Enter the digital world
it means colliding immediately with the fateful question
which control unit to choose
and which decoder to choose
today we are looking for
to understand
which decoder can do for us
For our misfortune
or for our luck
There are so many Decoders
of various brands
and of various types
What are they?
the main aspects to consider
when should I buy a decoder?
Even more if it is our first decoder
A heartfelt advice
to try to have
in its own decoder park
a number of decoder families
equal to 1
that is
have all decoders of the same family
that does not mean the same brand
it means of the same family
how can it be the family of the Lokpilot v4
or the Loksound v4
why this?
Because every family
will have SPECIFIC CVs
the CVs are
those values
that allow to adjust
the various aspects of the decoder
some are standard
as the address CV
or the CV of the maximum speed and the minimum speed
but many others
they are owners of the single family
therefore the CV that will regulate
the power of an AUX 1 output
on a decoder will have a value
on another he will have another one
having to set up
Different CVs for different decoders
without the aid of programmers
it makes people crazy
because it means always having before
the manual of the relative decoder
instead have decoders of the same family
allows slowly to memorize values
that they serve
and always use those
just because the decoders will be the same
in the end it can also be taken into consideration
to buy
the programmer of that family
doing so will also help you
of a graphical interface
that allows you to speed up
further the programming operation
it is good to say
that the programmer
he simply writes
and read the CVs
so officially
the ESU programmer
can read the CVs
both of the LENZ
both of the Zimo
that of the Uhlenbrock
but it will not be able to program them with the graphical interface
it means that simply
the program will read the CVs
he will put a list in front of us
It will be up to us to modify those that interest us
CVs instead of ESU decoders
the program will interpret them
and will put them in the relevant engine section
aux and programming
where from there with simple cursors
we could adjust our values
Good advice when choosing the first decoder
it is to evaluate
the place where you want to buy the decoders
in the sense that
if you own a trust store
or at least a store in your city / town
it may be useful to go
physically in the shop
and understand which decoders sells
the reason for this operation is very simple
when there should be a problem with the decoder
purchased in this shop
we could go there
and solve this problem
if we were on the other hand
have problems with a decoder
purchased on the internet
the return procedure
or warranty is more cumbersome
Despite this premise
I'm the first one
to buy decoder on the internet
because they cost less
for example
the same decoder here in Italy
it can be sold for 32/33 €
on a European modeling site
it is sold for € 29
3/4 € difference
if you already buy 2 decoders
of this model
it allows me to repay me completely
shipping costs
so on the European site
I buy 2 decoders with shipping costs
at the same figure in Italy
I buy only the decoders
and shipping costs separately
Aspects to consider
to choose the decoder
if you are a beginner
and then you can run into
those little problems
that inevitably
at the beginning there will be
it is good to choose a decoder
that has more possible protections
short circuits on the track
they can always happen
with a train derailing and the metallic wheels that touch
short circuits
in the model
they can happen if the model is made of metal
and no careful isolation has been done
have a decoder that maybe costs a little more
but that has all these protections
allows you to have no unpleasant surprises
which burnt decoder
or at best
a block or an error
reported by the control unit
or from the model itself that does not move
and that therefore it will take time to understand where the problem is
I had a Lima
toy, the Hobby Line
where I had a Lokpilot v4 Decoder
and I had not taken off
from the G engine
the condenser
in parallel to the two poles
I did not think it was to be removed
I mounted the Decoder and the model worked
I realized however
that the engine contacts were very hot
so much so that once touching them
I burned myself
I tried to understand what the problem was
and the problem was that condenser
absorbing a lot of current
to load
he made the Decoder think
that the model was making a huge effort
the decoder then
having Load Control
gave as much current as possible
to make up for this "effort"
the result: everything overheated
removed the condenser
everything worked, exactly as before
but it did not heat up anymore
This feature of load control
it is present in almost all the most beautiful decoders
or even medium-high range
and it allows to avoid that unpleasant effect
that you had in analog
when with the same level of regulation
a locomotive alone
or with cars, he went at different speeds
the engine always received the same current
but depending on the effort
he had a different number of laps
in digital
Decoders with Load Control
make up for this effort
giving more or less current
another important question
which perhaps was put before
is: which protocol will you want to use?
