum! [:)]
It would be helpful if you could give specifics on your locomotives (e.g. SD38-2, GP9, etc.) in order to help you out better. FYI: Good and reliable sources for DCC/decoder information can be had from the following websites:
http://www.litchfieldstation.com
John, you can also call or e-mail the manufacturer (Atlas, in this case) directly and ask them for their recommendation for decoders for your locomotives.
As far as makes? Digitrax, Lenz, NCE and TCS are all good decoders. As soon as you can tell us more about your diesels, then someone will be able to chime on a particular model.
John, good to have you aboard! Trust you’ll come back to visit often. [:)]
Tom
P.S. Hey, I glanced at your profile. My mom actually lives in “western” western NC (Graham County) - in a little town about 2 hours due west of you. She sits on top of a mountain, overlooking Santeetlah Lake. Beautiful area of the country. Asheville a’int too shabby either.
I wired an Atlas decoder into an old Atlas SD-35. Works good but I still need to work on the noise. The engine was loud before the surgery but now it’s really loud. It functions fine but I bet there is an easier way to do it. The simple TCS decoder would most likely be fine.
RMax1
Depend son which kind of old Atlas is it. I did an Atlas/Kato RSD-4 and used a TCS A1 to repalce the internal board. For the OTHER old Atlas, with Roco drives, I have a bunch of those to do and I plan on just using a TCS T-1. Note that the FP-7’s I looked at are NOT isolated, the motor is tied to the frame. This will require insulating and remounting the motor with a nylon screw or bathtub caulk. Other Atlas/Roco I looke at appear to be isolated, in that the motor has two terminals and two wires. I will of course truly verify that with my meter before proceeding - it’s just that the FP-7’s are OBVIOUSLY not isolated.
–Randy
I hardwired a Digitrax DH121 (no longer made, use DH123) into an Atlas FP7 purchased about 1990. Runs great. Just take your time and solder your wires carefully, etc. We all make this DCC WAY MORE complicated than it really is. Like the Nike commercial used to say, “just do it”.
Cheers,
Ed
Sorry I took so long to get back to these replies… one of our boys is in town for a few days and we’ve been running around doing the “tourist” thing.
First off, thanks very much to everyone for both the welcome and the suggestions. I probably should have mentioned that the Atlas engine in question is powered by a Kato mechanism and has a single GOW bulb mounted in the center of a circuit board that sits on top of the motor. The circuit board is connected to two stiff copper-colored wires that run from back to front.
Does this information help to identify the particular “version” of the Atlas model?
Thanks again.
Yup. I did an Atlas RSD-4 that was like this, with the Kato drive. I used a TCS A1X decoder, you remove the grey plastic Kato circruit board and the decoder clips over the lugs. I cut off the long copper strips attached to the motor and soldered on short lengths of wire. The leads fromt he trucks at each end I soldered to the tabs ont he deocder, and at each end of the decoder are also another pair of tabs for a light. You cna use a 14v light bulb, or, as I did, use a golden white LED and resistor. To make it all work, I cut down the light bars (since they include the headlight lenses) to just past the retaining pins closest to the ends of the hood. I used a piece of shrink tubing around the light bar and LED to hold the LED in place to each bar, and glued the bars in with a little white glue (Elmer’s).
I have some pictures but it was before the new camera came and they are pretty bad, so I haven’t posted them anywhere.
–Randy