It's in perspective view. Those holes are picking up the pins closest to the plane of the viewer. The jumper is sitting a few millimeters above the top of the plug, and the pins are very small, so the ones in the view are nearly impossible to see. That's my take.
It doesn't look like an optical illusion to me, the plug appears to be pushed into the socket so there shouldn't be any socket pins visible, there definitely appears to be two extra pins showing on the socket, unless, as I said, it has been plugged in incorrectly. Has anyone with an AC12 actually taken off the tender shell to have a look.
Well, I don't know. I don't have one in hand, yet. I guess we'll just see. I see the photo one way and you see it another way. The photo is, perhaps accidentally, a bit ambiguous. Someone up above on this thread actually contacted Intermountain and reports that Intermountain said any 8-pin decoder will work.
Based on the photos in the operators manual, that's not the case. There is, in fact, a 10-pin plug in there. It appears that the 8 pins on the engineer's side will accept a standard NMRA 8-pin plug. Might the extra plugs connect to a cam to synchronize a sound module? With the provisions for the speaker in the tender, I wouldn't be surprised if it were something like that.
So it will accept an 8-pin decoder. That solves part of the mystery. Maybe they got a special buy on ten pin sockets.
Ok, I can see how it appears it could be an optical illusion now. But I still dont believe so. The highlights on the inside of the two holes suggest there is nothing but air above it. Those two black lines appear as they could be pins going in, but I think those are reflections of the photographer or camera. I guess we'll just have to wait to see a better angle *edit*.. er Thanks Eric.
Mark, We've got confirmation now from Eric220 above that it's a ten pin connector, and also confirmation above that that an eight-pin decoder will work just fine. Maybe they just wanted to add a couple extra socket holes just to make it an even ten. Adam
I saw the inside of the AC-12 at the Plano Show in January. The rep showed me one of the AC-12's with a Soundtraxx micro Tsunami inside. The other AC-12 that was running at the show had a Digitrax decoder with an eight pin plug, but no sound. He told me that Digitrax was making a sound decoder with an eight pin plug that could also be used in the AC-12. He also told me in mid January that the AC-12 would be available to consumers in mid-February. So my information is very credible. This rep is very reliable as he worked at one the of LHS in Dallas for several years, so I know him well.
The SDN144PS, as well as Digitrax's SDH164D, is listed on several websites(do a Google search for Digitrax SDN144PS) as well as in the Digitrax ad in the March issue of Model Railroader, but it has not yet been released and is not posted on Digitrax's website.
Hi Guys, The socket is for a standard 8 pin NMRA plug. The 2 extra places on the board are for speaker insallation. This way you can put a 2 pin plug on the end of the decoder speaker wires and have a way to remove the decoder later. There are 2 solder pads on the Intermountain board that the speaker gets wired to. Pin 1 orange for the decoder (in the picture above) is top left.
I am still kind of Amish when it comes to decoders and what not, but would a DZ125PS or DN143IP fit for the AC-12? Thanks in advance.
I think that the DN143IP would be a problem in this tender. The long side would have to face front considering the way the integral plug is oriented on the decoder board. Here is the link to the Digitrax DN143IP instructions. http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/DN143IP.pdf I would use the DN163PS in this loco for DCC only. This has a wire harness with an 8 pin NMRA plug at the end. It is a 1 amp decoder with 2 amp peak. The Cab Forward seems to draw a bit more than other locos. The DZ125 is a 1 amp decoder with a 1.25 amp peak.
Well, I finally got my two today, and I think Intermountain has a winner. I would put these up there with Athearn's big steam offerings. The slow speed creep on this thing is mesmerising. Definately worth the wait! Now to find the other two numbers....
Once again, too much talk, not enough pictures. Here is the installation of my DZ125PS in pictures. The jumper still in place. After removing the jumper. DZ125PS installed.
Thanks for the photo's Eric. It looks like The "10 pin" decoder is really an eight pin decoder. This is what I saw in mid January 2010 at the Plano Tx. Train Show.
Check out woo woo woo woo woo woo. They have 16 in stock with a limit of one per customer so they should last a while.
