Bulleidboy Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I've posted this on another Forum, but thought it would be useful to members on here. In Mays Hornby Magazine (out today) there is a DCC Handbook - one article was headed Gadget Guide. One particular gadget caught my eye, the ESU Decoder Tester (www.esu.eu), this looks a bit like a circuit board, but has sockets for 6-pin, 8-pin, 21-pin and Plux 22 decoders, along with a speaker, LED's to check directional lighting and a motor with flywheel for checking motor output. You can also check the status of a decoder before fitting it to your loco. I've read many times about people having trouble with a decoder, this looks the ideal piece of kit for the toolbox. It cost £34, which when you compare it to the price of decoders, I think is fairly reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Hi bulleidboy, I saw that also, it look good. The DCC Handbook with the May Hornby mag. really is crammed with good information. Useful and reference material, all excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I'll be getting my copy tomorrow but this sounds like a fantastic piece of kit if it does what it says on the tin according you guys. At the price of £34 it seems like a bit of a snip... anyone we know who makes it? Or is it a small independant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 AugustusCaesar said: I'll be getting my copy tomorrow but this sounds like a fantastic piece of kit if it does what it says on the tin according you guys. At the price of £34 it seems like a bit of a snip... anyone we know who makes it? Or is it a small independant? ESU DCC Decoder tester by esu.eu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Catalogue number 51900 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 If you want all the info on this, look at https://www.esu.eu/en/products/decoder-tester/ where you can see what has already been said and it has a link to the manual if you still want more info. A number of suppliers have it with prices all over the place from that above to over £50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Back to normal I see... missed the maker of this product in the original post! Lesson learned... again! Plus, I failed to get my mag yesterday so will go get it today. Ah life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 bulleidboy said: ... the ESU Decoder Tester ... I have had one since Christmas and it is very useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I have one of those Maplin electronic bread-boards and its a doddle to set up as a decoder tester. Same idea as the commercial one, Leds to simulate lights and other functions and a small motor (preferably with a flywheel) as a load. I made up a quick change mount for the decoder plug from vero-board and some of Maplin 1mm pitch sockets. As suggested a speaker is necessary if testing a sound decoder or use the one it comes with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 RAF96... would you care to elaborate on how you made that step by step or upload your info on how to make one of those? It will go down well with others if you can. As for myself I would like to have a go at building one of these units but need a little tech help along the way. What do you say? Better still... point me in the direction of somewhere I can utilise likea a site for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I am interested also. PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hi guys I have one of these an AD-12 which is the larger board in the link http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/ad-11-solderless-breadboard-bz14q and a load of these jumper wires http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/flexible-jumper-wire-50mm-flex75mm-overall-length-fs66w I rig the board +/- power connections to the DCC controller track and/or prog connections (using a DPDT switch if you want to be able to toggle between the two). Then I made up a DCC decoder socket using a bit of vero-board and some of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/modular-connector-32-socket-strip-dc17t just snap off two bits x 4 sockets long and solder to the veroboard so you can fit an 8 pin decoder plug. I made these up to convert my non DCC-ready locos when I was testing some decoders and had to easily be able to swap them out for the next one on test. Now you link the vero-board socket to the breadboard and then in turn, as applicable, to the track/prog connections, a motor load (I use a motor gearbox unit I bought for a turntable), some LEDs to simulate loco lights and other functions (don't forget to link in some resistors to safeguard the LEDs). Many decoders won't work unless there is a motor load attached. If using a Sapphire or similar decoder you can set up special lighting effects CVs like strobe, flashing or flicker. If using a sound decoder you can either link in the speaker to the breadboard or have it connected direct to the decoder. If using a 21 pin decoder then you can similarly link in a suitable socket. I don't have a picture of the breadboard rigged up for decoder testing to hand, but I will set it up in the next day or so and post a picture to RM-Web then a link to there on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idlemarvel Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 RAF96 said: Many decoders won't work unless there is a motor load attached. Looking forward to the pictures. Ref your comment above, AFAIK decoders work without a load (like when you use them in dummy power cars to set directional lights) but you may not be able to read or write CVs without a load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Really all this tester consists of is a loco without wheels, all function outputs used with lights so you can see what state they are in, the loco is DCC ready so has a socket, and the body is off so you can see what is going on. Think of it like that and the circuit is simple, just like loco wiring is simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 idlemarvel said: RAF96 said: Many decoders won't work unless there is a motor load attached. Looking forward to the pictures. Ref your comment above, AFAIK decoders work without a load (like when you use them in dummy power cars to set directional lights) but you may not be able to read or write CVs without a load. As promised a couple of pictures: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/59880-img-0470a/ - showing the decoder socket http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/59881-img-0472a/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idlemarvel Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thanks for posting the pictures, it has inspired me to have a go at something similar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog RJ Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 idlemarvel said: Thanks for posting the pictures, it has inspired me to have a go at something similar! Should be fairly easy to knock something up on veroboard I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I feel a bit knocked up nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 The mind boggles Graskie. Having it happen on veroboard wouldn't be the most comfortable either. Apologies, shouldn't say things like that on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbird Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 The decoder tester is not new, I purchased one 2 years ago! cost £21.I incorporated it with the decoder programmer tool, (less than the price of a sound decoder), allows modification and updating of sound decoders. Both Hornby & B*mann used ESU sound decoders so both are useful tools. Check out the ESU web site, which has lots of loco sound files available to download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Caesar Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 RAF96... Thanks a lot for tbe info re your test rig and photos which make your explanation simpler to follow. While I have a Maplin store or two local to me I will look around for similar products from the likes of RS Components etc. They'll be cheaper and as I order ffom them with business account it wll be simpler. I thank you for your time and effort putting that together and it seems at least two or three of us will be experimenting! Only trouble is that if the lights go down in the North East I'm running away! Are you leaving those images in place? More to the point would you mind if I downloaded them for my own use and nothing more? Graskie... what's all the fuss about feeling knocked up? You been scrapping in the yard again? Or are the bones just weary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 [reply]AugustusCaesar said: RAF96... Thanks a lot for tbe info re your test rig and photos which make your explanation simpler to follow. ... Are you leaving those images in place? More to the point would you mind if I downloaded them for my own use and nothing more? reply] No problem on a download AC - images will be there forever as RM-web has no limits either on space or time. To aid your search it is an Advanced Solderless Breadboard made by K and H Products. They come in many sizes. Just be aware that not to follow the pictured connections slavishly as I got a couple of the resistors with both ends linked on the same row so 2 Leds didn't light up for long before burning out. Just wire up as if it was the real thing in a loco. I wrote up what I call a wiring list with the Alpha-Numeric of each junction, then totally ignored it for the demo. You can obviously improve on the decoder socket to make it more pluggable onto the breadboard. Unfortunately an 8 pin DIL socket fits the board but not a decoder plug, hence the veroboard cobble up. Once you have proven concept then as Rog(RJ) stated earlier you could make the whole thing smaller, neater on veroboard. No one has spotted my 4A PSU switch yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I have so many mechanical parts, Fishy, that I probably would be worth more to the scrapyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Not guilty your honour, AC said it. If it'd been me, you'd've been scrapping on the heap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graskie Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Sorry, AC, for giving the incorrect attribute. And thanks for all your fish, Fishy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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