Model Railroading > DASR for Athearn RTR?

I'm starting a project converting newer Athearn RTR SD40-2's and soon to be doing SD60's to use the NCE DASR decoder. I'm average to moderate on experience with DCC and am wondering how everyone in the past has mounted this decoder to there existing RTR units? I'm basically doing this to give a little more "headroom" that is limited to none by going through the existing board and 9 pin plug. Switching out motors is out of the question now and I'm satisfied with the current motors. Thanks in advance!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/12 19:23 by riss2509.

riss2509 Wrote:
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> I'm starting a project converting newer Athearn
> RTR SD40-2's and soon to be doing SD60's to use
> the NCE DASR decoder. I'm average to moderate on
> experience with DCC and am wondering how everyone
> in the past has mounted this decoder to there
> existing RTR units? I'm basically doing this to
> give a little more "headroom" that is limited to
> none by going through the existing board and 9 pin
> plug. Switching out motors is out of the question
> now and I'm satisfied with the current motors.
> Thanks in advance!

Since the top motor clip is riveted to the Athearn circuit board, drill out the rivet and re-install the clip. It holds the top motor brush in so don't throw it away. You can solder a short lead from the top motor clip to the decoder. I'd mount the decoder on top of the motor with double-sided foam tape. Use the 3M exterior foam tape, it's much stronger. Wrap the decoder in electrical tape first so if the decoder goes bad, you can remove it without too much hassle. The DASR has built-in resistors for LED's, so throw away the crappy Athearn bulbs. Use details West replacement lenses in the Athearn openings. Put the LED at the back of the lens and seal everything against light leakage. There's a good series of articles in Model Railroad Hobbiest about DCC basics. http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/