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Model Forum / General / Railroads / May 2009Anyone know about these new Katos?
Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a few questions: (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power Cab? (Recall that the sum total of my electronic knowledge consists of having once discovered that sticking a hairpin into a wall socket has unpleasant side-effects. Be gentle.) (B) I've yet to own a Kato locomotive. How reliable are their mechanisims, Etc? I've been having serious reliability issues with Athearn Genesis units running on DCC (they lose their programming at random intervals and either refuse to move or continue on regardless of input), and want to avoid this in the future if possible. (C) None of the few hobby shops around here stock any of the built-in DCC and sound Kato units (although they'll special-order them for me at a cost greater than that when bought directly from Kato) so I've been unable to find one to actually get my hands on, operate, and listen to. Has anyone here actually seen, heard, owned or just used one? http://www.katousa.com/Zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71_116_117&p roducts_id=546&zenid=2be052a0df709dc882e2e94278cce7b5 > (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power > Cab? Oh dear, twibil, that's outrageous. Somebody dictating terms and conditions? Shock, horror. To be consistent with your ebay pronouncements, should you not be professing utter disgust at this, refusing to comply and alleging restraint of trade? >> (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power >> Cab? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > pronouncements, should you not be professing utter disgust at this, > refusing to comply and alleging restraint of trade? b_a_a_a!  SignatureSteve > > (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power > > Cab? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > pronouncements, should you not be professing utter disgust at this, > refusing to comply and alleging restraint of trade? Oh, look! It thinks ignorance of the law makes it look clever! Well, horses for courses; and apparently his belonged to a Venezuelan polo team. It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! I'd suspect that in the early days of that club, different decoders failed for whatever reasons and only one made it without troubles. In the interests of reliability, the club said only this one type will work. Since the club members were probably about as stupid about electronics as you sound like, they did the simple thing to insure tranquility. You get this nasty post because you were the one being stupid in complaining about somebody elses preferences. -- Bob May rmay at nethere.com http: slash /nav.to slash bobmay http: slash /bobmay dot astronomy.net On 4/22/2009 2:37 PM Bob May spake thus: > It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! It's quite obvious that, due to your sloppy and non-standard posting style, one has no idea what you're referring to here. Ever heard of "quoting"? SignatureSave the Planet Kill Yourself - motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright rude. NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: At least I used the red and green wires coming from the "silver" battery operated motor that came with a boat model. I might have only been 7 or 8 years old, but it made sense to me that the motor should run much faster. Why a hairpin ? Exactly what were you trying to accomplish ? On Apr 22, 4:39 pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright > rude. Well gee; you only had to *ask*! > NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. Hell, you should see our club meetings when the Rush Limbaugh clones start going on about the "communists" in Washington! > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > run much faster. Why a hairpin ? Exactly what were you trying to > accomplish ? Who knows? I was circa 4 years old at the time. (To this day I suspect that electronic devises are essentially instruments of the devil, but it doesn't look as if wind-up trains are going to be coming back soon.) ~Pete > On Apr 22, 4:39�pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > > > Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright > > rude. > > Well gee; you only had to *ask*! Well, I'm asking > > NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. > > Hell, you should see our club meetings when the Rush Limbaugh clones > start going on about the "communists" in Washington! Well, at our club there are no Rush Limbaugh "clones" but liberals have learned to keep their mouths shut since they are usually the ones to put the least amount of work or money into the layout. > > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > ~Pete Ok, at 4 year old I guess I can understand. The black spot on the wall as well as the "fried" look on my face as my father yelled "what the F*** are you doing" as the motor exploded in my hands has rendered me as one who does not