I am about to start buildind my own HO scale layout, and for a couple of years now, i’ve been away from the hobby, and DCC is new to me!
What exactly is DCC?
Thanks in advance.
It’s the hottest thing since sliced bread! DCC stands for Digital Command Control. Let’s look at the diference:
DC: What you had before was DC (direct Current) control, in the form of a power pack. This converted your 110AC wall current into 12V-DC. It controls the loco/s by increasing or decreasing the voltage to the track. At the full-off position, there is no current on the track, and the loco’s headlight goes out. The only way you can run multiple trains, is to isolate different sections of the layout into “cabs”. This takes miles of wire, rotary and toggle switches galore, and diagrams of which track belongs to each cab. In essence, you are running the track, not the locos.
DCC: This is a much more advanced system of control, and although you have to learn a whole new system, it greatly simplifies things also. In DCC, you usually have a separate power supply, and Command Station. The power supply converts the 110V AC to 16V-20V AC. This voltage is on all tracks, all the time (unless you choose to isolate a section for some reason. The locos are controlled by the Command Station sending AC “information packets” to specific locos. Each loco usually has a “decoder” installed in the loco. This is a small circuit chip that only responds to the signals addressed to it. You assign each loco an “address”. Some system have only 2-digit addresses such as 10,22,15. (Most assign the last two digits of the road number of the loco) Other systems support 4-digit addresses, like 3240, which can be the entire road number. Let’s say you have two locos, loca A is addressed to 10, and loco B is addresses to 11. With your throttle, you can start loco A and let it run on the main, then switch to loco B, and start switching the yard, while A keeps running until it receives new commands. Big deal you say, you can do that with cab control. Yes, but either loco can cross from main to yard and back without interfering with the other. You can also have multiple locos/trains on the same
Thanks a lot.
Sounds pretty complicated, but i beleive i can figure it all out!?
Great Post…
Actually, it is not complicated, that is the understated beauty of it all. Take a normal DC layout, with all of the block switches, controls, complicated manuevers, and the knowlege of wiring… (we aren’t talking Reverse loops, block detection, etc… that will require most of the same additional stuff, maybe more depending on just how complicated you feel like getting.)
Now start that same layout in DCC… JUST ADD POWER!
It is literally turnkey for the average layout. Complexity from there is the same after thought that you will reach either way. But it cannot be stressed enough that DCC is NOT COMPLICATED.
wow now i want to switch, actually i have been for awhile im think of the zephyr set, but my only problem is decoder!! ah!!! i dont know which ones to use what type of resistors!! nothing!! this why i wont switch but, ow i have atlas engines and athearn RTR that are easy, thats what they say on the box atleast. is adding decoders really hard?
MOPAC1,
GREAT! explanation. Thanks!
Diesel21,
Don’t let that extra ‘C’ scare ya [:D] From what I have read here on the forum that extra ‘C’ makes things work better.
UP9899,
Like you reading the posts on this forum has convinced me to go DCC. I have decided to go with Digitrax Zephyr. Here are 2 great charts from Tony’s Train Exchange to help resolve your decoder decision.
Mobile Decoder Matrix: http://www.dcctrains.com/productcompare/decoder_comparison.htm
Stationary Decoder Matrix: http://www.dcctrains.com/productcompare/sta_dec_comparison_features.htm
Hello Diesel.
MoPac’s explanation is right on the mark. I was very intimidated at first , but now I’m looking forward to building my first DCC layout. I’m very excited about the lighting features and using sound decoders (where you can make your locomotives sound like the real thing!) I will be using Digitrax for power and programming and Soundtraxx decoders on most of my HO diesels.
Suggestion: You may be a visual learner like me. Go to Litchfield Station on the web. Go to the DCC University category. There you will be able to download the same type of info given by MoPac, but it will be accompanied by colorful illustrative diagrams. Your computer needs to have ADOBE ACROBAT Reader on it. You’ll see that DCC wiring for a layout is actually easier than having to wire up the traditional block/cab system. In addition, you can e-mail the LItchfield Station owner, Bruce Petrarca, with any questions. He’s very good about answering within a couple of days. He’s sells DCC equipment considerably cheaper than the local hobby shops and performs excellent installations on locomotives. Check it out! Hope this helps! God Bless!
Look at the installation instructions, Digitrax for example has them all available on line in pdf format.
The vast majority of decoders just provide track power to the lights, and switch it on or off, with a common return. Use a 1/4w resistor with a 1.5V bulb, divide 18 by the rated amperage (in Amps, not mA; 1A = 1000mA) of the 1.5V bulb and that is the resitor that you should start with. If the bulb is too dim, go to a lower value, too bright a higher. There are similar calculations for LEDs.
See also: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mjmx/lights.htm which is a much better solution.