MER Clinic: DCC Installs

This clinic is for anyone who has a desire to learn to install his/her own DCC decoders or is just curious about how it is done. The attendee will learn to identify locomotives that can be "decoded" and learn how to decode those locomotives. Rediscover the basic electronics associated with today s engines. The presentation will discuss the difference between open-frame, can, and coreless motors, three pole and five pole, machine wound, and skew or hand wound and why this is important to DCC. Also, a discussion of today s basic rail pick-up designs. We will review physical body types like split frame, body common, and insulated frames, steam and diesel differences, and a survey of the typical design philosophy for common manufacturers. In understanding the DCC environment a basic box diagram of the system and a very elementary primer on DCC theory and practice will also be presented. We will create an overview and bullet-by-bullet process for installs. And finally, we will review all these concepts. There will be a show-and-tell of various decoded engines, a discussion of lessons learned, a review of concepts missed and best of all, a question and answer period.

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