in the world 2 rails
the main protocol is the DCC
however, the DCC is a basic protocol
there are a series of "Modules"
to expand it
there are DCC decoders only
or multi protocol decoder
if the price difference is not high
I recommend the multi protocol
because the most beautiful plants
being all multi protocol
if for any reason
the dcc part breaks down
the model will continue to work
with the Motorola protocol for example
this can be useful
as a last chance
the moment you are going to a fair
for any reason
a software update went wrong
or for any problem
the DCC does not work
if all the decoders are multi protocol
and the control unit, for example, supports Motorola
for that fair day everything will be fine
then returned home the problem will be fixed
For example, on costs
always of the Lokpilot ESU
on the European site
the Lokpilot DCC
it cost € 29.95
the Lokpilot Multi protocol
it cost € 32
The Lokpilot Multi protocol MFX
which therefore is a further evolution and should cost more
it actually cost € 29.95
as much as the DCC
there with your eyes closed you take the multi protocol MFX
from more things
at the same price as a single DCC
we must also consider
all the modules that the decoder will have to manage
that they are very simple aux
therefore we need to consider the load of each individual aux
because there are decoders they have
maximum loads of 100mA
and others for as little as 250mA
even the digital hooks
what can be the Krois, the Roco or the Telex
they absorb a lot of current
use them on a decoder that alone 100mA
you risk overheating the system
you have to use decoders that give a lot of power
always about the modules
you must if necessary
or if the locomotive needs it
decoders that have or not
the SUSI interface
for example, the Lokpilot
only the M4 has the SUSI
which is known as Multi MFX protocol
for example, the Uhlenbrock
they have many more
in the Zimo perhaps only the most beautiful
we must therefore consider
all this series of factors
to understand which decoder to choose
at the level of quality
the main brands
more or less they are similar
the Zimo have for example
some characteristics related to the control
through the most advanced plant,
because they were born before
ESUs have, for example
protection against short circuit of the motor
that the Zimo have not,
one could say that this protection does not make sense,
but on metallic models
it's better to put it!
because it takes very little to make a short circuit!
A note should also be dedicated to the various AUXs
because some simpler effects
can be managed by all decoders
for example the lights
while effects such as flashing lights can be
of a rescue or construction site
Only the most beautiful ones have it
on one it should insert a LED in a flashing light
the most basic Decoder
they would only have the effect of
or fixed or intermittent light
the most advanced decoders
they also have small programs
that allow you to choose
the intensity of the flashing
and also to allow you to have
an effect of increasing light and diminishing light
and not only: on, off, on, off
this must be considered
if one wanted
and has the capabilities
above all he has the equipment
to work with very small components
on the DCCWORLD.COM website
the guides are present
to build decoders in the home
decoder for locomotives
both only functions
this thing is comfortable
because a decoder built at home
it has a much lower price
and if one wanted
equip a night train
with a function decoder
for each wagon
where maybe there are 4/5 cars
if one were to resort to the function decoders
of the various companies
maybe he gets to spend 10/20 €
with decoder
so it means for 4 cars
or 40 or 80 € of decoder
build them at home
it means having a final expense
maybe you only 10 €
for 4 wagons
it must be considered
the problem with these homemade decoders
is that if you do not have the equipment to work with SMD components
you risk having excessive dimensions
of the whole system
in a wagon you can run wires
and put the components a bit 'here and a little' there
in a locomotive where space is restricted
you can not always use the home solution
In a decoder use on very large systems
It can be comfortable
have the decoder inside
all those expansion modules
of the DCC protocol
the braking modules
or RailCom modules
braking modules are sometimes almost essential to have them
because if you use the brake modules on the model
and the decoder can not handle this signal
maybe it will pass on this form
it will exceed the red signal
and maybe it will go or crash into another train
or to occupy
a part of the track
that would be dedicated to the passage of another convoy
Railcom modules, for example
allow the bidirectional protocol
allow you to have over the actual position of the train
also a series of data
feedback
which engine loads, active functions
temperature of the components
the most advanced ones also have these data
above all allow
in those trains that have to circulate for several hours
in exhibitions or in the great plastic models
like the one in Hamburg
if I'm not mistaken
that have to circulate in these models for several hours
to have data
that the technical staff can interpret
and say "ok this locomotive can keep turning"
or it is better to stop it for maintenance
in the home environment
all these modules
they may not serve
but if you were part of it
of a consortium
or at least a group of modellers
and you wanted to use your own locomotive
on the model of the group
it is good to know before
to understand what all these modules are
that the decoder must have
in order to be used
on the model modeling model
further arguments on the protocols
and on SUSI
which I think deserve, will be treated in another video
because I do not want this to go too far
I did not want to express too many personal opinions
to avoid advertising
but who follows me, he already knows very well
what brands do I use
I own that programmer
and I use all the decoders of that brand
I always felt good
they always provided everything I needed
and allow to have
a large number of features
and of functions with the various AUXs
that I use in my projects
A small note can be dedicated
to sound decoders
where it is not always easy
loyalty to a single partner
for the simple reason that
sound projects are not always
available for decoders of that brand
I hope that
the information I gave away was useful
I greet you at this point
and thanks, see you at a next video
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