Spoke too soon? older Atlas S-2 decoder choices?

Jim

According to their web site these guys have two NCE ATLS4s in stock now. I haven’t a clue if that is correct but you might give them a try.

http://dccinstallsandsales.com/product_info.php?products_id=52

Dave

Dave, thanks for that, I’ll try them too.

Randy, you’re right, I’ve got to get to the point where I don’t need the special decoder. But I’ll have one each of the TCS and NCE decoders in hand tomorrow and will see how they go. I’ll likely be back for more advice.

Alright, I’m a glutton for punishment. Before calling it quits tonight, I decided to take apart one of the undec Atlas Roco units to see what’s inside. As far as I can tell, everything is the same as what is shown on the installation page at TCS: http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Atlas/S1_AS6/atlas_s1_switcher.htm

Photo of my unit below and frame taped off to insulate it.

So as far as I can tell, when I get the TCS and NCE decoders tomorrow, I should be good to go.

nope, that didn’t happen:

Dear James

We do not have this item in stock: 524-113 Our inventory was incorrect on our website…not sure if it was due to human error or sticky fingers. We apologize and are sending you a refund for the total amount in the mail in the form of a check.

Please review the attached receipt.

Thank you for shopping with us at Mainline Hobby Supply!

I’m pretty much giving up on trying to find the NCE decoders and will stick with the TCS ones. [;)]

Sorry about that. They are normally pretty good about only advertising items they have in stock.

hey, not your fault!! I just think it’s funny that I keep striking out on the NCE decoder. [(-D] No worries, I just got three of the TCS decoders in the mail today, so that will get me started on some of them right away, and I’ll chew on whether to do sound or not on some of the ones I like the best.

I took them all out of cold storage last night and fired them up on the DC test track. They all continue to run like Swiss watches, 20 years after they were put away. One or two of them will need some cleaning, but mostly they were all in good shape. Oh, and I discovered one I didn’t know I had–actually a duplicate road number of LV 158. Same paint scheme, one of them was weathered and the other one not. I don’t remember weathering one of them and I don’t remember buying the other one. They just were magically there somehow. [:-^]

On the TCS web site they say that decoder is temporarily out of production because it is being updated. So you might find short supply of that one as well.

–Randy

That’s not good!

Successfully installed two out of three AS6 decoders tonight. Wouldn’t you know it, the first one I tried threw a “short circuit” message on the first engine I tried; took it off, tried it on a second engine, same short circuit message. Took it off, installed a new, second decoder on that second engine–worked perfectly. Tried the first decoder again on a third engine–same short circuit message. Took it off, installed a new, third decoder on the third engine–again it worked perfectly.

So I’m going to get to try out TCS’s warranty, unless anyone has any ideas of where I went wrong with the first decoder. I did each installation exactly the same, which is what leads me to suspect that the first decoder had something wrong with it.

gloom, despair, agony on me

deep dark depression, excessive misery

if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all

gloom, despair, and agony on me!

He-haw

Check for any place where traces on the decoder might touch the metal of the loco frame. Loom mainly at teh traces for the track pickups, since it was an instant short, there may be a blob of solder or something connecting the two rail pickups by mistake. Compare with one of the working ones. Goof-Proof warranty though, no matter who’s fault it is, you get a new decoder.

–Randy

I thought of that and looked it over pretty well, even with an Optivisor close up I didn’t see anything obvious. At any rate I filled out the warranty form online and sent it off this morning.

Other good news is that I got the one NCE ATLS4 decoder that I was able to get in today’s mail, and found another good set of installation photos online at http://dieseldetailer.proboards.com/thread/6585/atlas-ho-decoder-install-pics . That guy did his installation on a Roco S-2, so I pulled out one of mine and did the install this afternoon. Came out perfectly, hardest part was bending the leads for the rear light LED.

Some pics–this was a nice custom paint job that a friend of mine did for me over 20 years ago, long before anyone was commercially selling RTR versions of the pre-war LV paint scheme. That friend has since passed away, so the engines that he did for me have some special value for me. Anyway, the Roco install was identical to the Atlas/China installation of the TCS decoders, so that’s good to know.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r1SGP3][img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com

Quick followup to the TCS warranty claim, turned out the decoder was faulty and had a short circuit somewhere. As it has been discontinued, they gave me the option of substituting an M1 or MC2 decoder, with LEDs and resistors for the lights; or they could try and repair the AS6 board, which they candidly admitted they might not be able to do.

I asked if they would consider simply subsituting another decoder, so I could do a quick plug-and-play install on something else. They said sure! and so they are going to swap it out for an LL8 decoder which I can drop into one of my Proto 2000 GPs.

Very nice folks to deal with, I have to say. Great warranty as Randy says. I’ll be happy to continue installing their decoders as I move along through my engine roster.

Got to get you over your block, its not hard to put the MC2 in that S2. Fire up that soldering iron! Stop worrying and learn to love the solder!

–Randy

lol yer’ a funny guy. [:P] But you’re exactly right, if I’m going to do the other 8 or so of these that I still have, the MC2s are going to be how it will get done. The soldering doesn’t bother me, plus I’ve gotten real comfortable tearing engines apart in the past couple of days. Are there any differences that matter between the M1 or the MC2??

M1 is smaller, only has wires, MC2 has a small 6 pin connector so you can remove the decoder, or solder the wires on with the decoder safely stored away. There’s plenty of room for either. My Bachmann 44 tonner has an MC2.

–Randy

sounds good. Pricing them out, surprisingly the MC2 seems a bit cheaper? must be the smaller size of the M1. at any rate, looks also like they can be bought in multi-packs as well, so I’m thinking there’s at least a five pack in my future.

Yes, smaller usually = more $$

I have some of the Proto S1’s, I want to see if a full size T1 fits in them. I think actually it might, though the M series would be easier, and I might even get the M series with keep alive in there.

–Randy