? That is the only reason I’ve never considered NCE. I hate the big cluggy hammer-head throttles. I’ll switch as soon as they have a small throttle I can work with one hand like the CVP RF1300.
You only need the one hammerhead. NCE has plenty of smaller “engineer” throttles.
The NCE cab04P (simple engineer cab) has a larger throttle knob than the CVP 1300, and is easy to operate one-handed. I also find the clearly labeled “select loco” and “horn” buttons make it very easy for new operators to work the throttle with minimal instruction. When I was running EasyDCC with some wireless 1300 throttles, I’d always get the new guys asking me, “so how do I assign this thing to a loco again?”.
Buttons clearly labeled with unabbreviated plain english really helps. Using “#”, ‘*’, ‘ACQ’, or ‘SEL’ to label command buttons isn’t as good and always seems to result in questions from visiting operators.
And with DecoderPro, I hardly even use my one hammerhead throttle on my NCE system. I can do 90% of what I need to do with DecoderPro. With DecoderPro as an option, complaining about the massive Digitrax DT400 handheld or the NCE dogbone ergonomics is much less of an issue. You’ll use those throttles so seldom with DecoderPro that it pretty much equalizes the DCC systems with regard to programming is concerned.
The so-called “hammerhead” throttle feels balanced in my hand and is easy to operate trains one handed, it has never felt “cluggy”. I do also have two of the “engineer” throttles and use them all pretty much equally.
I have big hands, so the Hammerhead feels very good to me. The other option is the square DT400…
David B
As a new DCC user, all two weeks of it, I find the “hammerhead” very comfortable to use. Like Joe interjected , decoder pro handles all the hard part for me, I even like the thumb wheel which some people seem to not like. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll become more informed and picky, But the NCE power pro was a great choice for me.
Most people who dislike the ProCab, who think its too big or difficult to use, are ones who have never tried it. The comments in this thread seem to reflect this. But, once someone actually uses a ProCab for a short period of time they find it easy to use, that its fits in their hand quite well, is nicely balanced and easy to operate with one hand.
David…
Thanks for explaining, that helps. When comparing MRC with NCE and Digitrax I found that they all have pretty much the same functions at the end of the day. It’s some of the smaller things that make me more comfortable with the MRC unit vs. the others. Digitrax is a great system don’t get me wrong. However, it just seems that the programming is a little much. The MRC system has everything on the back of the hand held unit. There is also no toggle switch to control for direction. On the MRC unit, when you are looking to back up your loco you simply turn the nob counter clockwise instead of guessing what direction you have the toggle switch. Now this is the smaller hand controls for Digitrax not the DT400 as it has the direction in the display screen. I would not buy all DT400’s for my operators, but get the smaller units instead. I also do not really like the Digitrax display screen either.
Now when it comes to the NCE system…I understand that it is a great system I have never used that system. One of the members at the club I’m in has the system and really loves it. This is really small but I don’t like the slider for the speed control. I like to use the nob style.
Now with the MRC system…a friend of mine just purchased one and is in the middle of setting it up. I’ve never used this system either but I have seen the control and much prefer the feel of this control. It seems to be an easy system to use. I will know more when he does have his system up and running.
This is nothing against the other systems out there. This just seems to be the way I am looking towards. Any other info you may have to help would be great. Thanks David.
Kutter
Kutter, keep in mind the one major flaw that MRC has right now…no computer connection. As Jeff has mentioned before, a computer connection makes the programming argument obsolete and equalizes all systems. Unfortunately for MRC, because they have no computer connection, they are way behind the curve. Hence, MRC is much more difficult to programme than Digitrax. Lenz or NCE.
MRC has announced a computer connection, but it requires that you either buy a wireless conversion first or buy their computer connection with the wireless conversion (putting the MSRP at about 280 dollars, 180 without the conversion [assuming you are already wireless]). Not to mention, even if you have the connection, it will take the folks at JRMI a long while to make sure it is compatable with Decoder Pro.
For those of us who use Decoder Pro, it means that MRC is not an option. I recommend that you download Decoder Pro (it is free) and give it a look over. You will see how it is your best DCC tool.
David B
This thread pretty much confirms what I have been feeling for some time and that is that Digitrax has fallen behind the others with respect to command and control.
