If you are thinking of joining a club at some time, find out what system is used by clubs in your area. You may want to bring your own throttle to club sessions, and others in the club may want to bring their throttles to your layout. If everyone is running the same system, this is simple and cost-effective. If not, then you may end up buying a throttle that you only use at the club.
For those who may be interested, I bought my DCC system this weekend.
I went with the Digitrax Zypher for the following reasons…
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For a base unit it is compact and functional. In the future I can add on walk around units while using the base unit for yard switching.
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It has the functions I need without alot of extra “bells and whistles” (uh, pun intened), yet it is still expandable.
-The price was about what I expected to pay (not including the discount I got from my LHS [;)] ).
-While I am pretty much a lone wolf modeler, the local club uses Digitrax on their large modular layout. If I ever need help, there is plenty of it available.
It only took me about an hour to get a decoder installed into a nearly 20 year old Atlas RS11 and get it running on a short length of test track. (most of that time was digging out my electrical tools - soldering iron etc - from where they had been packed during the move to our new house).
Again, I would like to express my thanks to everybody who has offered me advice on this - especially to Joe Fugate for all of the work he did in his Forum Clinic comparing the differnent brands of DCC systems.
Thanks! [tup]
-George
Good for you, George! [:)][tup] When you have a chance to really run the Zephyr through it’s paces, I want to encourage you to take the time to write a review on it - both the things you like and didn’t like about it. With that said, I think you’ll be happy with your choice…
Tom
Congratulations and welcome to the 21st century, even if you’re running steamers. DCC gives a whole 'nother dimension to your trains. Each engine is now an independent entity, and isn’t tied to the block or track it happens to be running on. This weekend, I bought my first sound-equipped engine, and I’ve spent a lot of non-quiet time huffing and puffing around, tooting the whistle and ringing the bell.
My problem is, I model 1967, and I’ve fallen in love with an 0-6-0. I do have a few old wood passenger cars, so I may open up an “excursion” train, but more likely I’ll buy some Jordan vehicles and set the Wayback Machine for, say, the 1930’s?
Off topic but…welcome to the world of Yesteryear. The '20s and '30s are a great period to model. Cars and trucks were in mass production, but shipping via LCL railroad was still a way of life in most small towns. Or go back to the 19th century, with small beautiful engines and cars, short trains, and learn the differences between the various horse-drawn vehicles. Wait until you turn a 4-4-0 into a gem, and install sound.
Fred W