has anyone heard of seen own know where to get digital couplers. i am wondering where to get them and what they would cost because i am definately gonna try to put them in my locos but i am thinking about putting them in all my cars. if anyone has pics of what the units look like when installed or a link to a video about them please post it. thanks
looking for digital couplers
- Thread starter Lab Rat
- Start date
Ther's no such thing as a digital coupler, if you mean ones that can be controlled by DCC. MTH has a big, ugly coupler on their new SD70Ace that can be open and closed by remote control but there is no rolling stock that has the same thing. A digital coupler, while possible, presents a number of mechanical and electrical problems that aren't easy to solve if you want to keep a couple anywhere near scale in size. Cost would also be a huge issue. With just plain mechanical Kadee couplers costing about $3 per car, a digital coupler would have to be at least five times that price. Multiply that by the number of cars on an average layout and someone's going to have to win the lottery. 
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Right now the only "digital" couplers are from mth, but I think BLI may have them available now, or soon.
Problems with mth.
mth's digital couplers are over sized and ONLY come on their locos. They are not sold separately. With the BLI ones I'm not sure if they will be available separately or not.
I've heard in discussions here, that the couplers don't always work as advertised. They are also including a standard coupler with their locos if you want to change them out.
Problems with mth.
mth's digital couplers are over sized and ONLY come on their locos. They are not sold separately. With the BLI ones I'm not sure if they will be available separately or not.
I've heard in discussions here, that the couplers don't always work as advertised. They are also including a standard coupler with their locos if you want to change them out.
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Jim;
Ya beat me again!
Ya beat me again!
For DCC operated uncoupling Check out system Five-o
I have one of their single end cars and they work great.
http://www.dccuncoupling.com/
I have one of their single end cars and they work great.
http://www.dccuncoupling.com/
I think Tony's Train Exchange was offering four axle switchers with this conversion way back before MTH. At least there will be no lawsuit
Check their website and see if they still offer this. It will probably cost you a bit. I also remember seeing this done with memory wire in MR or RMC sometime back in a "how to" article
Check their website and see if they still offer this. It will probably cost you a bit. I also remember seeing this done with memory wire in MR or RMC sometime back in a "how to" article
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flyboy2610
Loveably weird
That would be a neat thing to have, but not at $70 a car!
I like how 19 year olds think everything is easy with some relays and maybe some string. Jamie, there's a reason why DCC uncoupling is going to be expensive. You need a decoder in every car, and this doesn't include the relays and string. You also have a little problem assigning and remembering the unique address of every car on your layout, assuming you had the $25-$30 for each car for a home built job. Any idea how long it might take to convert 100 cars? Got a way to mount a decoder on a flat car? Why not build a prototype and let us know how much it costs in parts and labor? I think you'll find out why DCC uncoupling is not generally available.
Jamie, there's a reason why DCC uncoupling is going to be expensive. You need a decoder in every car, and this doesn't include the relays and string. You also have a little problem assigning and remembering the unique address of every car on your layout, assuming you had the $25-$30 for each car for a home built job. Any idea how long it might take to convert 100 cars? Got a way to mount a decoder on a flat car? Why not build a prototype and let us know how much it costs in parts and labor? I think you'll find out why DCC uncoupling is not generally available.just cause i am 19 doesnt mean i am totally stupid i did try to figure out how a flat car was onna work but that didnt pan out and i currently do not have a digital system. so i couldnt even begin to start plus i am lacking a few required tools for the hobby (styrene) and as far as hacking into a decoder it might take some time but i would get it eventually i think i will just stick to magnets under the track lol and a massive quantity of kadee couplers.
however i will definately try to put it in my locos
Hi Jamie, if digital uncoupling by the decoder was feasible it would have already been on the market. Lets face it the demand would be horrific and mfgs. would be hard pressed to fill the orders, in other words a Bonanza for the developer.
What you are suggesting a decoder in the loco being able to uncouple from a car. In order to do this the car would have to have a two function decoder to open it's coupler at the same time without opening the opposite end coupler. So a fact to be considered is the amount of addressing for each of the locos and the cars would be astronomical. A new coupler would have to be designed and you can bet that it would be astronomically expensive, and I doubt the average modeler would be able to afford it.
There is another matter I take issue with so I have sent you a Private Message, please read it.
Cheers
Willis
What you are suggesting a decoder in the loco being able to uncouple from a car. In order to do this the car would have to have a two function decoder to open it's coupler at the same time without opening the opposite end coupler. So a fact to be considered is the amount of addressing for each of the locos and the cars would be astronomical. A new coupler would have to be designed and you can bet that it would be astronomically expensive, and I doubt the average modeler would be able to afford it.
There is another matter I take issue with so I have sent you a Private Message, please read it.
Cheers
Willis
Littlefoot14
Active Member
Well like others with much more experience than I have already stated, there are no digital uncouplers. Theres a thread here in which a member purchased an MTH locomotive with the couplers your talking about, do a forum search and you should find it.
Another option you may want to use is just a manual tool. Something like this
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page241.htm
Cheap, from a great company, and it gets the job done in a practical and realistic way.