I think that Joe F. really puts it into perspective very well in his first post. Digitrax has a reputation for innovative leaps and we are now in that pregnant-pause awaiting their next move. What it will be?, when it will happen? and if it will be truly innovative, jumping ahead of NCE and others remains to be seen.
The fact is, that the Zephyr is the last command and control innovation from Digitrax and it is 7 years old now. The list of command stations released since then by other manufacturers is rather long.
That might be true in general but definitely not true for me. In fact the NCE is the first DCC system I used on a regular basis. Several of the layouts in the operating groups I frequent use it. I know about the other throttles, but this thread was specifically talking about the wireless. They don’t have a smaller wireless do they?
Yep. Last two on this page:
David
JRMI will not work with the MRC wireless system??? Do they have a program of there own that they want you to use instead??? Didn’t realise that MRC was not computer friendly. That might change things as I’m still searching for a DCC system. Are MRC looking at this issue of no computers???
The one thing that bugs me is that MRC is non NMRA compliant. They seem to be happy outside the box and do things on thier own. NCE,Digitrax,Lenz,Loksound,CVP all strive to meet NMRA
specs. In my opinion MRC is still toy like and not striveing to meet serious modelers demands. They have programing issues and most of thier decoders do not support CVs that make them compatable to others.
Kutter:
MRC is working on a compter interface. They haven’t yet announced its availability or what it will do. Apparently it will be wireless but we don’t yet know exactly how it wil work. The prices presently listed on their website sound a little high but they are MSRP and street prices should be much lower.
I emailed them a couple of days ago asking for estimated time of availability but haven’t heard back yet. I will post the answer when I get it.
They are definitely coming out with one and some time back they requested input from their customers as to what they would like the interface to do. So it’s coming. We just don’t know when.
locoi1sa:
We don’t want to confuse MRC DCC system quality with their decoder quality. They have certainly had serious issues with decoders, although they may be getting better?? I have a newer one that works very well, and they have announced other improvements that will be made. However, time will tell and they really have to do a lot better if they want to win back some unhappy decoder users.
Their DCC systems perform very well. Mine is excellent and I’ve heard good reports from others. Some hobby shop personnel have put out negative info about MRC DCC systems, but I think that may have related to earlier versions, or were confusing systems with decoders, because what some sales people have told me just isn’t true at the present time.
I’m no great defender of MRC but have to say that in my experience their systems perform very well and are really easy to use.
Based on this comparative chart on Tony’s website, Digitrax is also a non NMRA compliant system.
http://www.tonystrains.com/productcompare/dcccomparison.htm
Granted the chart needs to be updated, but considering that Digitrax has not come out with a new command station in years there is no reason to think that it has changed.
While Digitrax may not have submitted their command stations for testing, I don’t think you will find many people say that they are not completely compatible. As I understand it there were issues with the tests, and for a while, with the actual people doing the testing (in this case, I think there were people associated with competitors involved). As far as the tests go, there are some of the standards that are (in my opinion, as an engineer) pretty poorly written. Depending on how the test was designed, a perfectly compatible piece of equipment could fail, due to a different interpretation of an unclear requirement. I don’t know which of these issues still exist, but there are some docs on the Digitrax site pointing these things out.
As far as MRC goes, we know that they have gone their own way in decoders, and their system line has not shown a lot of coherence in it’s development (in my opinion). They should have been able to leverage their position as THE power pack company into a great spot in the DC market, in my opinion they totally whiffed on that.
jktrains,
It’s not that the Digitrax systems are “non-compliant” with the NMRA, they simply have not submitted any products to the NMRA for testing after they sent in their DB150 booster (which reportedly did pass the NMRA tests and is, oddly enough, not listed on that comparison chart). Not being tested is not the same as failing the test.
Also note that the chart is wrong or out of date in several places. The number of locos per consist for the Zephyr is not “unlimited”, it’s 10. The MU capabilities of the Zephyr is not “Same Address”, it’s 10. Total functions for the Zephyr is 9, not 10. The Zephyr does indeed do Direct Mode programming even tho’ the chart says it doesn’t. Also, they mention the DT100 Digitrax throttle at the end of the chart, but that’s been out of production for many years.
Jeff,
The relationship mentioned at the time was the head of the NMRA Working Group was the husband of the Lenz North American Representative. That’s certainly an appearance of bias for that time period.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven