Hello forum, long story short a while back I was working on my Athearn SD45 and had to remove the light board and all the lights and hard wire it. I tried reinstalling lights using resistors, but I couldn't make that work. Well I got the supplies of a TCS T6X and a VR 1.5 in Thursday and worked on it yesterday evening and got it all fixed up. Attached is a short clip of the lights in operation. View attachment 20110402162157(1).wmv Ethan
Ethan: Which decoder did you use? I can't tell you how proud of you I am. It just thrills me to see you jumping in and learning things. Excellent job. With young fellows like you the future of our hobby is in good hands. Bob
Hard to show motion with a still picture..... Bob, I had an NCE D15SR in it, but I switched to a TCS T6X because it and the T4X (I needed the extra function) are the only decoders compatible with the VR 1.5, which is what made this possible. Keith Robinson pointed out a couple things that I will go work on and when I get it fixed I will post another demo. Ethan EDIT: PS The VR 1.5 is something by TCS that acts as a resistor. It's roughly the same size of a resistor, but provides enough mA of 1.5 volt power to run 8 1.5 volt 15mA bulbs (120 mA total) which is how many I used on this project.
Lighting / animation always impresses me - great job, Ethan! I'm not good at getting into the tiny areas for putting in the lights - did you do all of that installation yourself? BTW, I appreciate details you posted, such as the specific decoder. Nice work!
Thanks, B.A. Yes, I did all of the drilling and installing my self. The Roof beacon from the factory came installed with a light in it, but I replaced it. The gyro light came installed as well, but had to remove a lens and drill a hole. The class lights are just a simple dimple in the molding from the factory, but I drilled through them and installed light bulbs. Ethan
I think VR 1.5 stands for 1.5 Volt Voltage Regulator. Very nice job, those are the brightest 1.5 Volt bulbs I have ever seen. Richard E. Napper
Richard, they were really dim when I installed them, but I cranked up the brightness from 16 out of 30 (factory default) to 28 of 30. Ethan
For those of you that are not familiar with the lighting functions in a TCS decoder, Ethan's well done video is a testament to the fact that they are the best in the industry. After having the A6X's in my GP38's replaced with Tsunami's I really know how much I miss them. For those of you not aware of how the effect is achieved, they use multiple CV's that allow the user to adjust the time that each step from off to total brightness and back to off and the actual time each step is on to achieve the desired effect. Therefore the roof beacon and the nose gyra-light can be adjusted differently to obtain different effects. Ethan has his as close to perfect as one can get in my opinion. Good job!
I haven't heard back from Keith, any one know what a prime stratolite is or how to program it in on a TCS T6X? Ethan
Ethan: It is a brand name for the roof beacon. A quote from another website: "The Stratolight beacon simulates the Prime Stratolight beacon used on Santa Fe, Missouri Pacific, Milwaukee, Southern Pacific, Montana Raillink, and post 1988 Burlington Northern Diesels. The Western Cullen beacon simulates the beacon used on Union Pacific, Chicago and Northwestern, pre 1988 Burlington Northern, and some Rio Grande diesels."
The Prime Stratolite is the name of the rotary beacon used by the Frisco. In Soundtraxx Tsunami decoders, it is named as such. In other decoders, it may just be "rotary beacon". The light of the Prime Stratolight would appear to step up in brightness in visible steps and then back to off as the four individual bulbs (each facing 90 degrees perpendicular to the other) were turned on and then back off in a circular pattern. You would set the CV corresponding to the wire for that bulb to 38 in a TCS T6X decoder. For the Gryralight, set the CV corresponding to the wire for that bulb to 7 in a TCS T6X decoder. Richard, the bulbs to use are the 1.2mm 1.5v 15ma bulbs from Miniatronics. They are perfect for headlights, class lights and all the rest. Some decoders like the Tsunami (light board type) and the TCS A6X have built-in 1.5v power sources that eliminate the need for dropping resistors when using the 1.5v bulbs.
Richard, this is probably the best place to get decoders: http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=190035&cat=154&page=1 They have free shipping on all orders over $75. Ethan
Richard, if a light-board style decoder would work, I would highly recommend the TCS A6X, especially for Atlas locomotives, since it is the one with built in 1.5v power source as well as built-in drive circuitry (resistors) for LEDs.
Terry, yes a sound decoder is a little expensive. I don't have any currently, but am looking at getting into it. Also if I didn't use a TCS T6X this project wouldn't have happened. Ethan
Terry, What would you like to know about Electronics, etc. I am a retired Electronics Engineer, I do everything in DC and DCC. E-mail me at renapper@centurylink.net. Richard E. Napper