Im only 14, so im hoping that sometime when i start building a decent layout the technology will be available for DCC controlled couplers, but realistically, i dont see that catching on for a while.
Another option you may want to use is just a manual tool. Something like this
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page241.htm
Cheap, from a great company, and it gets the job done in a practical and realistic way.
Im only 14, so im hoping that sometime when i start building a decent layout the technology will be available for DCC controlled couplers, but realistically, i dont see that catching on for a while.
Jamie, I did not mean to imply you were stupid. You are obviously not. What you are is overconfident, which isn't a bad trait in a 19 year old, since you'll learn soon enough how many big ideas are a lot harder than they seem. However, it's much better to have some equipment, tools, and experience, so you can talk competently about an issue, than just assume it's something that all of us old geezers have never thought up yet. OTOH, you may come up with something that has never been thought of, so I encourage you to keep looking into the idea once you have the ability and funds to build and test a prototype. Fortunes have been made from ideas that others said couldn't be done...and some fortunes have been lost when it turns out it couldn't be done.
here is some history and info about me. i graduated high school just last school year. while i was in high school i was participating in the robotics program at the votech center. i have earned the job title Electro-Mechanical Technician. i have a machine shop at my mercy. but all my machine are three phase except for the lathe. i am planning on buying micro-mark equipment. i have a huge collection of electronic components almost all sorted. Since no one else has come up with a cheap alturnative to digital couplers it wil me my goal to make them cheap and compact. if i can build them and market them i will be able to afford the layout i want.
Jamie, I did not mean to imply you were stupid. You are obviously not. What you are is overconfident, which isn't a bad trait in a 19 year old, since you'll learn soon enough how many big ideas are a lot harder than they seem. However, it's much better to have some equipment, tools, and experience, so you can talk competently about an issue, than just assume it's something that all of us old geezers have never thought up yet. OTOH, you may come up with something that has never been thought of, so I encourage you to keep looking into the idea once you have the ability and funds to build and test a prototype. Fortunes have been made from ideas that others said couldn't be done...and some fortunes have been lost when it turns out it couldn't be done.
tomustang
I'm Blunt..
The best way you can make a flat car work is to add a load to it and put your components inside the load so it's not visible, The load size will depend on how small your device will be.
And don't worry about the age comment, it's just a number and people take it way too seriously. I myself have been a millwright before the age of 25 and without the use of a crutching union.
John P
Active Member
Maybe DCC isn't the way to go. If you use it, you have to connect track power to the interior of every car and install a decoder. On the other hand, if you had a battery-powered unit in each car, a lot of that stuff would be unnecessary. You could activate it with an infrared flasher, where the "coding" is simply based on which car you point the unit at. I'd call it acceptable to do this rather than enter a code into the DCC system--once the need to reach into the scene has gone, I'd do it either by pointing or by entering a code. Pointing might be better, because you can say "That car" rather than having to look at its number (teenagers might say, what's wrong with looking at the number, but you'll find out what's wrong one day, you young whippersnapper).
Littlefoot14
Active Member
From the limited knowledge of a 14 yr old, i have to point out a few "flaws" in the idea.
1.) Wouldnt each car need its own address? Im just thinking that you would run out of adress space on the DCC system fairly quickly, or you would need multiple systems.
2.) How do you plan on concealing whatever mechanism is used to physically open the coupler? the trucks of the car would most likely be in the way i would imagine.
Some ideas for the flat car/well car concept.
Couldnt you take out the weights on the underside of the car, and have all of the equipment up in there? Like the decoder, the battery and the wires, i would imagine all of that would be sufficient weight, and if it isnt there ought to be room left over to add some.
What type of batteries do you plan on using, something like a watch battery would be best for concealment i would imagine, but something like a 9v would be easiet to wire. Maybe it would be easier to practice on a larger scale?, like O scale boxcars or something?, then downsize from there.
Like i said i am only 14, but ive taken years of AP math, sciences, social studies, and english classes, as well as taken part in multiple courses in nanotechnology and i have an electrician for a father, so i hopefully i can help alittle bit
1.) Wouldnt each car need its own address? Im just thinking that you would run out of adress space on the DCC system fairly quickly, or you would need multiple systems.
2.) How do you plan on concealing whatever mechanism is used to physically open the coupler? the trucks of the car would most likely be in the way i would imagine.
Some ideas for the flat car/well car concept.
Couldnt you take out the weights on the underside of the car, and have all of the equipment up in there? Like the decoder, the battery and the wires, i would imagine all of that would be sufficient weight, and if it isnt there ought to be room left over to add some.
What type of batteries do you plan on using, something like a watch battery would be best for concealment i would imagine, but something like a 9v would be easiet to wire. Maybe it would be easier to practice on a larger scale?, like O scale boxcars or something?, then downsize from there.
Like i said i am only 14, but ive taken years of AP math, sciences, social studies, and english classes, as well as taken part in multiple courses in nanotechnology and i have an electrician for a father, so i hopefully i can help alittle bit
