New Digitrax Decoders

[John]

From Litchfieldstation

New Digitrax Decoders

The DH163IP is being replaced with the DH165IP at a lower price. They will be arriving at Litchfield Station soon. If you have some "coming-in" now, your invoice has been adjusted.

The DZ series of small decoders from Digitrax is being revamped as of mid December.

The DZ123 and DZ123PS are being replaced by the DZ125 and DZ125PS. The 125s seem to have the same specs as the 123s, EXCEPT the PRICE which is up about 25%! The existing 123 series decoders will be available at the current prices while supplies last.

An added decoder will be the DZ125IN, which will have the 6-pin NMRA plug to mate with the European locos.

In the sound arena, the DH165Q1 will be available to replace the QSI sound decoder in Atlas, Athearn, InterMountain, Life-Like and others. It will be SoundBug compatible. This, you can have sound in one loco in a consist, yet have identical motor drive decoders in the rest.

A new smaller sound and function decoder will be available for N and HOn3 locos. The SFX0416 is priced under $50 at Litchfield Station.

[wm3798]

Raising the price of the entry level chip without upgrading it significantly is not a good way to welcome new DCC users...  But then again, perhaps the new sound chips and other high functioning ones are cornering the market now, decreasing the market share of the simpler one...  But still, supply and demand would dictate that the lower the demand, the lower the price...

Lee

[Chulvis]

The DZ125 is soundbug compatible for those that care about that stuff.

Considering that the DZ123 had been $19.99 for so long I'm sure it was due for a price increase anyway. The cost of everything is going up these days. I think that at an MSRP of $24.99 they still have the lowest priced entry level decoder out there.

[John]

Part of the price increase may be due to the ROHS requirements being put on electronics manufacturers ... I don't know much about this, but it seems to be a good reason to increase costs.

[Mark5]

Which is dinkiest - the 163 or the 123?

[Mark5]

Which is dinkiest - the 163 or the 123?

Ok, looked around - looks like the 123 is the smallest. Is this the smallest one available from any MFR?

[mavrick0]

Smallest I believe is the Lenz gold mini.

[Robbman]

Message deleted

[John]

well then .. price of tea in china .. Zana's new SUV, taxes, the wobble in the earths rotation .. pick one ..

[Chulvis]

Smallest I believe is the Lenz gold mini.

You are correct about that, but if I understood the rep from Digitrax correctly the new DZ125 will equal it in size....and for less $$ too.

[wm3798]

Will it be small enough to let my scarecrow get the brain he's been dreaming about?


Lee

[mavrick0]

You are correct about that, but if I understood the rep from Digitrax correctly the new DZ125 will equal it in size....and for less $$ too.

Well that would explain the small increase in cost but will it be equal in operation?  The DZ123 was only a basic decoder with 2 functions and no BEMF so I would think the DZ125 is still only 2 function but the question is will they upgrade it to BEMF.  If not then it's still not really worth it, at least to me.

[shamoo737]

The smallest decoder that I know of its the CT Dcx74z. Its small enought to fit into a AZL engine.  The next smallest is the Uhlebrock 73400, but its very tight fit. It needs to tilted a litte to the side to make it fit.

[Chulvis]

You are correct about that, but if I understood the rep from Digitrax correctly the new DZ125 will equal it in size....and for less $$ too.

Well that would explain the small increase in cost but will it be equal in operation?  The DZ123 was only a basic decoder with 2 functions and no BEMF so I would think the DZ125 is still only 2 function but the question is will they upgrade it to BEMF.  If not then it's still not really worth it, at least to me.

These are the specs for the DZ125:

•New Tiny Wired Decoder (Replaces DZ123)
• 1.0 Amp for track voltage up to 20 volts
• 2 Functions
• .418" x .340" x .112" / 10.6mm x 8.7mm x 2.86mm (Approx. measurement without wires)
• Scaleable Speed Stabilization-BEMF,
• Transponding,
• SuperSonic,
• SoundBug Compatible

[Mark5]

OK, today I learned what BEMF is ...

http://www.tttrains.com/dcc/dccfaq.htm