I just received ]from ebay] a mint condition Proto 2000 0-6-0 today. I need advise on which decoder to get, I’d like sound but I’m on a tight budget, so it doesn’t have to be sound. It does however have to be a plug in type. Any suggestions?
Just about any of the cheaper Digitrax PnP decoders. Here’s some advice. Stay far away from the MRC decoders. They’re junk!
Contact Bruce at Litchfieldstation.com He’ll get you hooked up with the right decoder.
I like NCE (cheap, reliable and easy to program) and LENZ (pricier but better features and compact sizes.)
I’ve found Soundtraxx to be limited in quantity of sounds, I have 2 (no experience w/ Tsunami though) but they sound nice, though my Shay generates limited volume which I attribute to the small speaker.
MRC 2nd gen Sound decoders don’t sound great, but have lots of sounds and lighting ability if you use the solder pads.
I wish QSI made inidivual decoders, they have the best compormise of quanitiy and quality of sounds IMHO.
I have one of those with factory-installed sound, QSI I think. It is really, really outstanding. The tender is a great place for the speakers, and yours may already have speaker enclosures built into it since many of these come with sound.
Think seriously about sound, unless you have another engine to “hand down” a decoder to. If you install sound now, you won’t end up doing another installation later.
If you decide against sound you could consider the excellent TCS decoders. www.tcsdcc.com They have some very small packages ideal for tight spaces. They also have a great selection of harnesses for different hook up applications. Drop them an e-mail for advice.
My standard “cheap but good” decoder recomendation is the NCE D13SR. I believe the Proro 2000 0-6-0 is going to have an eight pin plug in the tender, so the wires can easily be pinned into the appropriate hole in the plug.
At this point in time I don’t recommend any MRC decoders. Check the theads on this forum and you will see bunches (including myself a professional computer programmer) having trouble programming them. In fact, I don’t just not recommend them, I recommend to go screaming from the room.
I got one of these a couple of years ago, and put a Soundtraxx “Low Cost” PnP decoder in it. I liked the engine so much, when the steam Tsunamis came out, I replaced the PnP, which was ok but “low cost” just doesn’t do it, at least not for me on this super little switcher.
Yes, it’s pricey (about $95 from most dealers now, plus speaker and the plug-in harness, if you don’t want to solder). But it’s also just absolutely terriffic! I especially like the “Short whistle” function and the braking function and sound, especially for switching, but all the sounds are great.
So I’d say, if you can’t go sound, one of the suggestions above will be fine. But if you decide on sound, bite the bullet and Tsunami it. The only downside is, you’ll want one for every engine!