I recently posted a message about DCC. There were a lot of helpful responses. But, more than a few people were upset that this subject had been done too many times already.[:(!] Well, guess what? Not all of us spend time reading these postings every day, week, or even month. If someone has a question or wants an opinion on some particular subject, let them ask!! I have not been that active on the Model Railroader Forum as much as a several people. So, when I ask about something that others have read/written about several times, give me the courtesy of letting others respond. I do not appreciate hearing that I am “beating a dead horse”. [8o|]
If you do not like the posting, don’t respond. And do not suggest that one of the individuals from Model Railroader Forum put an end to this or that particular subject.[soapbox]
Craig, it is very simple, a thread entitled “Which DCC system is the best?” will get groans of derision. It is asked all the time. A thread entitled “I am having problems programming my DCC locomotives” would have received lots of help with no derisory comments.
The fact that the thread title did not really apply to the questions or issues that you have, did not help, And the fact that we still don’t really have enough information to assist with the first of the problems, let alone the other two mentioned in the original post, does not help either.
Thank you for the suggestion about using a different title for the posting. I think the title came more from frustration with my lack of progress with the Digitrax system than anything else. Being in my 50’s, I want a system that works for me and gets my layout going. I don’t want to be “too old” to get trains running and having operating sessions. If needs be, I would be willing to change to another product (of DCC) if it was more user friendly (for me). So, again, I appreciate Help not criticism or boring other people.[:D]
Well Craig, I am 2 months from joining you in the 50’s and I love my Digitrax and would not trade it for anything. I am not convinced that your issues are actually a Digitrax problem that would be resolved simply with a change of DCC system. Hence the barrage of follow up questions from me and others. I suspect that once we get all the pieces of the puzzle some clear direction can be provided and that you will move on to other challenges.
Thanks. I am going to try and program a locomotive in the next 2-3 weeks. I will start a new posting and as problems arise, I will ask questions and follow the thread. By the way, I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. Graduated high school there, went to medical school and did my residency in St. Louis at Washington University.
I have to agree with the others that the title did you in.
I went back and reviewed my reply to your post and it was something like, “Oh no, not again”.
You then went on to wonder if there is a more user friendly system than Digitrax, so I answered with NCE, my user friendly system of choice.
But the gist of your initial post was to ask about better DCC systems than Digitrax, not specific problems that you were experiencing with your system.
It seems to me that most of the replies, including mine, tried to respond to your question which was extremely general.
Me on the other hand started life on the other side of the world and settled in the STL area after marrying a lab director from St Louis University Hospital. I am in the medical field now and count Wash U, BJC and Children’s amongst my good customers. Good place to have graduated from.
Some of us have trouble with manuals, some have trouble distancing ourselves from the natural tendency to know why we have to push button X before button Y. I think this is at the root of why some folks admit, often angrily or with some embarrassment, that they are confounded by Digitrax and its manuals, instructions, or user-interface.
It’s a fact, and not any the easier for those who have experienced that anxiety or frustration, a fact I have come to accept. I can’t, however, say that I am familiar with that feeling because it all seemed to work okay for me. Oh, trust me, there were some expasperating moments in the first two weeks when decoders wouldn’t wake up for me, and I truly did have all sorts of other gut-wrenching feelings where I thought I had destroyed…something… I did have to call each of Soundtraxx once and Digitrax once. That was five years ago, and I haven’t had to even think about a call to them since then. If you persist, try repetitions, including repowering, re-reading the manual for missed key words or phrases, something will click and you get the blessed pressure-realeasing sigh as your decoders begin to make noise.
There’s a lot to be said for DC operations sometimes. [swg]
I have also learned, after being prompted by several posters, using the search feature on the right side of the main screen yields a lot of pre-information before starting a new thread. I have found useful answers to my questions from 3-5 years old in the archives. Since I don’t run DCC I can’t help at all with your problem but it may have been answered already without having to read every post ever made.
Well, by now you realize your title on the original post got all those “horse beaters” out in full force. Don’t feel bad, for we all had to find out sooner or later that the title line (in the correct forum) will get you the most relevant and useful responses.
But for the record, Digitrax is by far the best DCC system out there!
Simon, you gave yourself away as an immigrant to StL when you failed to ask “THE QUESTION” [;)]
to a native of StL “:where’d you go to high school?”
Failure by one native to ask another when talking for the first time can result in ones Imos privileges being suspended. Repeat offenses lead to a revoked toasted ravioli license, and up to a Ted Drew’s banishment as a maximum penalty. Fortunately as an immigrant you are exempt.
