# Confused adding DCC to SD70MAC



## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I have the day off today and I was looking forward to installing the MCE decoder and Phoenix sound card to my new SD70MAC. Just a few wires - I've done it all half a dozen times already. Then....bam, confusion sets in.

Basically, what do I do with the main board that comes from the USAT factory?

This is my first unit to come with ditch lights. So I should leave the factory board hooked up, or should I use the NCE board to control all the lights??

I hooked up the speaker I installed into the belly of the beast to the wires labeled "sound" on the factory board. There seem to be clicky-clack noises. Is the factory board giving me sound? Do I want to hook up both the factory board AND my Phoenix board to that big honkin' speaker???

(I couldn't find any discussion on this question on MLS today. But I DID find that I could actually search MLS. Major improvement!)

Wiring in the NCE and Phoenix wouldn't take me half an hour if I do a really pretty job. But I'm really not in the mood to smoke test any of these three boards today. Advice would be appreciated. 

JackM


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Huh! I posted the above question at 10:46 AM eastern time, and it's labeled as being posted at 3:40 PM. Are we to be speaking with a British accent now, or have I been watching Top Gear too much? (The real Top Gear, not that awful US version.)

JackM


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

Jack you need to put your own time zone in you profile 
I would just wire the speaker to your sound card.
Dick


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

Jack click on user CP blue tool bar in mid. on the left look for Edit Options open that and about half way down
you will find time zones.
Dick


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Unfortunately, I don't see any "user CP blue tool bar ". There are two blue bars at the top, but no "user CP".
More importantly, - 
- I'll splice into the power pickups so that all three boards are connected to the wheels. Easy enough. 
- Phoenix sound output to the speaker, forget the sound output of the factory board. 
- The factory board will handle the lights.
If I have that right, I'll have it done and report back after lunch. Then I'll worry about my settings. (I went to that little "my settings" near the upper right corner, but that just handles my avatar, etc.
Thanks for your help!
JackM


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Dick - I tried to find that setting place and clicked around (almost randomly) and saw the User CP thing and changed my time slot and a few other things. Now that I have left that place, I'll probably win the next Powerball before I ever find UserCP again. But thatnks for the help on that. One fewer thing to mess with my mind. Time for lunch (or dinner GMT).

JackM


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I am doing a SD70 for a club member and also a GP38.
These engines have a common cathode red/green led and I had to change it to common anode plus rewire all the light boards as I do not need the diodes for direction change.
And my LEDs are brighter than the originals.
I removed the control boards in the middle and wired all direct to the Zimo decoder.
The SD70 even has ditch lights now.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I am in the - gut the primary board and tie in the new decoder and sound as needed "Club"..

Have fun Dick

Dirk


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Update - In a word, I was overly optimistic. Okay, four words.

I tried the 70MAC on DC before installing the NCE board. On DC, the MAC had flashing ditch lights and, if I recall correctly, the front and rear lights dimmed when going in the opposite direction. With the NCE installed, everything just stays on. Looks like I'll have to keep the soldering iron hot and do a bunch more wiring. Oh well. (I want to be able to control the inside cab light, too. Probably change the LED in the process. The OEM light is way too bright. Might as well put in my superbright LEDs for the headlights while I got it up on the rack. Lube and filter, too. Oh wait, that's my car.

I'll install the Phoenix board tomorrow and worry about lighting issues after I get back from "the coast". Two weeks of Amtrak, Phoenix, Amtrak, San Francisco, Amtrak. With any luck it'll be spring when I get back.

JackM


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Does the NCE provide separate - front & rear - main light outputs? Add diodes....

Can you set the cab lite on its own function?
How bout resistor to dim cab lite..

Dash lite on full time..with power on! 

Rest & retire on Amtrak!!!
..take a hobby on the train...!

Dirk


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

The NCE board can control both front and back lites - you can either keep both full bright all the time, or have one bright and the other dim, depending on which way you're going. No diodes needed. Likewise the cab lite can be controlled separately. I installed a cab light in my S4 and turn it on or off by the keypad. I'll have to do that on the 70MAC now. Probably swap out the LED for something less bright.

Might want to do the same for the number boards; they seem a bit much. I'll take a look at all that after I install the Phoenix board. Can't wait to hear how it sounds with that seven pound speaker (slight exaggeration**) I got from Alex at Train-Li. 

JackM

**Actually just a 2.5 inch round speaker that fits nicely in the gas tank. Big honkin' magnet for a small speaker. Should be worth the price.

****Speaking of the cab light, does anyone know whether a 70MAC would have an incandescent or flourescent lamp? I don't know why, but I keep thinking a more modern loco wouldn't have an older-style lighting fixture. Any cheap white LED should look like a flourescent; a tiny bit of Tamiya Clear Yellow paint will make it look like an incandescent.

****** Would it make sense for the simulated cab computer monitors go dark when sitting a while? I'm pretty sure the control wire is accessible. Easy enough to control it, just like the cab light. DCC is so versatile!


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Update ---

I now have the NCE board controlling the cab interior light which I replaced with a nice, warm LED. USAT had an incandescent bulb there, the only incan. I've found in the 70MAC. The complication is that the Phoenix Sound board insists on playing the "coupler clank" (function 3). No way around that other than to have the clank removed via their computer interface. Doable. I'm hoping Phoenix is at ECLSTS; maybe I can get them to do it.

Can't wait til warmer weather (9 degrees right now) to give the P8 board a try outdoors. Running it on rollers on a wood work bench makes it hard to tell, but I'm thinking it's gonna be Tony the Tiger GREAT!

I also have the front and rearlights working. I replaced the reasonably bright front light with one of the 13,000 mcd LEDs I have for just such an occasion. Blinding! Again, can't wait to get it outside after dark.

However, I'm stymied by the ditch lights, which I think I have blown. Okay, pretty sure I have blown. Got real smoke out of one of my own LEDs. The other stuff was pretty straightforward; don't know what the problem is hooking the ditch lights to the NCE board. Probably won't be able to spend much more time until I get back from the Coast in a few weeks. Anyone know what I'm missing there?

JackM


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## josephunh (Mar 27, 2013)

Jack while I am not familiar with the NCE board you way want to check the wiring diagram for it. I know on the QSI the front and rear head lights are powered by 18 volts and ditch lights only 5V so you may want to be sure you are wiring them to the correct port. If you are blowing them our it sounds like it's either the wrong port on the board or port was configured for higher voltage bulbs and not LED's.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Jim at Phoenix Sound just emailed me - told me to bring my sound board to ECLSTS next month and he'll program out the coupler clank so I can continue to operate my cab light without the clank, just as I have it on my S4.

NCE board, not QSI, controls the lighting. Front & rear headlights were simple to just snip the appropriate wires off their connector to the 70MAC board and connect to NCE. Works fine.

The ditch lights are on their own little board that has nothing else - that's why I proceeded to wire them up like I did the headlights. After blowing them out, I found they're getting track voltage. This blows not only LEDs, but my mind! That's my confusion. How can the 70MAC board be feeding track voltage to the ditch lights?

JackM


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