OK so Im starting to put together the various things needed for the Layout/pike. Got the train, some other things etc…
but DCC is still a huge mystery to me what in your opinions is a good product to start with…
If I havent posted enough infomation with this question ask away and I’ll answer back quick. [:)]
Thanks as always for all your great help guys and gals.
Peace.
Coyote
I would suggest you go through some of the other pages in this forum and you should find anything you need to know there. This subject comes up all the time and so there is a plethora of information already here.
There was one on the Bachmann EZ Command just the other day if memory serves.
Coyote,
PCarrell is right. This topic or subject comes up on the forum on a regular basis and everyone has their own opinions, likes, dislikes, and preferences. I depends on what you want to spend.
The system that is probably the best bang for your buck and has the ability to expand, as your layout expands, is the Digitrax Zephyr. It has 2-1/2 amps of power (or, enough oomph to run about 5-6 locomotives simultaneously) and will run you between $150-160 discounted.
I have the Bachman EZ Command system, which is a good, basic, no-frills, 1-amp DCC system. I run my 4 x 8’ layout with it. The Bachmann is limited in what it can do. You can program/change the decoder addess, turn the headlights on and off, run multiple locomotives as one BIG locomotive (sometimes called MUing or consisting), and play with a few sound effects - i.e. if your locomotives is equipped with a sound decoder. What you can’t do with the Bachmann EZC system that you can with more sophisticated DCC systems (like the Zephyr) is change or alter the decoder CVs. I picked up my Bachamann for around $53.
Tom
DIGITRAX would be a good place to start. They’ve got a great web site if you’re interested.
Grande Man,
As always Thank you! Great advice I will check them out.
Peace.
Coyote
if this means you’re only planning on having one train (loco) then you don’t even need DCC . if you’re like everyone else here , that 1 loco will soon lead to many more so going with DCC now is a good idea so you don’t end up with 20 engines that you want to convert (lots of work and $$$ to do them all at once )
here are a few questions you need to consider while reading up on the various DCC systems …
i’m sure there are more questions
and i’m sure you’ll have more questions
[:p]
No more than 3 or 4 at very most.
At least 2 for sure.
Wireless would be my choice [:D] but teathered would be acceptable.
Honestly haven’t thought on that at all. What exactly is ment by ease of decoder programing?
Without question, yes!
Can’t answer that one beacuse I honestly do not understand the question. Could you explain?
I put a few up above [:)] Thanks for the questions and help.
Peace.
Coyote
This web page has information for DCCbeginners and many super tips and reviews on DCC and trains in general. .
Coyate -
Sounds like a smaller system, say a Digitrax Zephyr or an Atlas Commander would work for you.
Check out
http://www.dcctrains.com/productcompare/dcccomparison.htm
for details on these systems (and more questions to ask!).
And DO read over Tony’s DCC primer (at the URL that a couple of folks gave you) - it will answer a lot of questions you might have !!!
At last a DCC question I can answer. The road number is just that. The number painted on the side of the locomotive that is used to identify it. Normaly this is a 3 or 4 digit number. To take control of a locomotive on the layout you need to know the ID number the DCC system has assigned to it. Some of the smaller systems only use 2 or 3 digits to ID the locomotive and some are easier to change than others. To be able to have the the road number of the locomotive be programed in as the DCC ID makes remembering the ID numbers much easier.
Try and get your hands on a system before you buy. I was convinced Digitrax was the system I wanted until I saw it at the National Train Show. It is a nice system but I thought the controlers were…frail looking. I still may get the Digitrax but I am looking at the NEC PowerCab also. It’s controler looked at least as robust as a good TV remote.
Ease of decoder programming, what’s that you ask?
You put a decoder in a loco to get it to run on DCC. Decoders cost from $15-$20 for a basic decoder, to $35-$50 for a fancy decoder, all the way up to $75-$150 for a decoder that does sound.
Once you have a decoder in your loco, you need to set it up with the options you want, tune the loco performance (slow start, top speed, braking delay, how you want the lights to work [regular, rotating beacon, gyralight, etc.], things like that). This decoder setup is called programming the decoder, and you put values into special “configuration variables” in the decoder, called CVs.
