# best decoder for athearn bb conversion



## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

i have a fleet of 7 or 8 older athearn dc engines. i just scored an mrc prodigy express system for 78$ off ebay and need to convert these engines. im not afraid of hard wiring i just don't know much about decoders.
what would you guys suggest?..


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

Unless you plan on adding more functions a simple one will do. I stick to digitrax, so dh123 is for me. I hardwire everything so I use the cheapest D model (dh123S). But they have the AT specifically for athearns, comes with prewired clips. Or you can go for NCE, cheaper but no BEMF. I would stay away from MRC decoders.


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

thanks for the info. ill be getting a couple of these for the lower end locos in my roster... 
ill be getting a couple sdh164d and sdn144ps sound decoders for my better runners.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

Are these digitrax soundbug ones? If so I suggest you hear them before you spend money. They sound more like noise then engine to me .will get annoying quick. IMHO for sound either QSI or Tsunami are a good (but expencive ) choice.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

If it's an older BB, the big deal is to make sure your decoder is rated for at least one amp of draw. I understand that the later skew-wound motors with the brass flywheels didn't draw as much.


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

no the one im looking at is an all in one unit. not the sound bug. i've read good feedback on them so far. although i will be replacing the speaker with a better one..
most of my athearns have brass flywheels. ill be making flywheels for the 2 that dont. 
and they are all skew wound..


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## dozer (Jan 2, 2010)

All my Athearn BB were converted using the Digitrax DH123 decoder. Very small and is very smooth and consitant. Not to mention a fantastic price.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

nsr_civic said:


> no the one im looking at is an all in one unit. not the sound bug. i've read good feedback on them so far. although i will be replacing the speaker with a better one...


read a bit on them. these are soundFX decocders with 8bit processing. from what i read its pretty much just soundbug hardware that is integrated on board. youtube vid of the DN sounds quite lame and digital if you ask me. perhaps different speaker will help, but only somewhat. of course its only 40$-50 including everything but IMHO not worth it. its not sound but rather headache inducing noise.
just my 2 cents however.


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

i find even semi realistic sound at an affordable price to be better then the sound of electric motors and grinding gears..


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