Hi all! I'm new to the board and just getting back into model railroading after a 20 year hiatus! Boy, have things changed! I just purchased a new Spectrum EMD SD-45 from a gentleman on e-bay. The part number on the box says it is #82708. According to the literature it was produced in 2003 and is "DCC Ready". I understand this to mean that it will easily accept an NMRA standard decoder. However, when I removed the shell, I see the PC board, but no 8-pin plug like I was expecting... I would like to put a Tsunami AT1000 sound card in this fella... Is that possible? Is the PC board an installed decoder, by any chance? Thanks for any help you can give a newbie, oldie!
The PC Board id not a decoder, but the loco is isolated, so you can hard wire most any HO decoder in this loco.
Thanks for the quick reply. I am going to download the installation manual from the Tsunami site and see if I can make sense out of it. Should be a fun project...
Curiosly, as I look at the PC Board, I notice there seems to be a spot for a resistor (r3) that is missing it's resistor... Seems to run great, though!
I was thinking of a capacitor or condenser...which eliminates interference. The resistor does not, sorry for the mix-up.
I have the Spectrum 44 ton and 70 ton but removed the PC boards and did a hard wire install for sound decoders. The PC boards were ready for a motor/light decoder using the connections on the factory PC board. Those style decoders are much smaller than a sound decoder.
Probably have to remove the PC board and install the AT1000 decoder board. I have not seen the inside of this style loco.
If you get chance, take pictures of the project and post them here.
I use the AT1000 decoders. I use LED's so had to add resistors.
Rich
if its dcc ready look and see if there is a little rectangle board with soldier on it...if so pull it out and thats where the decoder plugs in ... if not it would have to be hard wired