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Post by davejones on Oct 28, 2022 15:58:38 GMT -5
Great news Alex. Thank you so much for persisting with this project - it's really appreciated.
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Post by louiez on Oct 28, 2022 23:17:02 GMT -5
Hi friends, I would like to share good news on this project: finally, I received necessary microcontrollers from Microchip, and I am about to start production run in the upcoming days. I need about a month to produce the first batch and I hope very much that I will be able to ship around 100 digital decoders to my dear US customers soon. Best regards, Alex Thanks for the update. I've been putting off hard wiring my sw1500s waiting for these to be available.
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Post by scanrail on Nov 22, 2022 14:46:32 GMT -5
Hi friends, I am proud to announce that it finally happened - first production run successfully landed in the USA and already available for sale! It is available here: www.zscalemonster.com/zmodell/It will also be available soon from other dealers too: Zscalehobo:zscalehobo.com/zmodell/zmodell.htmlDon Fedjur:Please contact him here: azlforum.com/user/215In Germany it is also available here:case-hobbies.de/epages/cf425545-2399-4746-bee3-e1b1489fe61e.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/cf425545-2399-4746-bee3-e1b1489fe61e/Products/ZDL-AZL-SWSmall important note for customers once again: SW switching locomotive is a tricky thing. Please proceed very carefully during disassembly and also during installation of the digital decoder. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Another very important point to consider: SW loco is very light and small. And its wheelsets are fitted with rubber bands. All this ends up in very high requirements for cleanness of the track and wheelsets. To achieve the best driving performance, please keep them always as clean as possible. Digital decoder supports both digital and analog modes. Please never apply anything higher than 12 Volts in both modes. Official AZL instructions for disassembly of SW locomotives: www.zscalemonster.com/zmodell/AZL-SW1500-Shell-Removal.pdfZmodell SW 1500 digital decoder installation manual: azlforum.com/post/26162/The next production run is scheduled to 2023, once I receive the next batch of Microchip controllers. I would appreciate any reports from customers about usage of my decoder here. Kind regards, Alex
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Post by dazed on Nov 22, 2022 15:19:44 GMT -5
Ordered! Very anxious to get one in hand and installed.
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Post by scanrail on Nov 23, 2022 11:49:33 GMT -5
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Post by davejones on Nov 23, 2022 17:13:19 GMT -5
Yes. I have one on the way.
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Post by louiez on Nov 27, 2022 21:53:28 GMT -5
Great news -- I have three on the way from zscalehobo.
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txrfan67
New Member
Z dreamin'...long freights somewhere out West...
Posts: 42
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Post by txrfan67 on Dec 1, 2022 15:28:04 GMT -5
Just ordered 3 from Anthony. Can't wait!!
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Post by scanrail on Dec 14, 2022 8:52:07 GMT -5
Hi friends, As a developer who uses a proprietary technology of the Doehler & Haass, I was asked by the company to correct the following information in order for it to match the official requirements: 1. Recommended voltage in digital mode for Z scale models equipped with D&H digital decoders is 12-14 Volts. Despite most Z scale models are rated for 10-12 Volts, it is safe to apply 14 Volts in digital mode. It is true because of the PWM control of the motor, when the motor is not powered constantly, but with pulses. Additionally, DCC signal reserves 10% of the data cycle for the decoder to send a feedback to the command station. During this, the motor is not powered too. Thus, integral value of the voltage applied to the motor in digital mode equals to 9.25 Volts when the track voltage is 14 Volts. Furthermore, 1.4 Volts are lost after rectification. More information about setting correct track voltage for Z scale can be found here (in German, use in-browser translation): doehler-haass.de/cms/pages/haeufige-fragen.php#a4d2. Despite max. speed range is 0-127 (CV5), it is not recommended to set the highest value for very small Z scale coreless motors, because the load compensation feature will not work correctly in this case. Setting CV5 to the highest possible value may lead to the "plateau effect", where a further increase of the speed step does not lead to any further speed increase of the model. This is of course not desirable. More info about managing the motor control for D&H decoders can be found here: doehler-haass.de/cms/pages/haeufige-fragen.php#a2edoehler-haass.de/cms/pages/haeufige-fragen.php#a2gdoehler-haass.de/cms/pages/haeufige-fragen.php#a2fBest regards, Alex
