# zimo



## bobvandno2 (Nov 4, 2009)

Hi to all, Can anyone tell me if Zimo decoders can be used in a battery radio control application like say a QSI Titan with the G wire receiver? Do they make the following?
1) A decoder large enough for an Aritocraft SD45.
2) A receiver similar to the G wire receiver.
3) A good hand held transmitter.
4) A programmer similar to QSI's

I'm thinking of converting to Zimo for on board radio control. I do so reluctantly from QSI. Hope someone can shed light on my request.

Also is the sound as good as good and how many sound files do they offer?

Thank you,

Bob V.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

As far as I know Zimo needs to be track powered. It will operate on analog DC or DCC. I don't know how it could be connected to a radio receiver. Air Wire has a converter that will receive radio commands and drive any DCC decoder. It is rated at 2.5 amps. Dan may have more information about Zimo.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Simple answer is no, the Zimo can not be tied to the G3 DCC output as it exceeds the 2.5 amp current rating.

Zimo MX695 decoders are rated at 6 amps/10 amp peak and can operate a SD45, or even the PA on DC and DCC. Air wire does list the G3 as having a sound DCC output.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

To expand on Dan's post, the decoder itself doesn't draw 6 - 10 amps, it's just capable of handling that much current if the locomotive were to draw it. Since the question is about installation in an SD-45, it's likely that loco's current draw would tax the 2.5-amp output of the Airwire G3 or Convertr boards, so it's probably not going to work. However, for smaller locos whose current loads don't draw near that amount (switchers, small-to-medium steamers), there's no reason you couldn't use the Airwire boards to drive a 3rd-party DCC motor/sound decoder such as a Zimo. 

Back to the issue at hand--installation in an SD-45: it may be possible to use the Zimo as a sound-only decoder (or sound and lights), and use the Airwire G3's motor output to do the heavy lifting on the motors. Airwire shows this set-up using a Soundtraxx Tsunami board in their instructions. There's no reason you couldn't use any other DCC decoder in place of the Tsunami.

The drawback of that installation is that the interactivity of motor and sound is different than what it is when both are controlled by the same decoder. I experimented with this on two Galloping Geese I'm working on. One is driven by the Airwire motor output with the Tsunami being used only for sounds. On the other, I'm using the Convertr to drive the Tsunami, so the motor and sound are controlled by the same board. If all you're doing is "round-and-round" type operation, the difference isn't noticeable. Once up to speed, they both sound great running around the railroad. However, if you're doing a lot of starts and stops (switching, etc.) you can hear subtle differences in how the sound reacts differently to changes in speed. I found I could adjust this a bit by adjusting CVs, but I couldn't get it consistently to behave the same. (I've since changed both to running motor and sound off of the Tsunami.) 

Honestly, though, if you're going to have to use the motor output of the Airwire G3, I'd probably just get a Phoenix board and use that for the sound. It's tried-and-true, and with the programming software, you can tweak the response of the sound to the motor pretty easily. 

Later,

K


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

I talked about the Air Wire Converter. It has 4 connections, two for battery in, two for DCC out, it is not for just driving a sound decoder. It will drive any DCC decoder.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Dan, wasn't it Zimo that makes or will make a gadget to allow the Zimo throttle to transmit directly to a Zimo decoder?

Maybe it was Massoth or ESU.

Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

When an engine starts to move via a decoder, the current drawn is a pulse and the current can be much more than 2.5 amps in that instant.
If the power source is lacking in capacitance/filtering, then it can be over loaded.

I did tie a Zimo MX69x decoder to the G3 on a single motor LGB engine and this did not work for me. I did have the later 2,5 amp version.
I did not try the smaller MX64x series, these may work as the max current spec is 2.5 amps. Since these are less costly, they could be used as sound only but need a motor tied to them for programming.


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## Beddhist (Dec 17, 2013)

Greg Elmassian said:


> Dan, wasn't it Zimo that makes or will make a gadget to allow the Zimo throttle to transmit directly to a Zimo decoder?
> 
> Maybe it was Massoth or ESU.
> 
> Greg


Massoth DRC 300

The Europeans have been waiting for years for this piece of vapourware to materialise.  They can't use Airwire/G-Wire, because 900 MHz is illegal in Europe.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

The G3 is not the correct product to drive a motion decoder. The Converter is made specifically for that purpose with a 2.5 continuous rating with a higher surge current.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, clearly you have a good understanding of the Airwire line Mike.

I've just been sitting back watching a lot of wheelspin ha ha...

so Bob, almost exactly one month later, you have your answer.

Greg


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## StanleyAmes (Jan 3, 2008)

bobvandno2 said:


> Hi to all, Can anyone tell me if Zimo decoders can be used in a battery radio control application like say a QSI Titan with the G wire receiver? Do they make the following?
> 1) A decoder large enough for an Aritocraft SD45.
> 2) A receiver similar to the G wire receiver.
> 3) A good hand held transmitter.
> ...


Bob

Most of the answers you have received have assumed you are trying to use a Zimo decoder with an AirWire Decoder. In this case the answers are correct.

Another approach is to use the Zimo Decoders with the QSI radio receiver and use the Zimo decoder for both the motor and sound.

Zimo makes decoders that have the power you desire and will shortly release a decoder that will plug into yout SD45. The motor control offered by ZImo is more advanced than your other decoder options.

The issue is wether or not the Zimo decoder will work properly with the QSI receiver.

I have several Lenz decoders installed using this combination but have not yet tried this with Zimo products.

The QSI receiver is slightly out of spec from a DCC signal standpoint but most decoders will receiver properly in this range. The issue is the amplitude of the signal. The QSI receiver has a 5 volt amplitude and the spec only requires a decoder to receive a 7 volt signal. Some decoders will work while others do not.

if the receiver does work then the handheld used would be the same as anything that can control the QSI signal such as NCE or CVP.

Hope that helps.

Stan


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## Beddhist (Dec 17, 2013)

Earlier this year I was facing a similar problem, wanting to convert my Davenport to Airwire/G-Wire. The G-Wire receiver needs a 5V power supply and nobody could guarantee me that this combo would work. So, I went for the Airwire solution. In my case that works, because the Davenport runs with an HO decoder (< 1.5A).

Looks like you will be a pioneer, if you decide to go for G-Wire.

QSI say that the G-Wire is "temporarily unavailable", but you may find stocks at dealers. They are having to re-design it and we will have to wait and see whether the new version still has the limiotations of the old.

Regards,
Peter.


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