Intermountain F7s

[wmcbride]

I'm very impressed with mine so far (DCC-Sound A and DCC-Quiet B). They ran flawlessly right out of the box and have been running nonstop for a week without so much as a single glitch.

-Mark

Mark,

Have you pulled the shells yet? I am curious if the body/frame are basically the same (except for the A cab interior) for the A and B units like the earlier versions.

Thanks,

[spookshow]

Is that entire PC board (with DIP switches) produced by ESU?  Or is it just a IM-made motherboard with a connector for one of the standard ESU LokSound decoders?

That is precisely what I asked IMRC, and they said it was all ESU.

-Mark

[peteski]

That is precisely what I asked IMRC, and they said it was all ESU.

-Mark

And ESU's documentation (not sure if only the English version?) leaves a lot unanswered questions.      Since this appears to be a custom made setup for IM, ESU should have provided some thorough instructions to IM to include with the model.

[Bill H]

I also wondered if the old shells fit the new mech... my road name isn't on the list. Has anyone checked it out?
Thanks, Otto K.

Has anyone figured if the old IM F7 bodies will fit the new frames? I have a bunch of old frames that need to be milled for sound, buying new frames might be an option if the old bodies will fit...
Thanks,
Bill

[spookshow]

And ESU's documentation (not sure if only the English version?) leaves a lot unanswered questions.      Since this appears to be a custom made setup for IM, ESU should have provided some thorough instructions to IM to include with the model.

ESU didn't not respond to my inquiry, so I guess it's going to remain a mystery for now. I'm not about to start flipping switches just to see what blows up 

-Mark

[peteski]

ESU didn't not respond to my inquiry, so I guess it's going to remain a mystery for now. I'm not about to start flipping switches just to see what blows up 

-Mark

I should buy that loco from you after you are done with it so I can do some exploring of those mystery switches (and the entire PC board). Unless you're keeping it . . .

[oakcreekco]

Love working with companies that operate like this.

😂

[spookshow]

Has anyone figured if the old IM F7 bodies will fit the new frames? I have a bunch of old frames that need to be milled for sound, buying new frames might be an option if the old bodies will fit...

It's a straight swap. I don't think the shells have changed at all.

-Mark

[spookshow]

I should buy that loco from you after you are done with it so I can do some exploring of those mystery switches (and the entire PC board). Unless you're keeping it . . .

Not gonna keep them, I already have more F units than I know what to do with. But it's an A/B set, so not just one.

-Mark

[peteski]

Not gonna keep them, I already have more F units than I know what to do with. But it's an A/B set, so not just one.

-Mark

I'll send you an email then.  A/B it is.

[wm3798]

I was "THIS" close to pulling the trigger on a WM unit... but I just can't.  No one makes proper decals anymore for the nose herald, and with that being wrong, it's just a non-starter.
I'll stick to my old Bachmann set.  I had to touch paint up to get them to look right, too, but at least the artwork was good.


And just to demonstrate I'm not above getting my hands dirty, here's my old Trix F unit, done up with some decals I had made by scanning an ancient set of Northeast Decals... the only correct nose herald out there.



Really, if they're going to screw the pooch like that, it would be nice if they'd offer undecs to save us the time of stripping their crappy paint jobs.

Lee

[peteski]

Information about the function of those 3 small switches is available after all.  The description is printed on the decoder adapter PC board, but it is hidden by the decoder (which BTW uses a Next18 connector).



Basically the switches are there to configure the headlight/Mars light, depending on whether the model has a single or dual headlight shell. In dual headlight shells, the switches send the headlight function output to the bottom headlight and Mars flasher function output to the top headlight. In the single headlight shells the switches turn off the bottom headlight LED and send the headlight function output to the to (only top) headlight.

I guess the reason for the lack of printed documentation is that when someone buys a model with factory installed decoder with roadname-specific headlight arrangement, there is no reason for them to ever go and try to mess around with the headlight configuration.

Also, the speaker is 11 x 15 mm "sugar cube" type, but it's not in any sort of an air-tight enclosure. I suppose the hollow chamber created by the fuel tank provides sort of an enclosure (where the sound actually comes out up through the chassis), but there are air gaps at the front and rear of where the tank meets the chassis. Still, the sound is decent.

[wmcbride]

I agree the sound is decent as built -- better I would assume, if sealed.

[thomasjmdavis]

Thanks for the close up and info, @peteski !  I don't need any of the currently available road names, but assuming there will be more, at least we will know what we are getting for our hundreds of dollars.

[carlso]

Pete,

You da man ! Thanks !