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Post by husafreak on Dec 14, 2022 12:41:30 GMT -5
I am happy to say I have successfully installed the Zmodell decoder in my AZL SP SW1500. Very nice running characteristics and bright lights. I used a small 4mm wide screwdriver to remove the body. It wasn't hard but I wore my OptiVisor and went slowly, raising the sides a tiny bit at the middle of the body L/R L/R etc. untill I could see the chassis and then prying up the ends of the body as necessary to keep everything parallel until it was up enough to pull it off. I used a small stone Dremel bit to reduce the size of the dimples on the chassis taking care to have the fillings spray away from the loco and blasting with compressed air to clean it off. The shell went back on very easily after. Note that there are different screw types for the decoder and the lighting board, one type for the metal and the other for the plastic, they are tiny. I installed the Decoder and lighting board and tested the conductivity at the 200K ohm ranges. If anyone knows of a good video or article explaining this testing procedure for Z scale locos I would like to see that. On my test track I was experiencing a bit of hesitation due to the wires from the decoder to the lighting board touching the flywheel which Alex warns about in the instructions. It is hard to see up in there but you will see a black ring on the flywheel after a minute of running if they touch. I used a big T pin to push the wires up from the side above the flywheel and while shining a bright light from the other side. This got the clearance. I probably tried too hard to tuck those wires down during the installation, that was not necessary. The loco ran well and I programmed the long address.
The loco runs cab forward with FWD so I would like to change that. This brings up a question about CV's.
My NCE Powercab is showing CV29=46. I am guessing this is DC OK (4) + Long Address (32) + 28/128 Speed Steps (2) + (8) maybe Railcom? Of course I could be completely wrong, that's the beauty of CV29 values... Anyway, can I simply add 1 (46 + 1 = 47) to reverse the direction of the loco without changing anything else? Or do SW1500 switchers normally run cab forward and I should get used to it! LOL
Also, regarding the post just made by Alex, should I Set CV5 to something less than 127 and if so what? I think the loco looks about right with 127 as its top speed.
FWIW thank you for your help with the resistance check Alex!
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Post by scanrail on Dec 14, 2022 13:42:07 GMT -5
D&H decoders have their own table of CVs to control the most parameters. To reverse the driving direction, don't touch CV29, just write "3" to CV51.
Regarding CV5 - of course, you can leave 127 as is if you like the maximal speed of your locomotive, nothing wrong will happen. Effect of the back EMF technology is of course much less visible with such small locomotives with coreless motors. It was just my duty to inform the customers that technical recommendations of the company are a bit different.
Best regards, Alex
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Post by husafreak on Dec 14, 2022 16:06:53 GMT -5
Excellent, thank you! I never would have figured that CV51 "interchange of connections" would do that And I'm sticking with 127 then. I did just realize I damaged one of the plastic fuel tank pieces on disassembly. Each tank piece has two tiny pins which go into the chassis, I must have twisted one tank half because I broke the pins off. Oh well, I used a small piece of tape to hold then together across the bottom. Be careful.
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Post by scanrail on Dec 14, 2022 16:37:32 GMT -5
If you would like to learn the full list of CVs of this decoder, as well as its possibilities in general, you may refer to this document on the official website of Doehler & Haass (in English): doehler-haass.de/cms/media/pdf/DH05C_DH10C_DH16A_en.pdfRegarding pins on the fuel tank halves: don't worry, it is a common problem. Indeed, these small pins tend to break during disassembly very often. In some locomotives, these parts are additionally fixed with glue; in this case, there is almost no chance for not to break these pins at all. Luckily, absence of these pins can be easily fixed - exactly as you did. Alex
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Post by husafreak on Dec 19, 2022 13:54:17 GMT -5
I should say that if tape is used on this loco to hold the fuel tanks in place it needs to be very thin and small to insure it remains between the tracks. I had problems with my SW1500 hanging up on track joints which was solved by sanding the bottom of the tanks to increase track clearance.
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Post by BAZman on Jan 10, 2023 16:54:09 GMT -5
Anyone that is NOT using the MTL adapter piece: I will buy it from you. 1 or both.
I had a cracked one and the path for replacement is LHS/Order source, which is a crazy back and forth.
PM me
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