Putting aside the issues of current draw and the unavailability of a separate upgrade kit, will the DCS system that goes into an HO scale locomotive work with a conventional AC/TIU system used for O gauge?
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Hi John,
When running HO with the TIU, you need to run DC power. The HO boards don't like straight AC power. The TIU doesn't modulate the signal like DCC does. Therefore you need to use clean DC power for it.
The HO boards can handle up to about 2amps (I'm pretty sure). And they only run one motor. Multiple motors and a smoke unit from O scale might just push it over it's limit.
But then again maybe some else figured it out.
Hope I was some help.
Thanks Ralph for the helpful comments. So if I rectify and filter the AC signal right before the HO scale DCS system, I should be OK, provided I put an additional high pass filter to allow the DCS signal to get through.
my application will be for relatively low current draw, as implied in my initial post
Hi John,
I have similar low-amp needs for a couple sections of On30 narrow gauge that I want to integrate with 3-rail AC/DCS. If you can wait a little while you have a better option in PS3E+ decoders. These have been developed for the European 3-rail AC HO Marklin market. They are the first HO DCS decoder made to run on AC. According to the MTH website the first P3E+ engines will be shipping in May. I asked about them at York and the guys think that should be pretty accurate.
Thanks Dave. I can wait for the PS3E+ decoders. I have no shortage of RR projects to keep me busy!
Dave,
Thanks for that info. I will have to put this in with my notes.
