I'm going to agree with much of what Dave says.
I went with sound pretty early on, and as mentioned the motor controls
weren't the best. At that point you can sell them for next to nothing
($160 original price) or use them for sound only units. I later went to
Lenz, NCE and Digitrax more modern decoders and added the Soundtrax DSX
sound only units. In this way I've enjoyed the sound for years before
the current crop of decoders.
I install a in-line plug socket/plug on one of the wires of each
decoder. Unplug one wire on decoder #1 and program #2: then do a
reverse with the plugs. Sure it takes longer but I want to get some
more life out of older units.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
On 12/10/12 9:17 AM, Dave wrote:
While I agree with Bill that a single decoder can be simpler, there
can be reasons for using two. These can include doing things that
can't be done with a specific decoder or reducing the number of wires
running between a steam locomotive and its tender.
If people didn't have reasons for two decoders the decoder lock
function would not have been suggested or implemented. Also decoders
with a SUSI interface can communicate with a second module (like a
sound module), and why go to that trouble without a reason.
A recent S scale example of a two decoder factory installation is
recent PBL steam locomotives. They have a Soundtraxx Tsunami for sound
and motor control and a separate TCS function only decoder for
additional lighting functions. Using two decoders decreases the number
of wires running between the locomotive and tender besides having
additional function outputs.
In the past, I used a two decoder setup as my standard because the
early Soundtraxx (pre-Tsunami) had poor (IMHO) motor control compared
to other decoders available at that time. So I used a Zimo decoder for
motor control and a Soundtraxx DSX for sound.
And when you get into some of the more advanced features such as
RailCom, Zimo's "HLU", Lenz's asymmetrical DCC "ABC", Digitrax's
transponding, etc. and you want sound, your decoder choices become
more limited.
Using a decoder on hand that you like certainly is a valid reason to
me. There are a lot of decoder choices out there and we all have our
different preferences.
Dave Heine
