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DCC Explained


VicZA
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......The point I should have stressed is the requirement of another set of addresses to remember for the accessory/point motors. ......

 

 

 

It depends on what method you use to control points, routes and accessories with DCC.

 

The addresses of the points and accessories do not need to be remembered, or used, if controlling them from a DCC mimic control panel (using switches or buttons), a DCC point lever frame or a DCC "glass screen" control panel.

 

Even on certain DCC handsets, individual points and accessories can be given names (using letters, numbers or a combination of both), which can be used rather than remembering their (hidden in the background) DCC addresses.

 

 

.

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and if you have a glass control panel, e.g Roco z21 or Automation e.g. iTrain, etc then you simply click the icon and the point changes, or click a route button and a whole route can be selected  and if using these panels you don't even need to know the addresses of the locomotives or trains as you simply select them by their picture.

 

much simpler :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

All, I need your help again with this DCC thing .....

 

I have got two used Bachmann Pannier Tanks - one is model#32-200B and the other is model#32-204.

 

The one says it is DCC Ready and after opening both of them they are clearly very different.

Questions:

(a) can any of these be run on a DCC setup as they are at the moment

(b) does anyone know what each of these decoders are?

 

Thanks

Victor

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post-32549-0-65826100-1539168545_thumb.jpg

post-32549-0-41416800-1539168546_thumb.jpg

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All, I need your help again with this DCC thing .....

 

I have got two used Bachmann Pannier Tanks - one is model#32-200B and the other is model#32-204.

 

The one says it is DCC Ready and after opening both of them they are clearly very different.

Questions:

(a) can any of these be run on a DCC setup as they are at the moment

(b) does anyone know what each of these decoders are?

 

Thanks

Victor

 

Hi,

 

Neither can be run on a DCC setup as they are as neither have DCC decoders. The loco on the left is DCC ready - that is it has a socket that a decoder will go into. The loco on the right is not DCC ready - it only has a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and no DCC socket.

 

Regards

 

Nick

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DCC Ready = Ready to fit the DCC decoder of your choice in place of the blanking plug. You cannot run a DCC Ready loco on DCC until the loco has been fitted with a decoder.

 

DCC Fitted = Factory fitted with a decoder and as such will run on DCC without further work.

 

DCC Sound = Factory fitted with a sound decoder and speaker and as such will run on DCC without further work.

 

TTS Sound = Hornby's lower cost sound decoders which they now seem to use in their DCC Sound locos, when the loco will be described as having TTS Sound.

Edited by GoingUnderground
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Hi,

 

Neither can be run on a DCC setup as they are as neither have DCC decoders. The loco on the left is DCC ready - that is it has a socket that a decoder will go into. The loco on the right is not DCC ready - it only has a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and no DCC socket.

 

Regards

 

Nick

Ahhhh ... the one on the right has a "plug" ... I see it now (sorry).

 

If I remove the plug I see that the plug itself has 6 pins soldered to it but the socket is 8-pin. Do I need to get a 6-pin decoder then or could I get either a 6-pin or 8-pin?

 

Thanks

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Ahhhh ... the one on the right has a "plug" ... I see it now (sorry).

 

If I remove the plug I see that the plug itself has 6 pins soldered to it but the socket is 8-pin. Do I need to get a 6-pin decoder then or could I get either a 6-pin or 8-pin?

 

Thanks

It is the standard 8 pin socket, so you need a decoder with the 8 pin plug. A 6 pin plug won't fit as its pins are closer together and are all in one row.

 

Unless you remove the socket/interface completely and hard wire the decoder:

4 pin plugs as used by Hornby in some of their DCC Ready locos need decoders with a 4 pin socket.

6 pin sockets need decoders with 6 pin plugs.

8 pin sockets need decoders with 8 pin plugs.

21MTC pin interface needs decoders with the 21MTC socket.

PLuX sockets need decoders with PLuX plugs.

Next18 sockets need decoders with the Next18 plug.

Edited by GoingUnderground
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Ahhhh ... the one on the right has a "plug" ... I see it now (sorry).

 

If I remove the plug I see that the plug itself has 6 pins soldered to it but the socket is 8-pin. Do I need to get a 6-pin decoder then or could I get either a 6-pin or 8-pin?

