Best Of Retrofitting a Kato light board with a LokPilot 5 Micro DCC

[GaryHinshaw]

I got my first instalment of the TCS KA-N1 keep-alive boards the other day (ok, maybe not a keep-alive by peteski's definition, but that's what TCS calls it), so time for a quick update.   Following Jim's example, I wanted to join the LokPilot and KA into one unit, so 3-d printing to the rescue.  I drew up and printed a little sled to hold the two boards together so I wouldn't have to worry about stressing the ground wire between them:



I included some 'ski tracks' on the back of the sled for attaching the box to the rear LED leads:



Here's how the parts go together (ground wire not yet soldered), they just slot or press-fit into the sled:



Here's with the ground wire soldered (with a fresh hot tip and a steady hand!) and ready to attach to the Kato board:



The deed is done:









A few notes:
* I didn't bother to remove the capacitor by the front LED lead for this install.  It's not necessary.
* I replaced the 560 Ohm surface mount resistor with a 470 Ohm part to get a brighter headlight.  (I have an order of surface mount parts on the way for subsequent conversions.)  The LEDs are now drawing about 18 mA and they're rated for 20, so nice and bright and sunny white:



(But, oh that loco needs detailing and weathering!!)

The loco now performs like a dream.  My acid test was to run it solo through my staging yard ladder, which hasn't been used much in weeks.  The motor control is silky smooth, the KA prevents any hesitations through the ladder, and the headlight look believable.  So for the price of a single TCS decoder (my old standard), I can get a state-of-the-art LokPilot plus a keep-alive, and much better performance.  I'm pleased as punch.

[Jim Starbuck]

Wow Gary, Fantastic work!
I absolutely love your elegant solution!

[peteski]

Nice solution Gary.  Good to have a 3D printer and CAD experience. 

[Scottl]

@GaryHinshaw Inspiring!  I think I will take the plunge and replicate this install with the keep alive.  Thanks for great photos and notes.

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice solution Gary.  Good to have a 3D printer and CAD experience. 

Well, TinkerCAD...   But I agree, it has been and continues to be a game changer.

[bbussey]

Outstanding.

[turbowhiz]

This is fantastic stuff. I'll be replicating this approach myself for sure!

Are you replacing the OEM Kato LED's with something else here Gary? (P/N's of replacements would be appreciated if so!)

[Sdynamo]

For those that have used the TCS KA-N1 with the ESU LokPilot Micro, have you had any issues programming the decoder after you attached a non-ESU KA?

[milw156]

Gary, where on the decoder are you attaching the black/white wire. There are 2 photos where it appears to be connected to different spots.
Thanks!

[GaryHinshaw]

Are you replacing the OEM Kato LED's with something else here Gary? (P/N's of replacements would be appreciated if so!)

The example immediately above uses the stock Kato 'Golden White' LEDs which have just the right colour, IMO, especially with the slightly lower resistor.  Kato has also used amber LEDs in the past and they're way too yellow/orange to my eyes.  I'm replacing the amber ones with TCS 'Sunny White' LEDs which are practically the same as - if not identical to - the Kato Golden Whites.  (You can probably find them cheaper elsewhere, but it can be hard to get a consistent colour match from a random online source.)

For those that have used the TCS KA-N1 with the ESU LokPilot Micro, have you had any issues programming the decoder after you attached a non-ESU KA?

I have not tried yet, but I need to change the address on the above example, so I'll let you know if I have trouble.  @Jim Starbuck  probably has an answer though.

Gary, where on the decoder are you attaching the black/white wire. There are 2 photos where it appears to be connected to different spots.
Thanks!

It's the blank pad below the purple wire in this shot:



As discussed above, this pad is connected to the whole ground plane of the 2-sided board, so it's surprisingly hard to solder to.  Use a good clean, hot, soldering iron tip and a steady hand.  Good luck!

(In the first of the two photos you refer to, the wire had not been soldered yet.  In the second photo you can see that the purple wire is gone.  I accidentally de-soldered it while trying to solder the black/white wire.     I left it off since I wasn't using that AUX anyway.)

[Jim Starbuck]

I have not tried yet, but I need to change the address on the above example, so I'll let you know if I have trouble.  @Jim Starbuck  probably has an answer though.

I have installed several of the TCS KA-N1s all with LokSound and LokPilot decoders and haven’t had any problems programming on the Lokprogrammer with the TCS boards connected.

Jim

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks Jim.  I don't have a LokProgrammer yet, but I'll give it a try with JMRI tonight.

BTW, here is a link to the sled in TinkerCAD in case anyone wants to print their own:  https://www.tinkercad.com/things/dQselL75zNJ

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks Jim.  I don't have a LokProgrammer yet, but I'll give it a try with JMRI tonight.

I had no trouble reading and writing CVs in the LokPilot/KA-N1 combo, using the programming track and JMRI.

[Cajonpassfan]

Wow Gary, Fantastic work!
I absolutely love your elegant solution!

So do I, pure wizardry in my book😎
Nicely done, Gary.
Otto

[milw156]

I have installed several of the TCS KA-N1s all with LokSound and LokPilot decoders and haven’t had any problems programming on the Lokprogrammer with the TCS boards connected.

Jim

I believe the problem with the keep alive circuits is the power draw required to write the sound files, lack of sound info doesn't draw enough current to freak out the programer