Without a computer interface, you can program CVs with your DCC system, but if you want anything but the most basic settings, you may need to study the decoder manual carefully to figure out what CVs do what, and what binary value settings turn what feature on and off.
With a computer interface and a PC, you don’t have to know a lot about CVs and binary settings, you can just point and click options with a mouse on your PC to adjust the settings in your loco decoders. If you expect to “tweak” with your loco settings a lot (speed matching with speed curves for consisting, and so on), I consider having a computer interface a must so you can easily and quickly tune your loco decoders.
Basic programming of CVs with the keypad that comes with any DCC system is fine, but more advanced loco tuning is a lot easier with a PC hooked to your system.
I have an extensive FORUM CLINIC I’m doing on here that gets into more of the details of setting up and using a DCC system. Once you know some of the DCC basics (I don’t really cover those in my forum) then you can read the forum and probably learn useful things about how to make DCC work best for you. See: http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36389
Frail? How do you mean? The plastic is every bit as thick as that used on NCE and other controllers. My DT400 has already hit the floor (I really need to make a hook on the side of the layout and stop laying it on top) and not a scratch. The whole Zephyr console got nearly drug off by the weight of the wires but thankfully did not go all the way to the concrete.
–Randy
I just made the change from DC to DCC a couple of weeks ago. Without question, it was the way to go. That is, unless you see a problem with running trains and forgetting for the moment about the scenery, track and everything else. I’ve got a single loop with a passing siding, and two turnouts with climbs up to nowhere-yet. And I’m doing NOTHING but running trains with DCC. But, my order for wire and toggle switches just got here, so it’s back to work tomorrow, or maybe tonight if the giggly teenage girls vacate the family room.
Each system has its plusses and minuses. In good adherence to market economics, plusses are features and minuses are costs. I have a number of old locomotives, which draw more power than modern ones. So, I wanted a system that supported as much current as I could get, typically 5 Amps until you get way up to the club class systems. I wanted 4-digit addressing, because it’s the way things are going, and all but the oldest and most low-budget systems support it. I also wanted control over a lot of functions. This is one of the “fine print” features, but it’s going to be increasingly important. Right now, there are something like 12 or 13 functions defined, but many systems don’t support them all. If you buy a new decoder that, for example, plays Dixie when you activate F12, you’ll be out of luck with an older system. Computer control is nice, and I may use it sometime, but I wouldn’t pay extra for it.
There are other less measureable factors, too. The NMRA standard makes sure that all decoders will work with all DCC systems. It does NOT make sure that all hand-held cabs will work interchangeably, and in fact they generally do not. So, make sure you like the hand-held.
With my requirements, which may not match anyone else’s, I chose a Lenz 100. I’m thrilled with it so far, and the only thing I’d rather have is an analog speed dial rather than pushbuttons, but I can live with that, and I may buy a hand-held from the Lenz 90 to get that,
I did not want to say that they were in any way cheap or fragile. I was surprised how small they were. I am a big guy and ham handed. My concern was that the unit would be difficult to hold on to and that the buttons would be easy to fat finger a few at a time. Like I said I may still buy the Digitrax. The controlers were my only concern.
I have fairly large hands too (makes assembling scale-size grab irons a real adventure sometimes, thank goodness for tweezers). I hold my DT400 in one hand and roll the throttle knob with my thumb, leaving my other hand free to work the control panel and uncouple cars. I think most peopel are afraid of the opposite - that with all those buttons it must be HUGE but it’s not. I find the NCE ProCab to be thicker and harder to reach the center-mounted thumbwheel, at least at first grab. The Lenz controllers seem REALLY wide compared to NCE and Digitrax.
Best bet is to try them out. I hold the DT400 down at my side - once I have a loco selected I seldom look at the display panel. Which is why the ‘no selecting locos while wireless’ thing doesn’t bother me. An engineer will ‘climb on’ his or her loco at the terminal, and I see no operational need to select a DIFFERENT loco while making the run. Same with setting up consists, that’s the job of the yard operator or hostler, who then hands it off to the road crew. Need to call out a helper because the road train stalled on a grade? The helper crew runs that, not the road crew.
–Randy