Hi,
As most of you know I’ve been looking around for a DCC system the past few weeks, and I just found that my local hobby store just got two Roco Power Mouse DCC systems in. It comes with a 14 volt power supply (thought that was a little low, think you can order bigger ones), the bus and one controller for $99. Is it worth it? Any suggestions? Previously I had settled on the MRC PE, which I had found for $95.
i own a prodigy express and very please with its simplicity and ease of use the only down fall is theres not as many accesories offered by mrc for it but other then that im very pleased with it. i bought mine for 100$ if your going to build and small to medium layout its greatbut if you plan on have more then two operators i would go with something a bit larger. Oh one tip i would replace the lan cable you get with the system if you do get it, with a more sturdier computer lan cable, works the same way as the skinny piece of cable the give you but sturdier. when i first got the system every time i moved the cab in the wrong direction the screen would shut off wasnt sure why but at last i found out that the lan cable they gave me was defective and i just replaced it with one of my extra blue cable i had lying around the house.
Now im not entirly sure about Power Mouse i heard of them but never new much about them. An another thing to consider is how many amps does it put out? and how many loco’s you plan on running at one time plus asscories sound systems and more but the price isnt bad for half off
I bought a Digitrax Zephyr over the weekend for $150, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
The NCE is pretty nice because it’s a walkaround throttle while the Zephyr is more like a table top throttle, however the Zephyr is expandable to walkaround thorttles and supports a computer interface etc. I would check out both the NCE and Digitrax systems.
Klicky
Not sure which model your LHS has in stock. I used the LokMaus 2 for six months and ditched it in favour of an NCE PowerCab.
I found two main problems with the Roco system. Number 1 was no direct entry system for locos or functions, only up and down keys (so if you had just used address #11 and wanted to go to address #35 you’d have to press the up arrow 24 times).
The second problem, was to do with loco speed when switching between addresses. I’ll try an explain as best I can. Say you had loco #1 moving forwards with the central speed knob on the LokMaus at say the 3 o’clock position, then you changed address to loco #2 and set that off in reverse (i.e. the control knob is at say 10 o’clock). Now let’s say you want to slow down loco #1. You rotate the knob from 10 o’clock back to 2 o’clock, and as it passes 12 o’clock, the loco slows right down, unless either a. you’re quick, or b. you’ve firstly moved to a spare address (using the arrow keys), then rotated the knob to approximately where it was (if you can remember), then change again to address #1.
Now you can see why I changed to NCE. It’s great.
I am using an NCE Powercab (£95 in UK) and am delighted with it. It is my first move into DCC after a lot of indecision and I am very pleased with the way it has gone, also using TCS chips.
I have the Roco Locomouse II system, and I like it. The mouse fits my hand well, and I was able to find other mice from some on-line sellers. Roco uses Lenz Xpressnet protocol, so you can use simple phone jacks and plugs to wire up your layout if you wish to add jacks elsewhere (4 wire is ok for slaves; the master needs 6 wire). I use a Lenz XPA with an old cordless phone as a cheap wireless throttle. In addition, I am able to use JMRI with a Lenz LI101 to program my locos from my computer. The speed setting can be a problem when switching bewtween locos, and there are only four function buttons, so if you like sound or multiple functions, you may have trouble. On the whole, though, it’s a good basic system, and if you upgrade to a Lenz system you can use the mice as throttles. You may find it cheaper on-line or on that auction site, so look around. Gary