I hope it's okay to ask about Graham Farish N-gauge here
I've had my eye on a 371-427A Graham Farish N Gauge Class 170/3 2-Car DMU, but it doesn't come with a DCC socket. Is it a simple matter to hard-wire a DCC chip into this model (presumably one for each car, to control the lights), or is there a good technical reason they're not offering DCC functionality?
No DCC socket in GF class 170/3 DMU
Re: No DCC socket in GF class 170/3 DMU
Ran a search and this thread came up:
https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index ... nt-4236696
Suggests that provided you are comfortable soldering it is reasonably straightforward to power the motor (but no clues on the lighting fit). As ever with a split chassis current collection mechanism use a meter to test for full motor isolation from the track before committing to decoder installation, and then use the programme track to test for a good installation by making an address change.
May be more out there if you try searches on 'Farish 170 DCC lighting control'.
https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index ... nt-4236696
Suggests that provided you are comfortable soldering it is reasonably straightforward to power the motor (but no clues on the lighting fit). As ever with a split chassis current collection mechanism use a meter to test for full motor isolation from the track before committing to decoder installation, and then use the programme track to test for a good installation by making an address change.
May be more out there if you try searches on 'Farish 170 DCC lighting control'.
Re: No DCC socket in GF class 170/3 DMU
Thanks Bigmet. I have no problem with the soldering side of things, and your first link seems to confirm there's no real physical problems. For the lighting I'm only concerned with the front and rear direction lights, not the interior, so hopefully that will be reasonably straightforward.
All I could find on that subject with a quick Google was adding interior lights to the previous version class 170 (I didn't know there was a previous version!).
All I could find on that subject with a quick Google was adding interior lights to the previous version class 170 (I didn't know there was a previous version!).