I’m going to buy the new Athearn MP15AC Soo Ex-Milwaukee bandit due out in July of this year. Problem is they have both a sound and non sound unit, but I’d like to buy the sound unit IF THEY EVER FIX THEIR ROTTEN NO GOOD MRC DECODERS! Anyone have a crystal ball?
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG66180
They have been using MRC decoders for a number of years now. I do not think they really care about the user problems. My take is that Horizon got an OEM ‘price’ on them and that is their ‘standard’. My MP15AC looks great, runs fine, and the sound is good. The big problem was trying to change the address from the default ‘03’ to ‘453’. Programming tracks on 3 DCC systems(one with the ‘Power Pax’ program booster failed to program the engine. ‘On the Main’ programming finally got it done. Of course we had to remove all of the engines from the layout to do it. So, in answer to your question - I suspect that it will have an MRC Sound Decoder in the engine, and the issues will not be resolved. I thought about buying a ‘non-sound’ version and doing the decoder/sound myself. The problem is that there is not a lot of space in a switcher, and I was not looking forward to the ‘challenge’. The ‘challenge’ was getting the address changed!
Jim
I’ll gladly keep the address at 03 if it runs OK and sounds good. I just don’t want any problems with it running or having the sound go out for good like I’ve heard in other threads. How long have you had your engine?
Like you I don’t want to install sound because of the size and space available in the switcher. Besides QSI and tsunami still haven’t come out with an aftermarket sound decoder.
…or buy a DC one and install a LokSound Micro decoder.
David B
Yea but don’t you have to spend $130 for the decoder plus another 100 bucks for their computer adapter to load sound files?
You can get them preloaded with the proper sound files. Anyways, thats the way I would do it.
David B
What if I got the Athearn with DCC & sound and then if I didn’t like it I could just replace the decoder with a lok sound? That way I’ve already got the speakers in place and the strobe light working on the cab.
Well, I would go the other way. I would get the micro, solder on an 8 pin NMRA plug (it comes with a strange European spec plug), plug it into the DC board and use the Loksound Speaker (MRC uses 8 ohm, while LokSound uses 100ohm).
We have had a 50% failure rate with the MRC decoders in these units where I work. Needless to say, we are no longer bringing in Athearn with MRC decoder units.
David B
I like Athearn products and own a lot of their locomotives…but not sound. I wish they would take a page from KATO’s book and sell non sound locos with the frames milled for speakers. Then the buyer could install their own sound decoder.
David, will my LHS have a problem returning the loco if it doesn’t work or is Athearn being buttheads about returns? Because I’d like to spin the wheel [8D]
Ultimately, it comes down to cost, plain and simple. Athearn is trying to build to a price, and the MRC decoder gives them what they want, at a cost that fits their budget for parts.
A better decoder may cost them $5 more, but it’ll be reflected in the retail price by a magnitude of maybe 10 times more. People are already whining about how expensive everything is in this hobby (maybe they should take up golf… 
) a sudden increase in price of ten or fifteen percent in Athearn DCC sound locomotives would just pour gasoline on that argument.
Why is it magnified by a factor of 10 or more? I can see a factor of 2, but 10 seems rather high.
Depends on the LHS.
We will accept returns for instore credit.
David B
Well I’m wondering if Athearn eventually tells the LHS to forget it after so many returns of their MRC sound decoder engines.
I’m good with the LHS, so thats not a problem.
I believe that many sound-equipped engines cannot be programmed on the “programming” track because there is a lower voltage (or is it current?) on the programming track to avoid frying newly installed decoders. I also believe that there are programming track boosters that will increase the voltage (current?) but still provide protection in case a decoder is mis-wired.
However, what is unclear to me is why someone must remove all the other engines from the layout to program an engine on the main. If you have other engines on the layout you must be running them with an address other than the default address (3). That being the case, you should have been able to program the new engine (address 3) to a new long address without affecting anything else.
Because most engines keep the short or default address of 3 while the long address is usually your engine number. When I select my loco’s I select the long number so it doesn’t matter. It does matter when you are programming. So in effect you would be programming ALL of your engines on the main, plus its prudent to remove them just in case.
Well I just got my answer straight from the horses mouth. Heres an email reply from Athearn from my “nice” question noted below.
Frank,
Thank-you for your inquiry. Please note that the decoder will be the same ones that we used in the first release.
Sincerely,
Athearn Trains
-----Original Message-----
From: driline@msn.com [mailto:driline@msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 12:05 PM
To: Athearn Help
Subject: MP15AC “Bandit”
Comments: Have the MRC sound decoders been upgraded recently? Or are they the same decoders as used in the past?
Thank you,
Maxman,
We did try try to program the decoder with a Power Pax program track booster! I know of one hobby shop that asks the buyer what address he wants in the engine - Then they program/test the engine in front of him. Good Sales/Service Tool. I also bought a P2K USRA 0-6-0 with sound at a Train Show a few years ago. The guy had a DCC setup right there and programmed the engine number for me at the show! IIRC, it was Engine House Services out of Green Bay. I am not sure if they do this in the store as well, but I do like Great service!
Jim
Because you are not buying a lump of metal and a small pile of plastic pellets. It’s not a saleable product at the point. Every step in the chain adds cost to the process. And you are dealing with several steps in the chain. Some, such as manufacturing, add more costs due to the complexity and labour needed to complete the task.
In between each step is transportation, and that is factored into the mark up at each stage between factory and your hobby shop’s display case.
If you feel that it is more prudent to remove all the other engines from the layout before programming a new one on the main, then that is what you should do. However, while I leave the short address of all my engines at 3, I do access all of them for operation using the long address. The system I have (NCE) asks which address I want to be the active address. As long as I specify the long address as active for the engines on the railroad, I don’t have any problem programming a new engine with the number 3 short address.
I think if getting multiple engines re-programmed with the same number is a concern, all you have to do is run the new one with its number 3 address and see if anything else on the railroad is moving. If there isn’t, then there should not be a problem.
But again, your railroad, your choice.