Where to solder?


Smoke

Smoke

Southern Railway lives on
I have a DH165A0 that I am installing in a Atlas 8-40C. I know where to hook up the track wires the original headlights and the motor leads. I have two LED's that I have installed in some ditchlights, meaning I have four wires. where am I supposed to solder the wires? The LED's are 3.3 volts and I don't want to have to use a resistor. Here is a decoder diagram.

http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/DH165A0.pdf

Thanks,
Andrew
 
Smoke, according to the diagram, you can use the solder pads F1 through F4 for additional lighting. It apears that only the front and rear headlights (F0F and F0R) are voltage controlled so you wouldn't need resistors for LED head lights. You can use any two of the available solder pads to control the ditch lights but you'll also have to add an in-line resistor for each ditch light. If you have ditch lights front and rear, you'd need to use all four solder pads. I don't see any way around using resistors unless you change out the LED bulbs in the ditch lights for 8-14 volt mini-incandescent bulbs.
 
Are there any empty spare pads on the back of the board? My NCE decoders have pads on the back for common 0803 SMD resistors - there is a short trace in the center you can cut, then you install whatever resistor you need. One on each output.

They don't detail it in the manual, I found out on my own.

Mark
 
Smoke, I'm like you, don't want to hang a bunch of resistors off a decoder, but I got 3 of those 165a0's myself and went through the same hassle.
Now it looks like a octopus because of the resistors hanging off it.
You should see the 2 163k0's I got, they have outputs for 4 extra functions, and I didn't know they were crap till after installing all the lights and went to wire everything up. Now, I'm gonna go back and get a couple of TCS A6X's when I get a chance and trash those. At least you know my opinion of those brand name decoders now.:cool:
 
Couldn't one use SMD resisters soldered to the pads, that would reduce the tangle, albeit with some headaches soldering.
 
Yoc said:
Couldn't one use SMD resisters soldered to the pads, that would reduce the tangle, albeit with some headaches soldering.
Click to expand...

That's what I said. :)

Need a photo of the backside of the board. Or if no pads exist, glue the SMDs to the back and loop wire over to them.

Mark
 
Could I hook up the ditchlight to the lighting ADJ option, laeving the ">" intact?

There are no pads on the bottom. The only place I could solder something would be on the right side of the decoder where the 10 holes are.
 
Looking at the pic on digitrax's website, looks like those 4 are plenty large enough for an SMD.
 
Smoke, if I understand what your asking, you can hook up the ditchlights to the standard F0F and F0R solder points. What you'd lose would be the ability to do special effects, like alternating flashing and having them come on with the horn. Other than that, there's no reason it wont work. Of course, now you need to use those solder pads for your headlights.
 
Yoc said:
Doh! I skipped right over your post, that should teach me to read before replying. :)
Click to expand...

LOL! No prob Andy. :)

Andy's right, there's space on that board even on the top. Assuming maybe 1/8" of clearance on the top it is doable - just solder one end to the pad and a wire to the other.

Smoke, if you don't have the SMD resistors available to you I can mail you a few of each of the values you need. Or mail me the decoder and I'll solder 'em up with wires attached if you like. I'd be happy to help if I can.

Mark
 
Is a SMD resistor different than a resistor from say Radio Shack? What is a SMD resistor anyway?

Thanks,
Smoke
 
You know, I think the bigger issue here is, they advertise "no resistors needed" for this decoder, but neglect to say its only for the front and rear headlights, not for the extra functions. And then the instructions for the "name brand" decoder is in 2 parts. Why not make it easier on everyone, and be like the other manufacturers, and just give a set of instructions for that decoder? Instead they give a generic set of instructions for an install, some instructions that are written for that decoder (which are almost impossible to understand), and then if the decoder has the "fx3" options, another set of instructions for the lighting circuits. I've got 27 yrs of electronics work (including BE&E schooling from the NAVY and a diploma in Electronics Tech from a Tech School), and find their instructions hard to understand.
I know, I'm bringing down the wrath of all the die hard digitrax fans for this, but can you honestly say their decoders have become easier to install? Seriously, look at all the manuals you have to read just to install 1 decoder. 3 different ones. When I bought the 163k0's, I sent an email to their tech support asking about setting up the 4 extra functions for ditch lights for forward and rear lights, and the response I got back was for 5 different cv commands, and some recommendations for resistor sizes required for all 4 lights.
What cv's do I program, and with what numerals (not HEX), to setup 2 sets of ditch lights for forward and reverse? I want to leave FOF for forward lights and FOR for reverse lights, but I want to use the remaining functions for forward and reverse ditch lights, or atleast get the forward ones functioning correctly, as to stay on constant when F0 is active, but to flash when F2 is depressed on the keypad.[Techsupport] Using f1 and f2 pads for front - CV51=106, CV52=107, CV63=64; f3 and f4 for rear, CV113=122, CV114=123.

3) my dcc system outputs 13.5 volts for track power, is this going to cause any problems for the decoder? And to use the Athearn 1.5v bulbs, I'm guessing I need to use 866 ohm resistors or higher, is this correct?[Techsupport] That voltage is within DCC standards. I would start with a 470 or so ohm 1/4 watt resistor.

I would normally try and do this myself, but the instructions listed on the site for this decoder, isnt real clear for the cv settings for the light effects.
Would I program cv51 @ 106 for right ditch light, and cv52 @ 107 for left ditch light, and cv62 @ 196 for high keep alive, and cv 63 @ 64 for the 5 second delay? If those are correct, then what would I put in cv63 to make it flash for longer holdover after releasing F2 on the keypad?[Techsupport] Something above 64.
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd put this in here, so you can see what they suggest the cv's to be for the ditch lights. And, those are standard cv settings for all the Fx3 decoders.
But, I have decided upon no more decoders from "that" company. I'll continue to use reliable, easy to understand ones from Lenz, NCE, TCS, and MRC.:cool:
 
SMD is surface mount device. They are tiny, REAL tiny, and you have the ability to solder the complete resister to the pad, and not take up a bunch of room or create a tangles mess with regular resisters. I'm not really sure if Rad Shack sells them or not, I usually buy resisters in bulk from on-line.
 
This is the front of a NCE D13SR decoder:

d13sr_front.png


The little black components in the middle (like 472 or 473) are #0803 SMD resistors. As you can see they're friggin small!


Now this is the back:

d13sr_back.png


There are two sets of pads labelled FRONT and REAR - these pads are inline of the last output stage of the FL and FR outs. The normal state of these is with the little trace connecting them together in the center (shorted), but if you cut that you can solder in the resistor in its place to drop the output - it's just like putting the resistor inline. (On the D13SR it only has those two sets, but on the D13SRJ I got recently it has more of them for the other outputs.)

Check the back of your decoder for something similar to this. Even if not, the resistor can still be glued in place and small trace wires run to it.

Mark
 
hey guys, I stopped by Radio shack and picked up some 1000 ohm resistors. I will install them and take a pic for you guys.

-Smoke
 
So where do I solder the positive and negative? Hook up postive to F1+ and the negative to F1?

I am obviuosly new to this. Thanks for the help.

-Andrew
 
Allright let's try this. Hook up the positive to function one and the negative to the blue. Then hook up the other postitive to funtion two and the negative again to the blue. Correct?? Here is where I got the info. http://www.digitrax.com/kb/index.php?a=149

Looking at that diagram I should hook up the negatives on the headlights to the blue as well? I hooked my headlights to the F0F+ and the F0F, and the F0R+ and the F0R. Should I change this?

Thanks again,
Andrew
 
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