play with electricity very often. > On Apr 22, 4:39 pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > ~Pete ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "To this day I suspect that electronic devises are essentially instruments of the devil" Based on the way my computer has been acting recently, I'm beginning to believe that. Bill > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: Can't happen in the UK nor any other country with safe electrical codes. Well, you can stick a hair pin in both the hot and neutral female wall outlets but nothing will happen. This is because there are gates inside the female outlets that will not lift until you insert a plug with a ground pin. The ground pin is longer than the hot and neutral pins and lifts the gates so that the male hot and neutral pins can make contact. Thus, sticking anything into the hot and neutral outlets does nothing. Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that they can be cut off with a pair or pliers, thus defeating the safety of a ground pin. -- Cheers. Roger T. See the GER at: - http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ > Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to > get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Roger T. > See the GER at: -http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ We call it "thinning the herd" Guess thats why you have so many idiots in the UK ? On Apr 22, 11:23?pm, "Roger T." <roger...@highspeedplus.com> wrote: > Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to > get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Roger T. > See the GER at: -http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ We call it "thinning the herd" Guess thats why you have so many idiots in the UK ? ~~~~ Doesn't really seem to be working all that well here. Maybe we should up it to 220V? VM On 4/23/2009 6:03 AM Val spake thus: > On Apr 22, 11:23?pm, "Roger T." <roger...@highspeedplus.com> wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Doesn't really seem to be working all that well here. Maybe we should up it > to 220V? Contrary to popular myth, not even that would do the trick. How do I know? I've been zapped with 277 volts (commercial lighting power) and lived to tell about it. (Don't ask how.) SignatureSave the Planet Kill Yourself - motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a few questions: (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power Cab? (Recall that the sum total of my electronic knowledge consists of having once discovered that sticking a hairpin into a wall socket has unpleasant side-effects. Be gentle.) (B) I've yet to own a Kato locomotive. How reliable are their mechanisims, Etc? I've been having serious reliability issues with Athearn Genesis units running on DCC (they lose their programming at random intervals and either refuse to move or continue on regardless of input), and want to avoid this in the future if possible. (C) None of the few hobby shops around here stock any of the built-in DCC and sound Kato units (although they'll special-order them for me at a cost greater than that when bought directly from Kato) so I've been unable to find one to actually get my hands on, operate, and listen to. Has anyone here actually seen, heard, owned or just used one? http://www.katousa.com/Zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71_116_1 17&products_id=546&zenid=2be052a0df709dc882e2e94278cce7b5 Twibil wrote: > (A) Is the Digitrax unit compatable with my club-dictated NCE Power > Cab? Oh dear, twibil, that's outrageous. Somebody dictating terms and conditions? Shock, horror. To be consistent with your ebay pronouncements, should you not be professing utter disgust at this, refusing to comply and alleging restraint of trade? It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! I'd suspect that in the early days of that club, different decoders failed for whatever reasons and only one made it without troubles. In the interests of reliability, the club said only this one type will work. Since the club members were probably about as stupid about electronics as you sound like, they did the simple thing to insure tranquility. You get this nasty post because you were the one being stupid in complaining about somebody elses preferences. -- Bob May rmay at nethere.com http: slash /nav.to slash bobmay http: slash /bobmay dot astronomy.net On 4/22/2009 2:37 PM Bob May spake thus: > It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! It's quite obvious that, due to your sloppy and non-standard posting style, one has no idea what you're referring to here. Ever heard of "quoting"? Yep! Got enough? -- Save the Planet Kill Yourself - motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright rude. NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: At least I used the red and green wires coming from the "silver" battery operated motor that came with a boat model. I might have only been 7 or 8 years old, but it made sense to me that the motor should run much faster. Why a hairpin ? Exactly what were you trying to accomplish ? On Apr 22, 4:39 pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright > rude. Well gee; you only had to *ask*! > NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. Hell, you should see our club meetings when the Rush Limbaugh clones start going on about the "communists" in Washington! > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > run much faster. Why a hairpin ? Exactly what were you trying to > accomplish ? Who knows? I was circa 4 years old at the time. (To this day I suspect that electronic devises are essentially instruments of the devil, but it doesn't look as if wind-up trains are going to be coming back soon.) ~Pete On Apr 22, 7:03?pm, Twibil <nowayjo...