Decoders

[Cody J]

Which of these will work better with an Athearn CSX SD40?
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH89882     SD40
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44915.htm   Decoder with NMRA plug
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44913.htm   Decoder with Wire Harness

Thanks

[ABC]

Either will work, go for the cheaper one if you like soldering, or the more expensive 8-pin plug one if not. Be sure to pull the jumper before installing the decoder.

[Cody J]

Thanks, ABC

[Guilford Guy]

Athearn locos have a 9 pin plug, so any decoder with a 9 pin plug will work.

[Pacific Northern]

Either will work, go for the cheaper one if you like soldering, or the more expensive 8-pin plug one if not. Be sure to pull the jumper before installing the decoder.

ABC, you obviously are not familar with the Athearn brand. Best not to give advice unless you know the answer, stop quessing.

[Guilford Guy]

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/nce/nce124.htm
This is what you want. You can ignore the harness, just pull out the jumper and plug the decoder in, in its place.

[ABC]

ABC, you obviously are not familar with the Athearn brand. Best not to give advice unless you know the answer, stop quessing.

I'm not guessing, I have 4 Athearn DCC Ready locos, and mine had both an 8 pin socket and a 9 pin socket. I know because I put an MRC sound decoder with an 8-pin plug in one. 

[ABC]

Direct quotation of the instructions pertaining to DCC conversion from the Athearn website:

TO CONVERT TO DCC, UNPLUG THE DCC JUMPER BOARD, AND THEN PLUG IN A DECODER WITH EITHER A 9-PIN PLUG OR AN 8-PIN PLUG. IF THE 8-PIN CONNECTOR IS TO BE USED IT WILL HAVE TO BE SOLDERED INTO THE ADAPTOR BOARD.

ABC, you obviously are not familar [sic] with the Athearn brand. Best not to give advice unless you know the answer, stop quessing. [sic]

So, I'm guessing that now you're going to say that the Athearn site is wrong and incorrectly informing everyone.  Athearn locos have both an 8 and 9 pin socket, ergo both of the Bachmann decoders would work in addition to the 9-pin plug decoder suggested by Guilford.

Athearn locos have a 9 pin plug, so any decoder with a 9 pin plug will work.

Technically, they have a 9-pin socket not plug, the decoder has the plug.

[Jim Banner]

Simple solution - use a Digitrax decoder with a suffix P.  That means it has a cable with an 8 pin plug on the end of it.  If your locomotive has a 9 pin plug, just unplug the cable from the Digitrax decoder and plug the 9 pin locomotive plug directly into the end of the decoder.  A DH163P comes to mind. 

http://www.digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_dh163p.php

There is a link on that page to the instruction sheet page where you will notice things like BEMF control, speed tables, etc. plus a total of 6 function outputs.  The extra outputs allow you to add such goodies as ditch lights, cab light, etc.

I usually limit my comments to Bachmann products, but seeing it's you, trainsrock, I've made an exception.

Jim

Jim