Walthers SW9 and DCC.

[wcfn100]

I know most of us knew what the deal was going to be, but I wrote Walthers to ask about converting the the upcoming run of the SW9 to DCC.

The term "DCC Friendly" simply refers to the fact that you can change these
units from DC to DCC. It is not as easy as the plug-and-play with HO units.
You will have to do hard wiring and modifying to fit in the decoder of your
choice. In N scale, we've noticed customers have been using TCS Z2 decoders
as well as Digitrax DZ 121 decoders in this application.

Jason

[MVW]

So I guess that according to their definition, EVERYTHING is "DCC friendly." After all, just about anything CAN be converted to DCC, right? It's just a matter of how difficult it is.

Ticks me off that these were originally marketed as "DCC ready." I'm not comfortable enough with a soldering iron to use one on a new engine. If I had wanted an electronics project, I would have chosen something appropriate for my "skills."

Jim

[lock4244]

Heh, ready for you to do an a$$ load of work.

[wcfn100]

Ticks me off that these were originally marketed as "DCC ready."

That's the only reason I even ordered one as I still have 4-5 undecs laying around.


Jason

[MVW]

Same here. I needed a no frills, no hassle switcher ... and I couldn't pass up the C&NW paint scheme.

But since then I've purchased a Bachmann 70-ton with DCC (undecorated) ... for half the price of what Walther's "DCC friendly" critter will cost me.

Can I still hope that these never arrive at the dealers? Or am I definitely stuck with one?

Jim

[victor miranda]

http://n-scale-dcc.blogspot.com/search/label/Loco%3A%20Life%20Like%20SW9%2F1200

there is a lot of merit to this installation.

that z2 decoder is darned tiny.

victor

[MVW]

Thanks for the link, Victor. That site is new to me.

Still a hell of a lot more delicate work than I was anticipating when I ordered this engine.

Jim

[victor miranda]

yeah.  I can think of things I perfer to do than
a lot of patient work and careful soldering
with a 30 dollar decoder riding on how careful I am.

.... sadly there is no other game in town.

If you want fun, try to convince TCS to mount that Z2
onto a board that presses in where the LL light board rides.
then you only need to solder the motor leads.

victor

[Scottl]

That DCC install is crazy.  What year is this?

[lock4244]

Thanks for the link Victor, really useful stuff there.

[SkipGear]

That is a nice clean install and nothing that crazy. I don't like the idea of loosing the lighting but that can be fixxed with some magnet wire and micro LED's. That is what it takes to put the light in the cab anyhow.

[victor miranda]

Hi skipgear,
I think the LED is under the Z2 in that install

I'll go look agaiin

nope... it is removed
dang, I liked that install because I thought it kept the LED

victor

[Ian MacMillan]

+1. Thanks for the find Victor. A very nice site.

Plus it has the flickering Atlas light topic we were talking about earlier!
http://n-scale-dcc.blogspot.com/search/label/Decoder%3A%20TCS%20M1

[sizemore]

That is a nice clean install and nothing that crazy. I don't like the idea of loosing the lighting but that can be fixxed with some magnet wire and micro LED's. That is what it takes to put the light in the cab anyhow.

I echo Tony's comments you can actually add a cab headlight as well using the micro-leds. If you want to get fancy you could even add a cab interior light and detail the interior (assuming the Z2 has an additional output function, I'm to lazy to look it up ).

The S.

[Jim Starbuck]

I installed a TCS M1 with an operational headlight, cab light and a funtional beacon.
The headlight and cab light are on one function and the beacon on the other.
With the magnet wire you don't have to cut the cab weight.
The Z2  would have worked better but it wasn't available at the time.
This was a rather advanced install but makes for a pretty special loco on the layout.

+1 on adapting the Z2 or M series to plug unto the frame halves.