....Is this what your seeing here a DCC board? Since I run my trains on straight DC, I really have no clue what a DCC equipped loco would look like. My reason for asking is I just purchased an Atlas GP40 off e-bay a few days ago and just received it today. After getting it set up on the layout and giving it a little power, nothing happens. Then giving it full power still nothing happens. The lights work but not the motor. After a few times of trying I finally got a little nudge and from there it picked up a little speed. I took off the shell and noticed this board looks somewhat different than my other locos. Someone told me a while back that you could still run a DCC loco on straight DC as long as the Pulse is off. Anyway the bottom line here is in order for me to run the loco, I have to have the throttle set up to almost full. What do you think? Gosh I feel so out of touch with all this hi tech stuff.
Nope. It's just a fancy directional lighting board. If it was a DCC controller board, it would have more electronics and at least one PIC (programmible integrated circuit) with a bunch of little leggies coming off of it.
...and if you think this is difficult, my other hobby is racing R/C cars. We have computers to help charge the batteries (LiPo batteries like to burst into flames if not charged right) and computers to change the way the speed control applies the power and advances the motor timing (if set wrong, the magic smoke will come out of the motor) and transmitters that have computers built in so we can adjust just about everything else...some radios have receivers built in to provide feedback from the car...speed, weight transfer, motor heat, etc (anything you really want to know and some things you don't). It's crazy and if you don't do everything just right you are either SLOW or you allow the magic smoke to escape from the car (all electronics run on magic smoke). I have a computer science degree and I have problems understanding everything I need to.
Its not a DCC board its just a newer PC board that Atlas is using. DCC would have a few more micro chips and processors. And the reason your loco is slow cause it has the scale speed motor the gray motors that Atlas uses now they are much slower and better in my opinion then the older kato type motors that would make your loco so fast it could almost fly off your layout. You can break it in by let it run at 3/4 of throttle for about an hour. Also if you are good at taking apart locos check to make sure it does not have any grease on gears since this will slow the loco down. If it has grease remove it and just oil the moving parts.
True the hobby has changed so much in the past few years. When I got back into it in 2008 I learned that trains have DCC and RC cars have brushless systems, LiPo battery for power and bigger 550 size motors for 1/10 4wd trucks and even bigger motors for 1/8 scale electric not to mention the size of a motor for a 1/5 scale electric buggy or truck and yes you can even program your ESC with a computer for motor timing, off the line punch, better breaking, a short burst of speed and so on. It took me a while to re-learn everything but once you do its fun.
Thanks for the replies guys. I was hoping it was something like that. I figured it would need a small break in period. I'll do just that and see what happens. thomas
HATE Ramping. Almost made me quit racing RC cars. I miss the good ole days with special tools to advance com timing, secret brush compounds and cuts, rezapping magnets and very low mA batteries (when I started we had 1200mA and finishing was a real challenge.
LOL!!! Jeff,I'm rolling on the floor.."special tools"...A nail,and a pair of vise grips!!! I was high tech,I had a little degree wheel I made to put on the shaft.. I raced RC for 30 years.I stopped for a while,just looking at getting back into it.Seriously,it's gotten so high tech,I'm thinking twice about it.I have 50 cars,some 5-6 years old,some back to the 70's,many are still brand new.if I start again,NOTHING I have is of any use but my nitro stuff.Nothing like having 200 motors,and they're ALL junk..
Was that NiMh or NiCad cause I started with NiCad batteries where I made a special light tree just to drain the battery completely so it would not form memory back in the RC10 days.
To give you an idea: The one on the left is DC. The one on the right is DCC. Both are the atlas C-630.
Thanks for that pic DrMb, I'll use it for next time, should there be a next time. You never know what you'll end up with when you play around in e-bay.
There is always a next time. In the future though, a better course of action though would be to look up the parts list for the locomotive in question. That way, you can rule out if it's a factory decoder/light board fairly quickly since both will have the part number printed on it.
The 'light tree' was just a bunch of brake lights wired in series to create a load for the batteries to discharge by. No, I'm from NiCad days. First car was an Associated 12E with a Kent Clauson 'coke bottle' chassis and a mechanical wiper speed control. Bought one of the original Tamiya Rough Riders and was into racing off road from the very beginning of off road. Raced in So Cal at Thorp's before it was the Ranch Pit Shop (before they became Team Losi). Good times... Didn't mean to hijack the thread...
