Holy cow it has been 4 years.... Rob, I used to see it on my work table every day and I was afraid I might loose it so I put it in a nice Ziplock bag, and I still see it there on top. I should give it back to you so atleast it will see track and some shows. I should first make my circuit before getting it from you. I went back on the net to see if there are any newer better chips for it... not much has changed for this low end application or I have not found any newer ones, so I still have the parts for it just have to make it.... Not committing but will try to make it soon.:membarrassed: Kim
No big hurry Kim, I'm very patient. I still have tons of other projects i need to do myself, like my SD70ACe's, and the 3 Diamond Special locos i have to put DCC in, or the 2 MRL SD40XR locos that have been sitting on my bench for a year, waiting for me to put decoders on them then put the shell back on.
Hi all, Finally I made the jump into DCC. I have bought myself a NCE power cab and a DZ123M0 decoder for a start. After some fiddling I got it installed in my MTL GP9 5911. Still have to do something to improve the front headlights, it lights a little greenish. But so far DCC is a great experience to me. Controlling a locomotive this way is so much more fun. Question: Can these DZ123M0 decoders also power an additional head light and or
Yeah, I think 2008-2012 was the power modeling years for Z Scale. Even the big name players were thinking about entering the game then, but all of a sudden, Z faded back into obscurity, and no more innovation. Back then I would have expected that all Z Scale locos would have onboard sound as well as DCC by 2020. The electronics have gotten smaller, and certainly a sound decoder the same size as the DZ123ZO could have been produced with a cell phone speaker that lets the sound out of the loco's fan housings.
I have not seen them in a lomg time. I used to see them at http://www.sbs4dcc.com/ or https://www.eurorailhobbies.com/, but I always ordered mine from https://shop.lokshop.de/ in Germany, who ship to the US. Remember you have to tell them to remove the VAT. That said, I checked, and none of these places have CT Elektronik decoders AKA Tran Decoders.
I have not seen the CT electronics decoders listed as in stock anywhere in the USA for a year or two now. Take a look at the ESU LokPilot nano. I think its the smallest one currently available here in the USA At 0.32 x 0.28 x 0.11 Inch (8 x 7 x 2.8 mm ) its basically 1 mm bigger than the DCX76zD in each direction.
I have installed a lokpilot nano in Micro Trains F7a. Best to use existing board with modifications. Very similar to this. most have room for the nano but no more. It's an assume product and works really really well as long as you can handle the tiny soldering required
When looking for small, hopefully inexpensive decoders to install in older DC locos I was building I made the following chart. Prices where ones I found at the time (2019) and I've blocked the different re-sellers out so there would be no problem there. I've also posted this info on my website here... http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Decoder-1/Decoders-Index.html So far I've only installed the Digitrax DZ126T and they have worked fine. I bought a few of the LaisDcc-Z2 to try but haven't installed any yet. I also have two of the LokPilot Nano's that I haven't tried yet and they are the smallest I've found. I've also installed some 'drop-in' decoders and they are easy but in some ways not as rewarding as installing a 'wired-in' in some of the older locos. Sumner
Thank you for that! I am ahead of myself here (little knowledge) but I intend to DCC my American loco’s and my AZL Micado will require free wiring a very small board. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
