VR Y class (D/E) by Austrains

The simplest route is to fit an 8 pin decoder in conjunction with the Austrains motherboard. This obviates the need to hardwire, but forfeits the opportunity to separate the marker lights from the headlights.

Plug-in decoder method

Items used:

ESU 58820 LokSound 5 DCC decoder with 8 pin interface

DCCSound premium speaker to suit Austrains Y class (8 pin plug-in)

The Y class requires an ESU LokSound 5 Micro decoder and DCCSound Y class speaker (8 pin).

The model is first disassembled in order to fit the decoder and speaker. The couplers are removed but the coupler screws reinstalled. The coupler screwheads are then held with pliers as the body is lifted from the chassis.

But first, the handrails are moved out of the way of the chassis. Gently pull on the body, with the cab end often coming off the chassis before the long hood end.

The 8 pin DC plug is removed, along with the headlight/speaker mount. The DCCSound speaker includes a mount for the headlight. The speaker is then placed on the chassis. The decoder is plugged in and the two brown speakers wired soldered to the speaker.

Kapton tape is then used to secure the speaker and wires in place.

Hardwired decoder

Items used:

ESU 58823 LokSound 5 DCC decoder with wires

DCCSound premium speaker to suit Austrains Y class (hardwired installation)

1 kOhm 1/4 W resistors (6 of)

Heatshrink (2mm)

Kapton tape

The couplers and body are removed from the chassis per the above description.

Remove the 8 pin motherboard from the model.

Fix the speaker to the chassis using glue.

Fit the decoder to the chassis using double sided tape.

Ensure the white sticker faces up because the Aux 5 & 6 solder pads need to be accessed later.

Wire the two brown speaker wires from the decoder to the speaker, ensuring they are wired in parallel and in-phase.

The orange and grey decoder wires connect to the motor terminals

The red decoder wire connects to the RHS (fireman's side) bogie wires.

Remember, "red is right".

The black decoder wire connects to the LHS (driver's side) bogie wires.

Test the motion of the model on the DCC powered test track to ensure the correct direction of travel and that no short circuits are found.

Next comes the lighting.

In the example below, the customer's brief was to have full control of the white and red marker lights. The decoder was hardwired and 6 lighting outputs wired to the model's LEDs:

F0f: Cab headlight

F0r: Hood headlight

Aux 1: Front white markers

Aux 6: Rear white markers

Aux 2: Front red markers

Aux 5: Rear red markers

Each lighting function wire had a 1 kOhm resistor added between it and the -ve side of the LED.

Aux 5 & 6 connect to small solder pads on the decoder as shown:

The final installation steps involve seating the cab headlight and the connecting the hood end headlight.

The original headlight mount is modified such that the section that holds the 3mm LED is kept, while the rest of the mount is discarded.

The mount is glued to the ceiling of the cab with a small drop of superglue.

The Rear headlight is wired to the rest of the wiring on the chassis.

The lead with a white paint mark is the +ve lead, which connects to the model's blue common +ve wire.

The decoder's yellow headlight wire (with 1 kOhm resistor added) is connected to the other lead from the hood end headlight.

The body is then brought towards the chassis and the 3mm cab headight is inserted into it's mount in the cab. The body is then refitted to the chassis, where it is important to check that no wires get caughtbetween the body and the side of the chassis.

Once the body is fully seated, the couplers are refitted and any handrails re-seated.