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Post by husafreak on Jun 27, 2021 23:36:14 GMT -5
Yup, they are up on zscalehobo’s website now, or maybe you have to contact him directly, but my order is in as well today
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Post by pcbpoppy on Jul 2, 2021 11:38:50 GMT -5
The decoders are on US soil. I should have mine sometime next week. Check with the Hobo or Monster as you can place your order now. It's going to be a very busy week for me. The layout is set up with the Digitrax Zephyr and ready to get those RS's rolling. I'm excited.
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Post by BAZman on Jul 2, 2021 13:43:25 GMT -5
As a Caution note, included on page "3" (after step 8), "maximum allowed track voltage . . . should not exceed 12 Volts. Most of us running DCC are already with in this 'guideline' so everything you have and are currently running with will be OK. The PRIMARY reason for this notation is Buffer capacitors that are Tantalum type. They are rated at 16 Volts do NOT like overvoltage and you will know it if it does. ALL of your decoders from Digitax, TCS and others you may have wired in, do NOT have tantalum capacitors, just Ceramic and much more tolerant to over voltage. And per Alex's comment, you cannot measure track voltage with a basic analog or even digital volt meter (DVM) unless it says True RMS (root-mean-square). But many of these $50-150 ones still 'calculate' and not very good but hella better than a non-True RMS meter. In MOST ALL cases, everything you have and are currently running with will be OK. The vast majority of every 'smaller' DCC systems (e.g. All-in-one Starter sets) are 13.5 or less volts however several systems are HIGHER. You can generally find the voltage but the Power Supply (if it is a modern 'switching supply', not a 10 year old 'transformer' type). The track voltage will likely be o.5 volts less than the power supply. Example: the NCE Power Cab has a 13.8 volt wall-wart and the track voltage is about 13 Volts. If you have one of the higher voltage systems, that does not have a "Z" or 10/12 Volt selector, you can simply replace the power pack with a 12 Volt (2-3 Amp, preferably NOT a 5 Amp). Here is my list: [li]NCE Power Cab[/li]: 13V to the track [li]MRC Prodogy Express[/li]: 14.5 Volts www.modelrectifier.com/v/vspfiles/resources/dcc/0001420-ProdigyExpress_202103.pdf[li]Digitrax Zephyr[/li]: 13.8 Volts for DCS52 and 15 Volts, depending on 2008-2018 versions Larger DCC systems (NCE Power PRO, Digitrax DCS100, etc. should not really be used due to much to high current and also higher track voltages (the NCE Power PRO has a voltage adjustment, down to 10 Volts. The Digitrax DCS100 series have an 'N' switch but +/- 1.5 volts of 13 on the museum layout. Now, DCC is a 'square wave" (not a Sine wave, like your 120 volt and Accessory power) and will have LOTS of much higher voltage spikes, when viewed on an oscilloscope. You will never see this on a hand-held Digital or Analog Volt meter (WAY to slow). These very short term voltage spikes (micro seconds and less) can be suppressed using a 'Snubber" made from a 100 (or 150) ohm, 2 Watt resisitor, in series with a .01uF (to .1uF) microfarad wired across the farthest end of the wiring. However, this is more for 10-100 feet (3-30m). a 2 foot layout, no.
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Post by BAZman on Jul 2, 2021 14:35:45 GMT -5
Here is his manual reformatted to single pages (print double side, flip long edge) for 8.5x11 Letter or A4. Also print in 'Booklet' format for half size pages, like the DCC decdoder manuals. Note: I moved the Programming page to be page '3' so that when printed either way, the 2 main installation pages are open to you at the same time. The original format puts them on the flip side of the page. www.dropbox.com/s/zgskp9zp3ttnvrv/ZDL-AZL-RS_Install%20Doc_Print%20Dbl%20Sided.pdf?dl=1
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Post by scanrail on Jul 2, 2021 17:15:53 GMT -5
IMPORTANT: Capacitors used in my RS decoder are NOT Tantalum type, they are ceramic (X7R MLCC type). I clearly stated it in user's manual as well. So, there is nothing to worry about. Ceramic capacitors usually easily withstand the voltage nearly twice higher than rated, but it is just NOT recommended by the manufacturer. I am not the manufacturer of these capacitors, therefore I believe it is just my duty to let everyone know about these limits set by the manufacturer.
The next reason is the brightness of the LEDs. I used resistors with values optimized for the range of 8-12 Volts. If higher voltage will be applied, the brightness will be too high, and the LEDs will consume higher current, which, in turn, will lead to a shorter lifespan - say, 50 000 hours instead of 100 000.
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Post by BAZman on Jul 2, 2021 23:53:30 GMT -5
Missed that 'detail' I'll read once more :0 Still details about most DCC systems.
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Post by scanrail on Jul 3, 2021 13:54:42 GMT -5
As the decoders are about to start reaching customers, I would like to point out an important moment once again: while installation of my RS decoder is just as easy as for Digitrax drop-in decoders, setting up interior lighting of the driver's cab may be somewhat tricky for beginners. Therefore, I kindly ask everyone once again: please handle small SMD LEDs very carefully! Please hold them with thin precise tweezers only by the wires, not by the LEDs themselves. LEDs of this type can be easily destroyed if any excessive force applied!
I assume that hardly any of the major manufacturers would dare to add a similar feature, especially in the way I did. But I decided to do this, since I believe it would be interesting to many owners of AZL RS locomotives, as it adds more functionality to the model. However, everything has a price. In this case, it is a bit complicated installation. Actually, nothing special - just a bit more accuracy and patience needed.
