YES !!THAT IS RIGH I AM AND I NEED TO KNOW WAT IS THE BEST DCC SYESTEM TO BUY I GET PAID GOOD ALLOWECE WEN I DO THINGS FOR MY PARENTS SO PLEASE HELP
How good an allowance? I am 15, and I am having trouble even dreaming of one. I t also depends on your layout. Could you tell us more about your situation?
Matthew
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, time to post DCC pics on the frig , I suggest MRC Prodigy
I would get the Digitrax Zephyr. The lenz 90 or 100 is good too but more expensive. NEVER get a prodigy or prodigy advance. Almost any DCC systems are good in thier own ways. The bachmann system is the bottom of the line and basically just runs trains. I have a zephyr and it works great. I have expanded it with more throttles, throttle panels and a booster along with a PC interface. But the system in the box is great to get started with. But Dont even get your locomotives near an MRC DCC system. The prodigy and prodigy advance sound tempting with lots of features at a low price but they are complete junk! We ordered a prodigy advance for the modules almost a year ago, hooked it up and started running trains. HUGE mistake. the thing randomly decides to stop running trains and maybe 10 seconds later will start up again. If you run a consist, all you can run is the consist and no other engines will respond. Not to mention the thing puts out 22-25 volts instead of the correct 16-18. After a couple months we had some decoders succumb to the beast so we sent it back to MRC. They sent us a brand new one and we had the same problems! Plus the programming interface is absolutely rediculous. Trust me, MRC makes some good DC power packs, but thier digital systems arent worth the box they come in. As I mentioned above I like the zephyr best, but if you go with MRC you are just asking for trouble.
If you’re never going to run more than 12 locomotives, the digitrax Zephyr is for you.
Why don’t you tell us what you REALLY think?? Did your locos take off like a bat out of he11 after that 10 second delay?? Like my MRC Command 2000 use to do??
Digitrax ever since…
Lenz basically invented DCC so you really can’t go wrong with them…
NCE has a good following too…
Ask the parents to supplement the system for Christmas if you’ve not quite saved enough for a system…
Tonys Train Exchange or Loys Toys are good places to learn about basic DCC, what it does, terms, and compare systems… Don’t overlook the NMRA either…
http://www.nmra.org/standards/consist.html#standards-DCC
Good luck
Jeff
[8D]
Thanks for your timley advice, Im just about to take the jump into DCC and was temted with the price of the MRC advance, from my angle it looked like great value, but I dont need any more frustration…
Mike…
Well that depends what speed you have them on. After the stop the train would jump back to its original speed setting. If it was going fairly fast than it was a big jolt.
elrod,
A few questions for you:
- How much money do you have saved up?
- What locomotives will you want to run using DCC?
- Have you considered the cost of outfitting your locomotives with decoders?
- Do you have a layout yet?
- If not, do you have one planned?
If I were you, elrod, I’d concentrate on 4 & 5 first before spending $$$ on a DCC system. Otherwise, your DCC system is just going to be sitting in a box and/or collecting dust.
Tom
If you have everything else set like someone before mentioned (state of your layout) the December MR has an article on choossing a DCC system with a chart for most of the systems out now. Maybe all of the systems are listed I’m not an expert. The club I belong to uses NCE and I enjoy it.
http://www.ncedcc.com/catalog1.html This will give you an idea on the price for decoders.
Maybe the Bachmann E-Z command would work for you. I have it for my 4x8 and love it. There is also a 10 amp booster and walk around accessories you can add on later. Go to www.wholesaletrains.com and you can get a great price on it.
elrod,
The Bachmann EZ Command is the most inexpensive DCC system on the market that you can purchase. I got mine form WholesaleTrain.com for slightly less than is presently advertised. Here’s the direct link:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/HOProducts2.asp?Scale=HO&Item=RGBVCW
It’s a limited system but a decent one. It won’t do all the things the more sophisticated DCC systems will do. But, it will get you into DCC - without breaking your piggy bank to do it. It gets my [tup] [tup] for a reasonably priced “get your feet wet” DCC system.
Tom
As a fellow Teenager who knows the value of a hard earned dollar from my Parents, I would recomend the Digitrax Zephyr. It’s got very little learning curve, and it’s easy to use, and it’s a fairly good value for the money. I wasn’t sure about it when I first parted with my hard earned money, but in the end, I am awefully happy. About the only limitation is that you can only run up to ten engines at a time, but for me that’s plenty. You also ahve the ability to add more throttle ports through the loco net system Digitrax offers; a thing I like because I can add a walk around throttle to the opposite side of the layout.
Noah
The Zephyr runs 12 at once.
Spend your allowance on a Tutor, you need the help spelling!!!
I should mention that the the Zypher can run 12 “consists” at once. That can be single locomotives or lashups of three or four units. Given the features of the system it can handle most small and medium sized layouts because the number of trains on the move at any one time is well within its capabilities.
James
The BEST one is the one you can afford , and learn from - all the thing’s you will want your 2nd one.
No matter WHAT you buy, it WON’T have thing’s you will want later on.
Listen to Tom Stage, who’s been there.
PS: Learn to use lower case, like this.
Give him a break…
He could be the doctor operating on you some day…
Kinda think 13 is not what he is, but thats only me. Just seems like the most obvious attempt at making somebody look 13 than I could ever imagine seeing.
accord1959,
elrod (not his real name) has been on here in the past. I remember him asking a number of questions a few months ago about how to raise money to build a layout. I think elrod is who he says he is…“just not his real name”. Sometimes you have to take people at face value…until they give you a good reason to think otherwise.
Tom