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I’ve been out of commission for a while, haven’t I? My wife had jury duty nearly all of this past week, which made me primary care-taker for our little daughter. I understood in only an abstract sense the amount of work Amy does in caring for our child; I understand now in a much more concrete sense. I also know that I would be a terrible single father. I really rely on her, and I’m incredibly thankful to have someone I can rely on as my partner.
Thank you, Amy.
This weekend, however, I’ve gotten quite a lot of modeling work done; here is a brief overview (with, perhaps, more detailed posts to follow over the coming week). Continue reading…
TCS has just announced the K0D8 decoder for Kato E8A/B, F7A/B and P42 Genesis locos; it should be a drop-in replacement for nearly every Japanese outline electric locomotive Kato has produced in the last several years. I have updated the listings accordingly, and will update them when TCS releases more information
Not with the website, thank goodness. No, today I fried another decoder. According to Arthur at TCS, the CN-GP is rather sensitive to shorting, and that’s just what I did. So, it’s off for testing and replacement! The good news is, I shorted it out during a test-fitting, and so far it looks like [...]
 Tomix EF81 “Hokutosei”
Here’s today’s subject: A Tomix EF81. This one, no. 98, is a special edition, not easily replaceable—and not DCC-ready, either. In this article, I will cover how to disassemble the locomotive—which is very easy—, and mill the frame to fit a TCS CN-GP decoder—which isn’t terribly hard.
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Trying to figure out what to put in your Kato EF65 or DD51? Click through, and perhaps I can assist you. [...]
Still looking for the perfect decoder for your shinkansen (bullet train) or commuter train? Click through: I’ve got what you’re looking for. [...]
This one was pretty easy. Four wires, nothing tricky, 20 minutes.
 Exterior of KANI24-500 The KANI24-500 is the baggage car used on Hokutosei sleeper express trains. This model is part of my Tomix Yumekukan set. It has a set of markerlights and a signboard that light up when the car is at the rear of the train—which is 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, when the car is at the front of the train, these lights are all off. One light, one function, easy-peasy.
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Trying to select a decoder for your shinkansen (bullet train) or commuter train? Click through, and see: I’m here to help. [...]
Breadboard circuit
After success building circuit described here on breadboard, I began construction of something more permanent this past weekend. But, as I did so, two events conspired to frustrate my efforts. First was the discovery, thanks to a member of the JNSForum, of the Lenz LF101XF function decoder, which does precisely what [...]
 OSHI25-901 circuit board This is the lightboard from the OSHI 25-901 dining car from the Tomix 92950 “Yumekukan” set. This board sits in a fitted pocket in the galley of the dining car. There are three SMD LEDs (the three white boxes on the left); three long lightpipes run from the LEDs to the rear of the car. The middle LED lights the taillights and signboard, and only lights when this car is at the end of the train—it doesn’t light when the car is at the head of the train. The outer two LEDs light two rows of table-lamps in the dining room of the car, and remain lit whichever direction the train is running. The two leads on the right connect directly to two steel strips that run along the bottom of the car and (in addition to providing much-needed ballast) contact pickups in the trucks. So, when +12V is fed across the leads (I don’t know which direction, to be honest), all three LEDs light; when -12V is provided, only the outer two LEDs light. In addition to the LEDs and resistors, there is what I’m guessing is an SMD bridge rectifier (for the table-lamps)? Although it has six pins instead of the usual four. And there’s some other tiny little resistor like thing by the middle LED.
The challenge before me: Convert this puppy to DCC. The board is too small to modify. And there’s no space to construct a replacement board. And, as many of my readers will know, controlling two independent lights with a DCC decoder requires three wires: Two “function” leads (that when activated, short to ground; when inactive they are left floating), and the +12V blue common. In my favor, there is a fair amount of room in the galley for additional circuitry, beyond just a decoder.
Continue reading…
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