If used with their DCC equiped loco’s, will it control sound, lighting and speed?
Not unless it’s a Bachmann locomotive equipped with a sound decoder. There’s a big difference between “DCC On Board” and “Sound On Board” Bachmann engines.
But yes, it should be able to control the sounds. You just won’t be able to change the locomotive’s address from the default value of 03 with the EZ Command.
Looking at my walthers catolog, most of them are just “DCC ON BORD”, what can I controlon thoughs locomotives?
With “DCC On Board” you can control the locomotive direction and speed, and the headlight. That’s all. No sound.
Forget the Walthers catalog – look at Micro-Mark’s prices on Bachmann DCC and sound equipped engines:
The Bachmann EZ Command DCC system can only address ‘0 - 9’ - So you are limited to what number you can assign to an engine. You can turn the headlight on/off. A sound/DCC equipped engine will run on the system as long as the address is in the above range, but I doubt if you can blow the whistle or ring the bell.
Bachmann ‘DCC Onboard’ engines usually have a Lenz decoder in them. If the Bachmann engine has ‘Sound Onboard’, it is usually equipped with a ‘customized’ Soundtraxx Tsnami decoder. You might want to contact jeffrey-wimberly via a PM. He has a lot of experience with the Bachmann system and probably got more out of it than anyone else. He now has a Digitrax Zephyr system.
Jim Bernier
Somebody mention me? Thought I felt my ears tingle.[(-D]
I’ve had only one sound loco. With the EZ-Command I was able to use sound functions 1-8. On some locos F1 will also dim the light. F10 will turn the light on-off on many DCC locos but not all. F9 purportedly turns the sound on-off but it never turned it off for me.
Remember that with the Bachmann EZ command, you cannot change ANY CV in the decoder beyond the 2 digit address. That means you CANNOT adjust lighting features, chuff rate, horn type, volume settings, advance consisting or anything else higher function in the decoders.
You can on the other hand run more than one loco at once. Personally, I would save a few more pennies and get a system that is light years ahead : The Power Pro by NCE. It can be had very cheap.
David B
^ What Dave and Jeffrey said. I have an MRC sound decoder and I can access the sounds that are in the decoders default range of 1-8. The sound off command for my decoder is F12 or 13 so I can’t turn the sound off. If you can get one for next to free[:-^]They’re not a bad unit. I can run 3 newer Bachmanns with mine. (or two older Athearns) It is only one amp.
I spend twice the money and get an NCE starter or a Prodigy Express.
I have had my E-Z command for about 2 years now and still enjoy it. Yes I cannot set any CV and to be honest that is one of the things I like about it. It is simple and I like simple. I added a MRC Power Station 8 booster that puts out 8 amps. With its 1 amp supply I could run 3 sound engines at the same time.
If you are thinking about buying a new one for $100.00, I would say save up another $70.00 and get a more advances set up. If you can find one for around $50.00 to $75.00 that would be a good way to get into DCC.
One of these days I will up grade, but there way more things I need before another DCC unit.
Cuda Ken
Ok, so do the “DCC on bord” loco’s decoder’s even have sound features on them, like if I had a controler that went past F9 or 10, would I be able to operate the sound?
DCC on Board means that it has a very basic (Notice the bold, italic and underline treatment of those 2 words) decoder installed. It lacks many things including the ability to be speed matched. Get it? Very Basic DCC system, Very Basic DCC decoder. They go hand in hand because they both are Basic and lack any modern features available in main stream decoders. Even some decoders at the 12 dollar price point. (NCE SRJ 10 packs at 119.00)
My advice is to buy the units without DCC and put a decoder worth the PC board in it. I also advise, as I stated before, that you save your pennies for a system better than the Bachmann EZ Command.
David B
My understanding is that the term “DCC on board”, with Bachmann, means that there is a basic decoder with no sound capability and no speaker. It is only a motive decoder that controls lighting and motor function.
“DCC with sound”, on the other hand, means that a stripped down version of the Soundtraxx Tsunami is included and installed by the factory. It would permit control, with your EZ-Command, of whatever functions the EZ-Command permits.
I have a Bach DCC on board GP-35. The shell has pretty nice detail for a $35 DCC loco, but the mechanism wasn’t that good. No flywheels which really stinks. Decoder burned out after about 6 hours.
I really wouldn’t recommend them. I’ve had more trouble with it than all my standard and Spectrum units put together. (and I’m a Bachmann fan)[2c]
Save your money. You can get a Digitrax Zephyr for $180, maybe less, depending on where you get it. You don’t have to locos that come with decoders either. I find that way too expensive. I get the DC version of the loco and get a decoder for it that controls motor functions and lighting. Most are a snap to convert and I enjoy hardwiring them.