Is there anyone in the Des Moines,Iowa area using DCC on their layout who would be willing to let me come over and try it out? Club I belong to and myself are looking at switching to DCC.
Have a gander at:
FORUM CLINIC: Twelve years experience using DCC
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36389
I started with Lenz 100. Why? Because their XpressNet is a universal protocol network and is supported by more manufacturers than any other.
I use both the 90 and 100 throttles and have just added the CVP wireless throttle.
You have far more choices of throttles than any other single brand. Even the Atlas throttles are compatible although I do not own any.
But strangely, I prefer the Lenz 100 throttle for ease of use. With practice, it becomes second nature to use it with one hand without even without looking at the throttle. Much like using a typewiter or computer keyboard.
Any brand that supports XpressNet is compatible.
I also use the Lenz USB computer interface for all of my decoder programming.
I use Lenz decoders for all my lcomotives because of their no questions asked warranty. I have not blown a decoder (as yet) due to my own fault or otherwise.
But it is nice knowing that when it does happen Lenz will replace it… free!
I have no doubt that all manufacturers produce good working DCC systems.
But having 42 years of computer, Ham Radio and R/C Flying experience, I feel qualified to rate Lenz as a superior product.
If one always follows the crowd and buys a brand because of number of units, it will always be so for that brand. But this NEVER proves that brand as superior.
Think about automobiles 25 years ago. If we all continued to buy the leading brand because of sales figures, do you think for one minute our present autos would be much better today than they were then?
Opps… just fell off my soap box!
Umm, not sure what you mean by a “universal protocol network”. All of the DCC networking protocols are proprietary, which is why you can’t plug your Lenz throttles into, for example, an NCE or Digitrax system. The Atlas throttles work with your Lenz because that’s who makes them for Atlas. CVP uses ExpressNet under license or other agreement , which is a common arrangement.
And not to knock Lenz , but as far as XpresssNet being supported by more manufacturers, have you ever looked at Digitrax’s LocoNet? I haven’t done an actual count of how many manufacturers support LocoNet vs. XpressNet, so I won’t make a blanket statement one way or the other. But I’ve got to admit that I’ve seen at least as many 3rd party manufacturers of LocoNet-compatable equipment as I have for Lenz. You can even set up and run a stand-alone LocoNet using ONLY 3rd party equipment. No command station, Digitrax or otherwise, is needed. I’m not sure you can do that with XpressNet.
Yup, that’s why there’s discussions on other forums about how the LS150 has a bug that prevents you from setting up the 6th output for stall-type switch machines, and how the LZ100 rejects commands if they’re sent in too rapid of succession. Again, not to knock Lenz, because ALL the DCC manufacturers have had their share of misfires. But it illustrates that Lenz isn’t up on a pedestal and immune from having any misfires of it’s own.
My advice to the OP is to get information about and try out as many
Hypothetical question:
If I wired a layout for a DCC system manufactured by the XYZ company and later decided to switch to a DCC system from the ABC company would I need to re-wire the layout assuming both systems are NMRA compliant?
Nope. Should be 100% compatible.
Most of the track wiring would be the same, or at the least very, very close.
However, you might need to change out the throttle buss or throttle panels and possibly some wiring for accessory stuff like detection, stationary decoders, and so forth.
The NMRA Standards basically only cover stuff like the format and content of the DCC packets. That’s an over-simplication but you get the idea.
For example, anyone’s decoder will work with anyone else’s booster (command station) because that booster puts NMRA-spec packets on the rails and the NMRA-spec decoder knows how to interpret them.
On the other hand, the NMRA Standards don’t cover things like how the throttle “talks” to the command station, or whether a stationary decoder is powered off of the track buss or uses an external power supply, etc. Those things are left up to each manufacturer. Since they don’t all use the same methods, switching from one to the other may or may not require wiring changes.
HTH,
Steve