A review of an ESU 51701
LokPilotXLDCC-Decoder
I run a Massoth
DCC system and was on the look out some decoders for a range of non LGB engines,
such as USA Trains and Aristocraft engines.
After talking to
Jeremy of www.dragon-gscale.co.uk I brought a
couple of ESU Lokpilot decoders. AT only £35 each and with a 3 amp rating they
seemed to offer great value for the spec.
One slight draw
back when they first turned up was that all the included instructions were in
German! Luckily Jeremy had added some basic instructions and tips of his own in
English to help get me started.
ESU does now have
an English website with lots of documentation to help you install most of their
products. This can be found at www.loksound.com
These decoders are
so simple to install that I think you could, if you have ever installed a
decoder before, fit this one using just the pictures in the included
booklet.
The decoder itself
is a neat and small unit measuring just 55mm x 25mm x 10mm so could even be
fitted in to an LGB Staniz without a problem, if you have converted one of these
you will know what I mean and if you haven’t well I will let you find out just
what I mean if you ever get round to taking one of these apart for such a
job.
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Below is a brief run down of the technical
specs.
Operational
Modes: NMRA/DCC with 14, 28, 128
speed steps. Analogue DC (de-selectable), Auto-recognition
of operating modes and DCC speed step selection.
Throttle: 3.0A
continuous load. Runs DC - and coreless motors. Silent safe 15.5kHz Pulse width
frequency motor regulation. Motor output overload protection. Back EMF
(de-selectable).
Function
Outputs: 4 Outputs,
2 of which are for lighting functions, dimmable separately with 600mA load per
output.
LGB and
Massoth compatible.
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The first
thing to remember after getting the decoder out of the box is NOT to remove the
plastic shrink wrap coating the decoder as this acts as a heat
sink!
I have fitted one
to an Aristocraft RS3 and a USA Trains 44t centre cab switcher without a problem
with space or with any connections, although I only use my decoders to run the
motor and lights so have not wired one up to any sound units or smoke
units.
I like the fact it
comes with screw terminals and without any wires attached as it can then be made
to fit any loco with the addition of a few wires screwed to the decoder one end
and simply connected up to the motor block and/or lights at the
other.
When wiring up
lights please remember that this decoder has a common earth, so that if you wire
up front and rear lights you just use three terminals, one earth and then
another two for power to front and then rear light as labelled in the
instructions. It’s a lot easier to use in practice than to explain
honest.
I did not come
across any unusual quirks while fitting this decoder and found the whole
experience very simple and dare I say even easier than fitting LGB MTS II
decoders as the wiring for the motor is at the other end of the decoder to the
lights and function outputs giving you plenty of room to wire everything up and
with screw terminals you can make as many changes as you like without soldering
or cutting and fitting new terminals.
I found that the
Aristocraft RS3 ran fine on both my Massoth system running at 128 speed steps
and just as well on my dads LGB MTS II system although I did need to change the
CV value for the speed steps back down to 14 to get the lights to work but this
only takes a sec or so to do. I have as yet not tested it on a DC powered
railway.
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Overall I must say
that these ESU decoders do just what they say on the tin, even if it does say it
in German, and are easy to install, make CV changes and use on both LGB and
Massoth DCC systems what more could you ask for and only £35 to
boot.
For more details either visit www.loksound.com or Jeremy at
www.dragon-gscale.co.uk
Jason Palmer 2007.
