MicroAce A0496 Shinkansen - my silly DCC mistake

[hbr245b]

Having disassembled the motor car of my recently purchased Dr Yellow Shinkansen (first ever MicroAce purchase) & then soldered in a Digitrax DZ123 (the last one I had) without too many problems, I was sitting back driving the train back & forth across a short piece of unitrack to ensure everything was working.

 

I then decided to tidy up the installation. Forgetting that the power was still connected to the rails, as I cut through the unused wires I short circuited the decoder causing it to catch fire (at least for a brief second).

 

I've just placed an order with Tony's Train Exchange for a new batch of decoders. Hope they come soon  :)

[CaptOblivious]

Sad news, but don't spend any money yet! Digitrax is very generous with the warranty service. Contact them first, and you might get a free replacement.

 

I speak from experience. Lots of experience.

[hbr245b]

I've already had 4 or 5 new decoders from Digitrax - I don't want to abuse their policy.

[Bernard]

Yep I've blown a few Digitrax decoders myself but all on Tomix trains. Other than that small mistake, how was installing the decoder in the Micro Ace and what DCC system are you using?

I have the Lenz 100 which I purchased from Tony's Train Exchange. I really liked dealing with him and his customer service was great.

Also have you used the DZ 125 decoders yet since they discontinued the DZ 123?

[hbr245b]

how was installing the decoder in the Micro Ace

 

As this was my first MicroAce purchase (all my other trains are Kato) I was a little unsure how to remove the shell and couldn't find any hints on the web. I did find this http://modelrail.otenko.com/node/87 which showed me the motor car disassembled (obviously not the same model as mine) so it was a case of using sufficient force. To my untrained eye (4 or 5 decoder installs to date), it was quite obvious what was what and how the power was distributed from the rails to the motor. The pictures on the otenko.com website were very similar to the innards of my MicroAce so I would imagine that all MicroAces are not too dis-similar.

 

what DCC system are you using?

 

Digitrax Zephyr

 

Also have you used the DZ 125 decoders yet since they discontinued the DZ 123?

 

I bought a bunch of DZ123 decoders a while ago quite cheaply from MBKlein (I think) when they were on sale, so I haven't seen any DZ125 decoders yet although I do have some on order from Tony's Train Exchange.

 

I've never really considered decoders other than Digitrax. The Digitrax decoders just do the job for me. Do you have a preference for Lenz decoders over Digitrax? Care to elaborate why?

 

I do have a couple of sound enabled DCC decoders by MRC in some Kato diesel engines. They don't fit in the shells very well and I don't have any tools to rectify the problem. The sound is also a novelty which wears thin very quickly; my 2 kids however love driving the engines turning the bells on & off and sounding the horn. The DCC control aspect is fine though.

[Bernard]

The 1st decoders I ever bought were lenz (I can't remember the model off hand) and I really liked them but they discontinued that model. I just found them easier to work with because they were flatter and slightly smaller than the digitrax DZ 123. What replaced the lenz decoder was quite a bit more money so I went to the digitrax decoders.

[CaptOblivious]

I'm a big Digitrax fan, but I've got some TCS decoders that I'm excited about, not least of which because of their Goof-Proof Warranty. They explicitly state that they will replace decoders that you messed up, in exchange for being honest about what you did (so they can improve the product/instructions!). Also, their tech support are so much friendlier than Digitrax's. I get curt, unhelpful responses to technical questions from Digitrax, but I'm now on a first-name basis with the TCS staff, and I haven't even opened my decoders yet.

 

Did I mention that every decoder I install has to be sent off for repairs at least once? And its usually my fault?

 

That said, I love the Digitrax DZ125. And there is no replacement for the DN163k0a (yet!). And I too have decided that the Zephyr and Loconet are right for me. And, open standards be damned, I like Digitrax's Transponding feature—a feature present on Kato's custom decoders as well.

[alpineaustralia]

Capt - can you please expalin transponding? I see the expression used all the time and dont quite understand how it works, what it does etc etc.

[CaptOblivious]

It's basically just a way for the decoder to talk back to the booster. Other systems are a little more sophisticated, but Digitrax's Transponding basically allows decoders to broadcast their address over the rails periodically. Now, for this to work, you need something that will detect this message, and Digitrax's boosters do not do this. If it was the booster, then all you would know is that a train with a decoder whose address is xxxx is on the tracks—but you already knew that!

So you have to break the layout into sections, and attached a detector to each section. Then you can know a) that there is a train in section x and b) that that train's address is xxxx.

 

But you'll also need a computer to do anything really interesting—I mean, you know that the E4 is in the station. Why do you need some expensive electronics to tell you that?

 

I'm beginning to see that transponding, although nifty! has limited use. But here is one use:

You have a hidden staging area with a huge yard. You can't see it, but you want to bring out your E4 to run around. You tell your computer, hey, bring out the E4. It uses transponding to figure out which siding the E4 is on, then throws the necessary switches to get it out, parks it up at the station, and hands control over to you. When you're done, you tell the computer to put it up. It finds the first empty track in the hidden staging, and puts it up. Later, you pick up the E4 and put it back in its box. You won't have to tell the computer that you did that, because it can ask (via transponding) which trains are in the staging area.

 

But, man, is that level of sophistication necessary? Are you going to have miles of hidden staging like that? It sounds cool, but really?

[Martijn Meerts]

Transponding will hopefully solve a lot of problems when computer controlling a layout in the future. It's real nice for the computer to know which train is where. For example, is loco 1 is traveling from block 1 over a turnout to block 2, but the turnout failed, causing the loco to travel to block 3 instead, you computer loses track of the train completely. Some programs will not stop the train at all, causing all sorts of bad crashes.

 

Transponding will help here, since the computer will know which train is in which block at all times.

[alpineaustralia]

It seems to be geared up for unmaned displays where the computer plays with the trains for you rather than domestic small scale use.