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Apr 22, 4:39?pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > > > Finally, a thread with uglyness, sarcasm and people being downright > > rude. > > Well gee; you only had to *ask*! Well, I'm asking > > NOW, I feel like this is a model railroad newsgroup. > > Hell, you should see our club meetings when the Rush Limbaugh clones > start going on about the "communists" in Washington! Well, at our club there are no Rush Limbaugh "clones" but liberals have learned to keep their mouths shut since they are usually the ones to put the least amount of work or money into the layout. > > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > ~Pete Ok, at 4 year old I guess I can understand. The black spot on the wall as well as the "fried" look on my face as my father yelled "what the F*** are you doing" as the motor exploded in my hands has rendered me as one who does not play with electricity very often. On Apr 22, 8:03 pm, Twibil <nowayjo...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Apr 22, 4:39 pm, BleuRae...@aol.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > ~Pete ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- "To this day I suspect that electronic devises are essentially instruments of the devil" Based on the way my computer has been acting recently, I'm beginning to believe that. Bill > And for the person who put the hairpin in the wall socket: Can't happen in the UK nor any other country with safe electrical codes. Well, you can stick a hair pin in both the hot and neutral female wall outlets but nothing will happen. This is because there are gates inside the female outlets that will not lift until you insert a plug with a ground pin. The ground pin is longer than the hot and neutral pins and lifts the gates so that the male hot and neutral pins can make contact. Thus, sticking anything into the hot and neutral outlets does nothing. Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that they can be cut off with a pair or pliers, thus defeating the safety of a ground pin. -- Cheers. Roger T. See the GER at: - http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ On Apr 22, 11:23?pm, "Roger T." <roger...@highspeedplus.com> wrote: > Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to > get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Roger T. > See the GER at: -http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ We call it "thinning the herd" Guess thats why you have so many idiots in the UK ? <BleuRaeder@aol.com> wrote in message news:9b36f04d-b4db-4d9e-a04a-81bb8b73ef7e@j18g2000yql.googlegroups.com... On Apr 22, 11:23?pm, "Roger T." <roger...@highspeedplus.com> wrote: > Unlike North America where you can stick bare wires into a wall outlet to > get power and ground pins are deliberately designed to be so flimsy that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Roger T. > See the GER at: -http://www.islandnet.com/~rogertra/ We call it "thinning the herd" Guess thats why you have so many idiots in the UK ? ~~~~ Doesn't really seem to be working all that well here. Maybe we should up it to 220V? VM On 4/23/2009 6:03 AM Val spake thus: > <BleuRaeder@aol.com> wrote in message > news:9b36f04d-b4db-4d9e-a04a-81bb8b73ef7e@j18g2000yql.googlegroups.com... [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Doesn't really seem to be working all that well here. Maybe we should up it > to 220V? Contrary to popular myth, not even that would do the trick. How do I know? I've been zapped with 277 volts (commercial lighting power) and lived to tell about it. (Don't ask how.) -- Save the Planet Kill Yourself - motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) On Apr 22, 2:37 pm, "Bob May" <bob...