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Engine Circuit Board Form Factor
Decoders for Atlas and Kato Mechanisms
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Atlas Classic Series Alco RS-3 |
What are my Decoder Options?
Current production Atlas and Kato HO
scale engines have the standard 8-pin NMRA medium DCC
plug. However, space is sometimes very tight inside
these engines, limiting the decoders that will fit or
requiring removal of weights (see our pages showing
installations of decoders in these models). Older model
Atlas and Kato engines (which includes older model
Stewarts, as they also used a Kato mechanism) do not
have a DCC plug, which requires hard wiring a decoder,
sometimes with limited space.
Four manufacturers (Atlas, Digitrax, North Coast and Soundtraxx) make
DCC decoders shaped to replace the engine's original
circuit board (which contains the circuitry required for
lighting, and the connections between the trucks and
motor). Some of these decoder installations use the
existing clips to connect the trucks and the motor, or
those connections may be soldered for extra reliability.
Although marketed as "plug and play," almost
all installations will require some soldering to connect
lights, and the installation may take anywhere from 30
minutes to two hours (mostly depending upon the lighting
issues for a specific model engine).
Recently TCS added a decoder with this
form factor. Atlas is also offering a four function
version of their decoder. Photos and more info on these
decoders will be published in a future update.
These lighting board replacement
decoders make for a cleaner and very reliable
installation in Atlas/Kato/older Stewart engines without
a DCC plug, and may be the best option in newer engines
where space is at a premium, or where you desire sound
(using a Soundtraxx KT100LC or AT100LC decoder).
Pictured, from top to bottom:
Digitrax DH150K, Digitrax DH150A, NCE DA-SR, Atlas 340.
The Digitrax DH150K and DH150A are the same decoder,
with the "K" version modified (four wires
presoldered on) to accommodate the motor tabs and track
pickups in Kato engines (this avoids the need to solder
the pickups and motor leads - but you still have to
solder most lighting). It also comes with spacers and
screws to make installations in some specific models
(Kato GP30 and GP38) easier.
- 14/28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.5 amps,
- Five functions (each rated 200ma), FX Special
lighting effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- Includes #1-72 x1/2" screws, 0.325"
spacers, and 470 ohm 1/8w resistors
- $49.99 MSRP
- 14/28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.5 amps,
- Five functions (each rated 200ma), FX Special
lighting effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- $44.99 MSRP
- 28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.3 amps, silent running, function remapping
- Four functions (each rated 40ma with lamps,
100ma with LEDs), 14 lighting effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- $29.95 MSRP
- 14/28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.0 amps
- Two functions (each rated 200ma), lighting
effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- $29.95 MSRP
- 14/28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.0 amps
- functions (each rated ma), lighting effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- Sound available for: EMD 1st Gen, EMD 2nd Gen,
Alco, & GE (you must specify which engine
sounds you require when ordering the decoder)
- $145.00 MSRP
- 14/28/128 speed steps, extended addressing,
advanced consisting
- 1.0 amps
- functions (each rated ma), lighting effects
- OPS, Direct, Paged, Register and Bit
Manipulation programming
- Sound available for: EMD 1st Gen, EMD 2nd Gen,
Alco, & GE (you must specify which engine
sounds you require when ordering the decoder)
- $139.00 MSRP
text and photos by Richard Schumacher
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