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Hello All, Having a break from the kiha 40 build, I looked at dcc'ing a kato dd51. I had not removed the body from the dd51, just looked up on the net about dcc for the dd51 and from what I saw, the loco was not dcc ready, but some had used the circuit board for the ef65 to dcc the dd51. So, I ordered a circuit board. A bit later I got round to taking the body of the dd51 and found that it was already fitted with the same circuit board as an ef65, complete with 8 pin socket! With the ordered circuit board already in the post, I got round to thinking what else I could use it for. I have a number of Tomix ho models, non of which are dcc ready. Some time ago I got a mint second hand ef81, and with it being a similar shape to the ef65, I thought that swapping the Tomix circuit board for the Kato one should be possible, and am pleased to report it is. The original board is easy to remove, as nothing is soldered to it. Unplug the wires, remove the clips for the motor connectors (keep the clips), and then unclip the board from the chassis. Next, remove the clips on the chassis that are for holding the original board in place, as the Kato board will sit on top of the plastic dividers each side of the motor. The motor terminals attach to the Kato board by the number 15 on the cutting mat, place the contacts on the underside of the board and use the clips from the original board to secure the contacts in place. The wires from the pickups attached to where number 16 is on the mat. Also, please note that on the left hand side of the motor, you need to remove some of the plastic in the middle of the divider, this is to allow clearance for the gold coloured component on the left side of the Kato board. Position the board with the underside of the dcc socket (right hand side on board) on the flywheel side of divider. It's tight, but the socket will be clear of the flywheel.

Hi Guys, I promised to upload these weeks ago in the chat room but i have been so busy with work.Here we go, i have fitted a Microace 0 Shinkansen with 3 Lenz silver mini decoders, one for the motor unit and then one in each end unit for the directional lights, plus also in the motor unit i have fitted a Uhlenbrock sound module and Zimo speaker, people may as why have i fitted this way,i prefer using sound module as to sound decoders, they have benefits over decoders as in if the decoder blows then your only replacing a small reasonably cheap decoder rather than a expensive sound decoder. The sound that i have used are as close to what i can find to the shinkansen after comparing sounds with the guys from Imon models in tokyo,We spent a whole afternoon comparing sounds and they came to the conclusion that these are more or less as close as possible. Since japan is not really into DCC in a big way it is hard to find sound files. I have done my best with the sounds and the most important thing is i am happy so please no tying me to the stake and flaming me. Hope you enjoy what is possible with a little fiddling with these models. Metro this is my Kato 10-1288 fitted much the same way as the microace using decoder and sound module, this model still has some work to do to with the lights and also need to fit passengers in both models. Hope you enjoy. Metro

Hello, I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread dedicated to adding DCC to HO models. Thought I'd put it in the HO section, rather than the DCC section as it's dedicated to HO. I have been building a small collection of HO stock for several years now, in preparation for when I can eventually build a layout to run them on. Although it's still likely to be some time before I can build a layout, it would be nice to know how to dcc models, especially as quite a number of Japanese models are not at all dcc friendly! To get the ball rolling, I recently purchased a second hand Kato de10. When I put it on the rollers to test it, the lights came on but the motor didn't run, so I took the body off to investigate, and was surprised to find an 8 pin dcc socket on the pcb. As space it tight in the model, to fit a dcc chip I would remove the weight from the body, under the long bonnet, to allow space for the chip. I would stick a small piece of card to the chassis, on the silver coloured area at the bottom of the photo, to ensure the chip will sit clear of the mechanism. The wires will need to be arranged so not to get in the way of the LED, and the plug simply inserted into the socket. I have not yet installed a chip, but will post some step by step photo's when I eventually do. Please feel free to add your own advice for other models, it would be good to have a 'catalog' of dcc installs, especially for those of us with little or no knowledge about these things.

The standard rule of thumb for working with Japanese model trains from what I read in the forums is to never exceed 12 volts, does this only apply for N scale J-trains or does this also apply for HO scale J-trains as well? If so, then I might have some trouble finding a DCC system that is compatible with North American models and J-models.

I'm slowly converting some of my trains to DCC and as I do, I'm putting tips and lessons learnt on my blog. So far I've converted (all Kato): EF210-100 (Digitrax DN13K0A) EF510 (Digitrax DN13K0A) E6 Shinkansen (Kato EM13/FL12) On my to-do list is a E2 Shinkansen and E5 Shinkansen - a gift from my parents that is yet to arrive with me! - and I'm hoping to get more freight locomotives to convert. I hope these tips are of use!

A few months ago, i've made a simple DCC controller that lets you control a single DCC locomotive like an analog locomotive. It was made to test decoder installs, but can be used as a single locomotive DCC system. (if you place more than one locomotive on the tracks, they will move together) I think this is the bare minimum a DCC system needs to be usable. The circuit diagram: The circuit: Operation: -the PIC microcontroller reads the analog value from the potmeter (0: full reverse, 2.5V/center: stop, 5V: full forward) -translates this into a basic DCC speed packet -emits this packet on the D0 and D1 pins -for every locomotive address between 1 and 15 -along with a headlight on command -the L293DNE H bridge takes the two signals -and boosts the voltage and the current to the output levels Signals: -D0: 0 = left rail low, 1 = left rail high -D1: 0 = right rail low, 1 = right rail high -only 01 and 10 is used for DCC, 00 removes track power -for the timing of bits and the packet formats, see the NMRA documentation If anyone has any questions, i would gladly answer them.

is Kato steam locomotive dcc friendly?

Hi, I installed a Digitrax DN163 in my Kato HO scale DE10. Everything works fine so far but now I want working tail lights, too. There are 3 free function outputs left on the decoder and I want to be able to switch on/off both front tail lights, both rear tail lights and - now comes the difficult part - the front right tail light together with the rear left tail light (for switching). I came up with the following wiring diagram, which shows only the wiring for the front taillights: Will this work? Or is there a better way to do it?

HI guys I need your help I have just finished installing a TCS FL4 function decoder in my Tsubame 800 front car and lights work strangely http://www.katomodels.com/hobby/dcc/dcc_tips/light_kato.shtml my kato lightboard is 4352 I have reversed the red led as shown in the picture, in this way I have both anode on the same side, I have cutted the trace as signed (I hope I have cutted them well) and connected the wire properly, the only difference is that I used green and purple wire instead of white and yellow because this is a function decoder and does not have withe and yellow wires now my problem is that when I use F1 the white light turn on correctly, as soon as I turn on red lights with F2 the whote light goes off and until I turn red light off there is no possibility to have the white light on again If I remap F1 to FoF and F2 to FoR to manage the light as front and tail light only the red light are on and there is no way to have the white light on I have attached the PDF files of the decoder can you help me spot my error, my head refuse to find it, so I need someone else that review my work and point me to the solution thanks to all FL4.pdf Comprehensive Programming Guide.pdf

Hi I want control KATO switches (equiped with NCE SWITCH-KAT decoders) using SPROG III and JMRI, but have a problem. JMRI+SPROG control only double crossover, not a switches, everything works fine if I use MRC or NCE DCC system Any advice?

Hey guys im new to Japanese N Scale so excuse me for my lack of knowledge i've read some threads here about DCC but i couldnt find one that would help me wiring the Directional Headlights of my Tomix N700 and Kato E5 using only one decoder per shinkansen being installed into the motorized car! i dont have any idea at all how to do this :icon_scratch: but im sure that one of you guys has succesfully done this before! thank you in advance for your suggestions

Topic moved to DCC isntall

Hi everybody Just get a KATO 10-387, may I install dcc decoder on it? if yes, which and how? Thanks