And please do not bend the wires too many times back and forth. Yes, they are multi-stranded and very flexible, but in any case, additional caution does not hurt.
Please don't forget to isolate a certain area on the chassis with a piece of adhesive tape, like I described in the report above.
I understand that I possibly wrote obvious things above, but I still believe it would be better to remind about them one more time - just for case.
@jeff: a small hint: if you replace "dl=0" with "dl=1" at the end of Dropbox link, users will be able to download a PDF right away, without redirecting to Dropbox page.
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Post by BAZman on Jul 4, 2021 1:36:36 GMT -5
Corrected the link.
Next, I will edit the Doehler & Haaß decoder manual. I had already done this with the PDØ5A.
Their manual includes many, many decoders and 158 pages of an end bound small booklet so I stripped out all of that out. Then I took out a a lot of CV’s that just aren’t used (and it STILL has FAR more than US decoders.
Alex has included the 99% most proper and useful. For those that want some tweaks or different lighting effects, the severely stripped down version will still have all you should need.
Give me a week, I use split screen comparison in Adobe to make sure I don’t accidentally delete something. And I mentioned 158 pages. You’ll get the 30 page version.
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Post by husafreak on Jul 4, 2021 10:18:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the reminders and excellent instructions! Thanks Jeff, I may get some D&H decoders just so I can use your edit
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Post by pcbpoppy on Jul 8, 2021 12:57:36 GMT -5
I have installed these decoders in both of my RSD-5s and now on to installing the decoders in my 3 RS-3s.
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Post by scanrail on Jul 9, 2021 13:44:16 GMT -5
Hi Charles,
Thank you for update! Please keep us informed and don't hesitate to ask any questions in case if anything will be unclear during installation.
Best regards, Alex
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Post by husafreak on Jul 13, 2021 17:44:46 GMT -5
I installed two of these boards today. They are very easy to install but it is difficult to position the LED precisely in the cab. For me it was "trial and error" so the bodies went on and off a few times and the wire leads coaxed this way and that before I was happy enough with their placement to call it good. Initially I had the LED lighting only the cable entry side of the cab or up against the forward or rear windows so maybe try to place the LED in as far as you can and see how it goes. Good luck! I had a hard time finding tape that would stick to the chassis. But after cleaning the surface with alchohol I got some black fabric electrical tape to stick OK. I could never get my Kapton tape to stick... As you all know Murphy's law is strong with me (should I be a product tester?) so on my first installation when I selected cab lighting F1 I got a bright flash then nothing. I removed the shell to find one lead burned away from the cab LED. Aye Carrumba! I pulled out my trusty Weller soldering station, set to 600 and with my finest point, the .010" solder Jeff told me about recently (brilliant), my Optivisors, and a bit of sticky wax to hold the wires in place while I zapped it. Success! Certainly not the prettiest solder job I've ever done, wax melts fast enough that the wire is a bit cockeyed, but it is done and the light works fine now. Yes Alex, I imagine doing a lot of these would be a kind of hell! I am very impressed with the D&H DH05C DCC board, or maybe also Alex programmed it? But both locos ran well before the conversion and now they are really smooth. Just wonderful. Very slow speeds are steady and the locos speed up and slow down perfectly, so their acceleration curves are very good. I will have to see if I can get a nice effect like that with my Digitrax equipped locos.
Thank you for another wonderful product!
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Post by scanrail on Jul 13, 2021 19:13:50 GMT -5
Thank you very much for your report! Yes, I would like to point out one more time - no one told that installation of driver's cab interior lighting will be that easy. I considered different ways of adding this function, and believe me - I chose the safest one; all others require irreversible modification of the loco's body and are quite unsafe.
Everyone who is OK without cab lighting, may unsolder the LED away and just forget about it. But why not use this additional feature, if the construction of the locomotive and decoder allows it?
Regarding DH05C decoder - yes, Doehler & Haass decoders offer a much wider set of features in comparison with Digitrax. I like D&H more due to a better response and smoother running. I never let the locos equipped with DZ123Z0 run as fast as with D&H. AZL locos crawl like snails after conversion with Digitrax. As you can see, it is not a problem once you use D&H DH05C.
Don't forget about integrated power buffer which helps a lot at slow speeds - no other decoder offers similar feature right from the factory.
Yes, I modified decoder settings in order to optimize performance and running characteristics of RS locomotives. If you will ever need to reset a decoder to default settings, please don't forget to restore certain CVs to required values. I listed them in User's Manual.
Best regards, Alex
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Post by husafreak on Jul 13, 2021 22:33:56 GMT -5
Yes sir, the loco runs beautifully and I understand now that has a lot to due with your programming expertise and quality components! I never had a loco with power buffering before. Many thanks. The cab lighting really is the icing on the cake. I love the look. So thank you for giving us that opportunity. Maybe big companies would not give us this light fixture, they would not trust us to install it and they worry about customer complaints. But you are one of us! I think most of us on the forums love a challenge and to make things work. Please don't take my post as a critcism of your product but just my experience which left me very happy after little more than an hour of careful assembly. Cheers!
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Post by BAZman on Jul 14, 2021 12:45:13 GMT -5
Why not have just hard mounted in the cab area, top side center of the board?
I made a light board for a loco but knowing that LED’s have wide varied intensities and some decoders either don’t have or not enough Dimming Cv range. So I used 2 resistors in parallel. That makes the brights and cutting/crushing one makes 1/2 the light or cutting the other makes 1/4 the light.
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