DCC Decoder Buddy Information:

• This product is versatile in terms of direction of the placement of the board and mounting in various configurations.
• It can easily replace a QSI board, a Dual Mode decoder board or be mounted directly on the electric motor or frame with Kapton tape.
• It is recommended that a piece of Kapton tape be placed on the bottom of the mother board to assure electrical isolation from the electric motor or frame.
• This mother board does not include the 21 Pin Decoder. We offer sound decoders from ESU, Soundtraxx, and TCS in our eBay store.
• This mother board and connector board require soldering.
• These printed circuit boards are NOT FOR USE IN A DC SYSTEM.
• The on board resistors are sized for LEDs. (2.2K)
• The mother board includes:
• One 21 Pin Decoder receptacle
• Two pairs of track input pads
• One pair of motor input pads
• One pair of stay alive pads (U+ and GND)
• Two pairs of speaker pads wired in parallel
• Resistors for use with LED lighting. (on board 2.2K)
• The connector board contains pads for eight pairs of lighting function connections.
• U+ or the blue wire has eight connected pads for the common power source.
• The negative (-) discrete function pads are all labeled to indicate their connection to the functions available in the decoder.
• If you require incandescent lamps there are procedures that require soldering and allow for incandescent lamp use or different Decoder Buddys made specifically the application. Remember there are different incandescent lamp voltages and current draw that have to be taken into consideration also.
• The lighting connector was designed so that the shell of the diesel locomotive can be easily separated from the frame without unsoldering wires.
• This does require that the headlight and rear lights be mounted in the shell of the locomotive and that the diesel has a removable dynamic brake shell.
• Decoder Buddy installed, speakers installed, decoder installed, and the motor is tested and ready.

DECODER BUDDY Dimensions:

• Width x Length x Height
• O.67” x 2.20” x 0.35” or 17 mm x 56 mm x 9 mm
• Height may vary slightly depending on decoder.

From the manufacturer:

Original vs V5:

Just a few thoughts on the original Decoder Buddy and the V5 Decoder Buddy. I try to envision your thoughts from mine. The original Decoder Buddy does all I wanted and still does. It has 8 matched Aux outputs for lights on a detachable small connector board, pads for a stay alive and room to solder easily. I would very tempted to use it in locomotives that didn't require any more than eight lighting functions. The majority of decoders on the market at the moment have a maximum of eight lighting outputs. Having said that I have also considered uses for more than eight lighting outputs. I have also considered ground lights which would be attached to the frame of the locomotive. The V5 has 12 Aux outputs for lights. Twelve are present on the small connector board and two are paired to the motherboard and associated with the frame. The track and speaker pads stayed the same size. The pads on the small connector board got a little smaller. These pads are all separated and have holes to help hold the wires. The stay alive pads moved to the other side of the motherboard out from under the decoder and are in an easy place to solder to like the original.

NOTE: PHOTOS OF ITEM OUTSIDE OF PACKAGE ARE FROM MANUFACTURER'S WEBSITE.