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 Ah, the classic lines of the original Bullet Train. The DCC installs are back. I’ve got a ton of photos, and I doubt I’ll post all of the work I’ve done in the past several months, but with Kato’s recent re-release of this model, it seemed appropriate for the latest update.  651系 cab car. Finally, a return to my long neglected 651系! In the first and and first-and-a-half parts, I upgraded the factory-fitted interior lights from bulbs to warm LEDs. Now the time has come to deal with the headlights. Thankfully, this conversion proved quite easy using a TCS FL4 function decoder, which is both small and capable of handling the in-rush current from the bulbs. 
The Tomix “Yumekukan” is a fun model. The highlight is the three unique coaches at the end: One very first class sleeper, one lounge car, and one dining car at the very end. Last year I installed a decoder into the baggage car; today the dining car (OSHI25-901; オシ25-901) is the focus. The dining car has working table-top lamps, direction-sensitive marker lights, and a lit drumhead: All powered by a very tiny, all surface-mount circuit board that defies dissection. Read on to see how I used a TCS Z2 to convert this carriage to DCC. 
 The completed install. This must be a new record for me: Two successful decoder installs in four weeks, nothing dead or fried. The Skyliner motor car is, thankfully, a straightforward install with only minor gotchas. Now, to find the funds for another Z2 to complete the second cab car! 
 A Keisei AE100形, headlights blazing. Ok, yeah. I said my next DCC conquest would be my Kato 651系 “Super Hitachi”. I lied. Besides, I said that, what, six months ago? I don’t have the necessary decoders on hand to continue work on it, but I did have the necessary decoder for this model, the Micro Ace A2896 Keisei AE100形 “Skyliner”. What makes this model challenging is that the headlights and the markerlights are not lit by distinct LEDs, but by a single bi-polar bi-color LED—a single monolithic LED that cannot be split apart into two distinct circuits for control by two distinct motor leads. Read on to see how I got it working. One of the reasons that I continue to buy TCS products for my own installations is that they have, hands down, the best tech support I’ve ever encountered for, well, anything—including telling me when to stop using one of the products. [...] 
Update: After consulting with TCS, I no longer recommend the TCS Z2 decoder for this installation. Sadly, the TCS M1 is too large for this installation, and so I have selected a Lenz Silver Mini to replace the Z2. Previously, I showed how to disassemble the tamper down to the point where we can proceed with decoder installation. Let’s move forward with the decoder installation itself. 
 The Duomatic itself. Stop. (Collaborate and listen.) You just bought one of these fancy Lemke ballast tampers, and you are considering converting it to DCC. You can read a little German, maybe, or at least you can work from photos; or you found another guide on the web. It doesn’t look so hard. Don’t believe everything you read.  It lives! Tomix EF81 with working DCC provided by a TCS CN-GP. [Update 7 July 2010: The decoder failed by February. TCS advised that the CN-GP is a very delicate decoder; consequently, I cannot recommend this installation method. Currently looking for a new method of installation. Watch for future posts.] Read Part 1. It’s done. Well, almost. [Update 10 Jan 2010: Yep, it's done.] Anyway, it works, and that’s what counts. Here then I recount the two hours I spent last night making it work, and the year of effort that culminated in those two glorious hours. (Yes, it takes me about one year to install one decoder. No, I’m not that slow: it’s just a function of how much free time I have, and how I choose to spend it.) I’ve lost track of how many decoders have been fried in the name of getting my Tomix EF81 converted to DCC. I’m not at all sure what happened this time; I was very thorough in checking for shorts before I put it on the tracks. And, sure enough, when I power it up, it [...] |
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