I have a Spectrum 4-6-2 steam locomotive with DCC on board. I am adding sound and have purchased the correct decoder and speaker. When I opened the tender I found a circuit board with a 8 pin plug and what I assume is the DCC decoder. I think, according to what I've read, is a 8 pin plug on the DCC/Sound decoder I'm installing. The circuit board threw me a curve. This is my first sound installation and I'm a little confused.
The DCC on board means it has a motor/lights decoder. It should be about the size of the end of your thumb and be black. 7 wires should come out of it: red,black,orange,grey,whire,blue and yellow. Unplug this from the circuit board.There will be a plug with 8 wholes in it. This is where the sound decoder goes in. There should be a 1 or mark by the whole where pin 1 goes in. I believe the orange wire is pin 1. Check the paper work that came with the decoder to make sure. If you plug the decoder in wrong it won't work. Also the address for the new decoder is 03. This is the default all decoders are programmed to. Joe.
Just in plug the old decoder. Both connector and decoder will have a pin 1 indicator. The NMRA designed the 8 pin method because if you plug the decoder in the wrong way, the loco will run in the opposite direction you select. I have seen this before.
NEVER assume with DCC. It will bite you.
Below is a link about using the Tsunami sound decoder. No idea on which brand decoder you are using but this link will give you more knowledge about DCC. Take your time reading it and store the link in Favorites.
http://www.mrdccu.com/curriculum/soundtraxx/tsunami.htm
Rich