 

Thanks

 

Hi,

 

I see the loco on the left has an 8 pin socket - is has a blanking plug inserted. The socket needs an 8 pin DCC decoder.

I see the loco on the right has no DCC compatible socket - it has a 2 pin socket but that is to connect the pickups to the motor.

 

Regards

 

Nick

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Hi victor,

 

I am concerned you have not grasped the fundamentals of DCC and may do damage to a decoder. The advice given is correct, but I would seriously do a lot of reading before going any further I do realise it can be a steep learning curve. I don't wish to sound negative and we are here to help but that help does need the person to have some understanding.

 

Andy

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Hi victor,

 

I am concerned you have not grasped the fundamentals of DCC and may do damage to a decoder. The advice given is correct, but I would seriously do a lot of reading before going any further I do realise it can be a steep learning curve. I don't wish to sound negative and we are here to help but that help does need the person to have some understanding.

 

Andy

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for your concern but rest assured that I have understood ... I just like to make sure ... I have successfully converted my Pannier Tank to DCC and it runs very nicely :)

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Does anyone have experience with the Hornby 14xx conversion. I have opened up my 14xx model and can quite obviously see the motor and its connection points (wires) but while I can see the pickups on the wheels I am not sure where these are wired to - sure I haven't exactly taken off every single screw but I was trying to avoid this.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

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  • 5 months later...

All,

 

Thanks for all the help on the DCC issues that I had and my understanding of conversions to DCC ... I now understand a lot more than I did.

 

One thing that I would like to make sure of is: "red and black, to the track, orange and grey, the other way" is a pretty easy way to remember which wire goes where but is this strictly correct or is it the position on the decoder that you have to be aware of. I ask this because I have got two different decoders and the order of the wires is different .... so which one is it?

IMG_4746.jpg

Decoder diagram.jpg

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The order of the wires has nothing to do with their ultimate destination.

It's just how the designer has laid out the components.

Some decoders have double sided connections e.g. 4 (or more) on each side

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5 minutes ago, melmerby said:

The order of the wires has nothing to do with their ultimate destination.

It's just how the designer has laid out the components.

Some decoders have double sided connections e.g. 4 (or more) on each side

ok, cool .... so stick to the colors then. Thanks

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With an 8-pin plug if inserted 180 out then all that will happen is the loco will run the other way and any lights fitted will not work.

 

Look at the inner four pins and see what they do, then what would happen if the plug was reversed. 

 

Look at the four outer pins and you can see the motor logic reversing to match the plug.

 

The reason the DC blanking plug on 32-204 has 3 pins linked at each end is to connect one side pickup to one side motor plus lights and ditto the other end. The other pins are not needed to be connected for DC.

 

Not mentioned above (that I could see) is when you place a DC loco on a DCC track it will protest loudly, a clear indication that you should remove it as soon as possible to avoid damaging the motor.

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Bear in mind that not all DCC sockets are 8 pins, which is now quite an old standard. (might have a wiring harness or be direct fitting)

Modern locos could have any of several others:

 

6 pin. A popular connector, used on mainly N & some small 00 models. (with wiring harness or direct fitting)

 

(MTC) 21 pin . A European based connector which has been used a lot by Bachmann in diesels and loco tenders, this is also quite an old connector. (direct fit without wiring harness)

 

PluX 22. A newer connector mainly found in European models, also available in compatible 8 & 16 pin variations.

(direct fit without wiring harness.)

 

Next18. Another new mainly European connector with some recent UK use. (direct fit without wiring harness)

 

Hornby have also used a non-standard 4 pin connector in some small models.

 

Locos occasionally may have had a decoder "hard wired" in for DCC fitted versions in locos not provided with a DCC socket. Bachmann did a fair bit of this before chassis were re-engineered with sockets.

 

Note the MTC 21 pin and the Plux 22 use the same connector form but with plug & socket transposed, the connections to the plug & socket are totally different and are not compatible in any way.

(The MTC 21 has the socket on the decoder, the Plux has the pins on the decoder.)

 

Useful reference:

https://dccwiki.com/Locomotive_Interface

Edited by melmerby
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