i have a 4x8 layout that will be running 3 engines and i want dcc, i dont need sound i just want something that will let me control the trains easly. im using bachmanns ez track
If you just want to control a few trains and are not interested in programming CV’s or anything like that, you can use the Bachmann EZ-Command system. It allows you to control speed, direction and lights. Or you can take a step up to the Digitrax Zephyr. I use one from time to time and it’s not hard. It does cost a bit more though.
I second the motion on the Bachmann EZ Command.
It is simple, basic, and inexpensive.
It controls lights, speed and direction.
I bought it for the same reasons you desire, and to get my feet wet with DCC.
One can always upgrade to a more expensive DCC system like the Zephyr later.
There’s also MRC’s Prodigy Express and NCE’s Power Cab 2 amp system. Both sell for around $150 and you can program CV’s with them.(a VERY useful thing)
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=83347
At that price point you might as well throw in the Digitrax Zeyphr option for $159.
since i use the mrc squared and use digitrax decoders i wish digitrax would make their cv values easier to set not 008x 8000000000.5000989 you get my point. just give me cv=50 and the value .
The Bachmann EZ Command is OK as a starter system, but it lacks an “upgrade path.” If you start with a Zephyr, then you can add on additional throttles, etc., as the need arises. With the EZ Command, “upgrade” means the same as “replace.”
I know you said you’re “not interested in sound,” but I felt the same way a couple of years ago. My LHS has an in-store layout, and does decoder installations. Frequently, there is an engine being “tested” when I walk in the door. (Either that, or Gerry, the owner, is just playing with trains, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be true.) Anyway, I heard my first sound-equipped steamer, and I was hooked. This may happen to you, and if it does, you’ll find that the EZ Command only supports a few “function keys,” and won’t play many of the available sounds which today’s engines are capable of making.
I use Digitax, and have absolutely no idea what you are talking about above. I find CVs easy to set.
ok then explain to me what is 008x008 for motor control, i dont have the decoder manual in front of me right now so bare with me.
It is not an equation, they are separate numbers. 008 is the decimal (base 10) number 8, x008 is the hexadecimal (base 16) number 8. Use one or the other. The “x” is not part of the number, but rather just indicates that it is a heXadecimal number for your reference. They will be the same when the number is less than 10. They will be different above that. Hexadecimal is commonly used by computer programmers. You can just use the decimal number unless you are writing software.
so it would be cv=8 ,since it is under 10
Yes
thanks, but how does it work if it is above 10?
Just ignore the number after the X. You don’t need it unless you are writing programs.
But to answer your question, Hex uses 16 numbers instead of 10.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F,20 etc.
11 in hex would be 17 in decimal.
We use the decimal system because we have 10 fingers and that’s how we developed math.
Computers use binary (base 2). 1, 10, 11, 100, 101 etc.
As you can see, the numbers get very big very fast and so would be too bulky for us. Octal (base 8), and hexadecimal (base 16) are very easy to convert to binary, even in your head. Decimal is not. So computer code is written in Hex.
You don’t need to know any of that with the NCE or MRC systems.
It’s not a DCC system issue. You don’t “need” to know Hex conversions to use a Digitrax system either. What they are discussing are bit mapped CVs. In that case you need to know how to convert bit mapped CVs to decimal, regardless of the system you are using. Most decoder manuals have the conversions or give you the decimal values.
The other option is to use something like JMRI, which gives you a GUI to set the parameters. In that case the person who wrote the XML file for the decoder did the conversion for you.
You obviously didn’t read the first sentence. You don’t need to know any of it with Digitrax, either. He just didn’t know what the second column of numbers meant. Now he does.