@nethere.com> wrote: > It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! Er, that's why people ask questions, Bob. To find out. But at least I know enough to quote the post I'm replying to so that people can tell what the heck I'm referring to. > I'd suspect that in the early days of that club, different decoders failed > for whatever reasons and only one made it without troubles. And you'd be wrong. > In the interests of reliability, the club said only this one type will work. Wrong again. > Since > the club members were probably about as stupid about electronics as you > sound like, they did the simple thing to insure tranquility. Still wrong. Ya'see, nobody mentioned club-mandated *decoders* at all, and there aren't any. What the club *did* decide to do was standardise on the *controllers*, which are all NCEs because (A) that's the same system we *have* to work with when we run at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, (B) having looked into all of the available systems in depth we all agreed that the NCE was probably the best bet, and, (C) the club got an amazing price break by purchasing a bunch of controllers at once. > You get this nasty post because you were the one being stupid in complaining > about somebody elses preferences. I -and everyone else, too- got this nasty post because you didn't bother to understand what the situation was before you boiled off your self-satified but incorrect bunch of assumptions. But somehow I doubt we're going to be seeing any Mea Culpas from you. Have a nice day, ~Pete Twibil wrote: > Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax > DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > listen to. Has anyone here actually seen, heard, owned or just used > one? http://www.katousa.com/Zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71_116_1 17&products_id=546&zenid=2be052a0df709dc882e2e94278cce7b5 A) Yes, they're compatible. After all, that's what DCC is all about, right? B) I have nine Kato locos on my roster, and all of them are excellent runners. (There were a few runs, many years ago, that used an inferior pickup system that has since been eliminated. But even those can easily be upgraded to excellent runners.) I'd grade them as better runners than the Genesis locos, although the Genesis locos generally have a higher level of detail. BTW, those Genesis locos have MRC decoders in them, which is why you're having running-quality issues. Shitcan the MRC crap and put real decoders in them. You *won't* be disappointed. C)I don't own any of the "Kobo" (Kato-w/installed sound) locos, but I do have a pair of the Kato SD40-2 "Mid" locos into which I've installed the Digitrax DH165K1A/SFX004 motor/sound decoders. I'm guessing that's what the Kobos use. It's an easy drop-in. The first one took me about a half-hour, and the second only 20 minutes. In retrospect, I couldn't see paying the "Kobo" premium for such a simple install. The only problem is that the SFX004 comes with an SD38-2 sound scheme, so you'll have to load the correct one for your loco (available from the Digitrax web site). It'll take a PR3 to do that, but if you can find someone who has one it's a five-minute operation to upload the correct sound scheme. HTH, Stevert -- Bob May rmay at nethere.com http: slash /nav.to slash bobmay http: slash /bobmay dot astronomy.net BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE, TROLL! > BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE, TROLL! POT Kettle Black ?????? > > BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE, TROLL! > > POT Kettle Black ?????? Has that fruitcake time of year rolled around 8 months early, or is it that you simply don't know what a '"troll" is? (Free hint: A "troll" is someone who posts things with the specific intent of inciting flame wars or otherwise starting trouble.) But I began this thread with a perfectly normal on-topic question about the newer Kato diesels -of which I knew practically nothing- and DCC operations, of which I admittedly know very little. As it happens, a couple of the guys here *did* know about those things and gave helpful answers, which, you will note, I responded to politely. There were a couple of *other* answers -of the smart-a.s variety- which *were* trolls, and, not surprisingly, I verbally zapped them in return. And that's not "trolling", bub: it's just how conversations work in real life. If someone is polite and helpful to you, you naturally respond the same way. And if they're intentionally being a royal pain in the a.s you naturally respond to *that* also; but not usually with flowers and candy. Do I go off too quickly or go too far in response to these smart-a.s posters? Dunno. Maybe. I can't see myself from the outside, but I can tell you that I respond to online stupidity and ugliness in exactly the same ways I would respond in a face-to-face conversation. Now whether or not that's what *you* would do in similar circumstances, or whether it's what you approve of here, are different questions altogether; but what *you* would do or what *you* approve of is not - alas- high on my list of priorities. My intent here at rec.models.railroad is simply to be as helpful as I can in terms of sharing the little knowledge I have, and to learn what I can from posters who know more about various subjects than do I. In short: If you want an answer and think I might be able to help, ask me a question. And if I ask a question and you have a relevant answer then please feel free to chime in. But if you want a flame war, well, I'm absolutely *terrible* at appeasement -always have been- so don't expect me to apologise for being who