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Compatibility issues?
Let's see.
The "SOCKET" was supposed to have been plug and play compatible to accept the same decoder as the ArisoCraft socket.
The ArisoCraft socket was designed jointly by ArisoCraft and Digitrax to accept the Digitrax DG383AR or DG583AR DCC decoders or the new ArisoCraft TE radio for either track power or battery/RC.
Plugging in either of the Digitrax decoders causes an instant "false" shutdown on most DCC systems. (Anybody know if it works with a plug and play TE)
I have asked on the Bachmann forum if this design error has fixed in the Mallet. They have to check, which means they didn't fix it or they would surly be touting the new improvement.
So, as it stands, we will have yet another PnP socket that can't be used with the very decoder that it was advertised as being plug and play with.
I went to pre-order my Mallet, I wanted to order a Digitrax decoder for it at the same time. Do I order the DG583AR (Aristo socket) and just plug it in? Or, do I order the DG583S (screw terminal) and gut the Bachmann electronics? Neither the dealer, nor Bachmann can answer my question. Is the Mallet compatible with the DG583AR DCC motor and light decoder.
As to sound. Should I decide to go with on-board sound, are there two chuff signals? There should be one for the front cylinders and another for the rear cylinders. The very distinctive chuff of a mallet goes in and out of sync as one set of drivers or the other slips. Putting a single chuff sound card in the Mallet would be a huge NO NO for anyone who has ever heard a mallet in real life. You would be missing the single most distinctive sound feature of the Mallet.
So, anyone know which pin on the socket is the second chuff? And, wouldn't we need a second set of "added chuff polarity transistors" on the board? Funny, but the photos of the Mallet only show one set of transistors tacked onto the board. Strange, but, there is nothing on the NMRA site about the second chuff input pin either.
B0B
Let's see.
The "SOCKET" was supposed to have been plug and play compatible to accept the same decoder as the ArisoCraft socket.
The ArisoCraft socket was designed jointly by ArisoCraft and Digitrax to accept the Digitrax DG383AR or DG583AR DCC decoders or the new ArisoCraft TE radio for either track power or battery/RC.
Plugging in either of the Digitrax decoders causes an instant "false" shutdown on most DCC systems. (Anybody know if it works with a plug and play TE)
I have asked on the Bachmann forum if this design error has fixed in the Mallet. They have to check, which means they didn't fix it or they would surly be touting the new improvement.
So, as it stands, we will have yet another PnP socket that can't be used with the very decoder that it was advertised as being plug and play with.
I went to pre-order my Mallet, I wanted to order a Digitrax decoder for it at the same time. Do I order the DG583AR (Aristo socket) and just plug it in? Or, do I order the DG583S (screw terminal) and gut the Bachmann electronics? Neither the dealer, nor Bachmann can answer my question. Is the Mallet compatible with the DG583AR DCC motor and light decoder.
As to sound. Should I decide to go with on-board sound, are there two chuff signals? There should be one for the front cylinders and another for the rear cylinders. The very distinctive chuff of a mallet goes in and out of sync as one set of drivers or the other slips. Putting a single chuff sound card in the Mallet would be a huge NO NO for anyone who has ever heard a mallet in real life. You would be missing the single most distinctive sound feature of the Mallet.
So, anyone know which pin on the socket is the second chuff? And, wouldn't we need a second set of "added chuff polarity transistors" on the board? Funny, but the photos of the Mallet only show one set of transistors tacked onto the board. Strange, but, there is nothing on the NMRA site about the second chuff input pin either.
B0B
