What decoders to buy and ease of installation?

Mornin' Ya'll,

I was wondering what the general concensus was on decoders? Ease and time for installation? Brands? Approx. Cost? What does anyone know about the TCS T1 Decoder? Are the plug and play type better than the ones that have to be wired?

thanks for any insite to this process,
 

Alan B

New Member
Bob,

I like the Lenz LE1014. They come in three versions, wires, JST plug and NMRA plug. The NMRA plug version has the extra wire hanging loose for the fourth output. They are cheap, discounters will sell five packs for about $80. Individual decoders discounted run from $16-$20. The warranty is great. That is very nice for those of us doing our own installations. The downside is they don't make a drop in for the Atlas or P2K circuit board installation. They do plug in to the NMRA plug though.

HTH
Alan
 

jdscales040

New Member
There is almost as many different decoders out there as locomotives. I use NCE decoders in a lot of installations. Thet feature quiet running and are available as plug and play or hard wire. NCE has specific decoders to fit the Atlas S1, 2,3 and 4. Also have one to fit into the PK2 SW series. You can get them in four packs too.
You can check out the various decoders at Tony's Train eXchange at www.dcctrains.com
Tony has comparision charts on the different decoders.
John D.
 
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