and what I am. ~Pete >>>BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE, TROLL! >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > which *were* trolls, and, not surprisingly, I verbally zapped them in > return. Come on now Pete. You of all people know the rules for Troll control, I.E. "Never answer a Troll" Chuck D. [Yeah, I know, I just did!!!] > And that's not "trolling", bub: it's just how conversations work in > real life. If someone is polite and helpful to you, you naturally [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > ~Pete > Come on now Pete. You of all people know the rules for Troll control, > I.E. "Never answer a Troll" The problem is that not answering them doesn't *work*, and just as unenforcable statutes breed disrespect for the law, so non-functional Usenet "rules" plead to be disobeyed.. Besides, I've always thought of that "rule" as being more of a guideline... >>Come on now Pete. You of all people know the rules for Troll control, >>I.E. "Never answer a Troll" [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Besides, I've always thought of that "rule" as being more of a > guideline... Well, when you consider the construction & operation of 'INTERNET', all of the supposed 'rules' are just 'guidelines'. Just what the 'rule' is dealing with, and how much of a 'Hot Button' thing the 'offence'is kind of determines the level of response from other INTERNET users. rule ... guideline... Take your pick! Chuck D. > It's quite obvious that you have no idea of what you're talking about! Er, that's why people ask questions, Bob. To find out. But at least I know enough to quote the post I'm replying to so that people can tell what the heck I'm referring to. > I'd suspect that in the early days of that club, different decoders failed > for whatever reasons and only one made it without troubles. And you'd be wrong. > In the interests of reliability, the club said only this one type will work. Wrong again. > Since > the club members were probably about as stupid about electronics as you > sound like, they did the simple thing to insure tranquility. Still wrong. Ya'see, nobody mentioned club-mandated *decoders* at all, and there aren't any. What the club *did* decide to do was standardise on the *controllers*, which are all NCEs because (A) that's the same system we *have* to work with when we run at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, (B) having looked into all of the available systems in depth we all agreed that the NCE was probably the best bet, and, (C) the club got an amazing price break by purchasing a bunch of controllers at once. > You get this nasty post because you were the one being stupid in complaining > about somebody elses preferences. I -and everyone else, too- got this nasty post because you didn't bother to understand what the situation was before you boiled off your self-satified but incorrect bunch of assumptions. But somehow I doubt we're going to be seeing any Mea Culpas from you. Have a nice day, ~Pete > Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax > DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > http://www.katousa.com/Zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71_116_117&p roducts_id=546&zenid=2be052a0df709dc882e2e94278cce7b5 A) Yes, they're compatible. After all, that's what DCC is all about, right? B) I have nine Kato locos on my roster, and all of them are excellent runners. (There were a few runs, many years ago, that used an inferior pickup system that has since been eliminated. But even those can easily be upgraded to excellent runners.) I'd grade them as better runners than the Genesis locos, although the Genesis locos generally have a higher level of detail. BTW, those Genesis locos have MRC decoders in them, which is why you're having running-quality issues. Shitcan the MRC crap and put real decoders in them. You *won't* be disappointed. C)I don't own any of the "Kobo" (Kato-w/installed sound) locos, but I do have a pair of the Kato SD40-2 "Mid" locos into which I've installed the Digitrax DH165K1A/SFX004 motor/sound decoders. I'm guessing that's what the Kobos use. It's an easy drop-in. The first one took me about a half-hour, and the second only 20 minutes. In retrospect, I couldn't see paying the "Kobo" premium for such a simple install. The only problem is that the SFX004 comes with an SD38-2 sound scheme, so you'll have to load the correct one for your loco (available from the Digitrax web site). It'll take a PR3 to do that, but if you can find someone who has one it's a five-minute operation to upload the correct sound scheme. HTH, Stevert > A) Yes, they're compatible. After all, that's what DCC is all about, right? Dunno. That's why I asked. > B) I have nine Kato locos on my roster, and all of them are excellent > runners. (There were a few runs, many years ago, that used an inferior > pickup system that has since been eliminated. But even those can easily > be upgraded to excellent runners.) I'd grade them as better runners than > the Genesis locos, although the Genesis locos generally have a higher > level of detail. If I have to choose, I'd prefer a good runner to a well-detailed piece of inert scenery. I can always add detail. > BTW, those Genesis locos have MRC decoders in them, which is why > you're having running-quality issues. Shitcan the MRC crap and put real > decoders in them. You *won't* be disappointed. Aha! That solves *that* problem! Will do. And thanks. > C)I don't own any of the "Kobo" (Kato-w/installed sound) locos, but I do > have a pair of the Kato SD40-2 "Mid" locos into which I've installed the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > web site). It'll take a PR3 to do that, but if you can find someone who > has one it's a five-minute operation to upload the correct sound scheme. Hmmm. One of our club guys is a full time computer guru, has a PR3, and knows all about this stuff, but due to the recession he's working *very* long hours and is difficult to contact. (He also speaks a language that he *thinks* is English, but somehow fails to communticate with people who don't have an advanced degree in computer science.) Thanx for all the advice and taking the time to write it. ~Pete > Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax > DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > having once discovered that sticking a hairpin into a wall socket has > unpleasant side-effects. Be gentle.) Yes, all the basic functions will work, and some of the non-basic ones will work, too, but NCE and Digitraxx each use some of the optional control variables differently, so you'll have to experiment. It's quite likely that some of your club-mates have worked out the equivalences. Depending on the decoder, some functions will not be accessible from the NCE controller, and vice versa. But that's true for any decoder and controller combination. > (B) I've yet to own a Kato locomotive. How reliable are their > mechanisms, Etc? I've been having serious reliability issues with > Athearn Genesis units running on DCC (they lose their programming at > random intervals and either refuse to move or continue on regardless > of input), and want to avoid this in the future if possible. Superb mechanisms. Smooth, and according to reports from a couple of clubs who run their locomotives many hundreds of hours per year, the most durable of all. > (C) None of the few hobby shops around here stock any of the built-in > DCC and sound Kato units (although they'll special-order them for me > at a cost greater than that when bought directly from Kato) so I've > been unable to find one to actually get my hands on, operate, and > listen to. Has anyone here actually seen, heard, owned or just used > one? Yes, they are as good as any other sound-equipped units. Horns sound good, as does e-motor whine (if present.) IMO 1" speakers are too small for a convincing deep-bass diesel throb or growl, but tastes vary. I think speakers in a dummy unit sound better, since they can be bigger (Eg, 1.5" speaker has an effective area more than 2x that of the smaller speakers, so it can push twice as much air, which makes a huge difference at lower frequencies.) If you want instant service, an extra fee is reasonable. If they are merely piggy-backing your "special order" on their next regular one, they should offer a discount - it's instant turnover, after all... cheers, wolf k. (SNIP) Thanx, Wolf. All useful information. ~Pete > Kato is now offering various of their diesels with built-in Digitrax > DCC and sound units. I'm interested in this one (see link) and have a [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > http://www.katousa.com/Zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7... Since this thread has turned into bunch of OT pointless crap, let me add some more: Digitrax DCC decoders are compatible with NCE system. DCC has been around long enough that majority (dare I say "all") brands of equipment work with each other. After all, DCC is a standard (lets not really go there). The bottom line is that you should have no issues. I don't know about H0 as I model in N scale but in N Kato is pretty much the top locomotive manufacturer as far as quality goes. Body details aren't too shabby either. I suspect that the same holds true for their H0 models. I wonder what Athearn uses for DCC decoders. In any case if they "blow their brains out" on regular basis than I suspect that the problem is with the way the layout is wired. Usually voltage spikes and shorts cause this type of issues. I know, you'll probably going to say that other brand of decoders doesn't have this problem. If you are afraid of the Digitrax decoders why not buy DC versions of those Kato locos you want then install whatever DCC decoder you prefer? Peteski (A) It's simply NCE for the command system so any NMRA DCC decoder will work. (B) Kato has a rep for good engines. Athearn Genesis used to use MRC decoders, they finally got smart and now use Soundtraxx Tsunami sound decoders. (C) There are lots of good mail order businesses available. |
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