Hi
As most of you probably read in my other form on nce vs mrc I was trying to decide between the 2 dcc systems. Well now I found a website (http://www.amhobby.com/download/dcc_compare-ahd.pdf) that compares multiple systems. When looking threw that, I found that the lenz set-100 did the same things as the nce power pro set and It was over $100 cheaper. I am wondering if some people could share some of their experiences with these sets and the pros and cons of going with the lenz set.
thanks
It seems that in some peoples minds, cheap always wins. But – you get what you pay for.
The two best DCC systems on the market today are Digitrax and NCE, hands down. Both in ease of use and setup, for expanding as your RR grows, and manufacturer chip upgrades, fixes, and service. Both are US companies. Made in the USA and all that.
Remember, manufacturers will tell you anything to sell their product, but recommendations from users is the very best source of information.
I have NCE at home, and we have Digitrax at our club.
The chart referenced to is way out of date. Pretty useless in my opinion.
I bought my Lenz Set 100 about 7 years ago. It has worked flawlessly ever since. It’s a matter of personal preference, but I like the large hand-held throttle with the big buttons. The Set 100 comes with the LH100 throttle. I added on an LH90 throttle, and I never use it. If you want a second throttle, get another LH100. Programming and consisting is very awkward with the LH90, while it’s easy with the LH100. The LH90 holds 8 locomotives on its “stack,” while the LH100 holds a whopping 32.
Lenz does not make a wireless throttle, but I think the CVP wireless throttle will work with a Lenz system.
I installed a control bus all around the fascia. The Lenz units use 5-pin DIN plugs and jacks, which you can buy at electronics stores.
The Lenz base station provides 5 amps. That’s plenty of power for almost any home layout. It does not include a power supply, so plan on another $40 or so to get a 5-amp supply. (Get that right away. Don’t try to save money buy running it off an old 1-amp train transformer. It works, but you’ll run out of power pretty quickly.)
Remember, though, it’s a design that’s getting on in years. The newer models support more DCC sound functions, but the keypad is the same, so you need multi-key combinations to get to them. I can live without crew chatter and station announcements that they put up in those high function numbers, so it doesn’t bother me.
That chart is way out of date, plus there is no explanation whatsoever of just what all those things mean. Hey, 10 sound sbetter than 5 - yes, but does it MATTER?
Also, AMHD is now the US distributor for Lenz - oh and its also Tony’s Train Exchange. And QS Solutions, distributor of QSI decoders. Oh and DCC Specialties. Conflict much? I know many people have gotten great service from Tony’s, but to say they aren’t biased a bit in their recommendations would be a bit naive to say the least.
Before reading any thrown together comparison chart, you need to understand what they are comparing and how it affects your choices of layout design and intended use. SO you cna spot the mistakes. Quick glance tells me severla thigns are wrong with that, besides the out of dateness.
Unlimited locos in a consist? That’s true of ALL systems - if you use the basic consisting method of assigning the same address. If they intended to list the actual capacities using more advanced features, then NO system is “unlimited”
The MU capaibilties row - meaningless with the data they have there. If they inteded to say HOW you can MU with a given system, as inferred by the fact that for the Zephyr they say “same address” which is WRONG, then they shoudl list the MU methods supported - most systems supprot all 3 options - making the row useless sicne all systems listed would have the same thing written there. If they meant to list the default methiod used by each system, well, then the ones with numbers in that row are not the correct answer, and the “same address” listed for the Zephyr is still wrong.
Total functions is woefully out of date. If you count that the Zephyr is actually repalced witht he Zephyry Xtra, they ALL support 29 functions now. If you want to include the no longer prodced Zephyr, it’s 9 for that one, not 10.
Max current is ok except tor PowerCab - they must have written that before it was released.
Software upgrades is where it gets misleading
Aside from the out-of-date and/or incorrect comparison data already listed, note that Lenz and the Power Cab are VERY different to use. I find the NCE system simple and straightforward to use. To me, Lenz is not intuitive at all and I dislike setting up Lenz throttles. I would urge anyone considering Lenz to try out the system first to see if you can get used to how it works, even more so than with NCE, Digitrax or EasyDCC. You may find the cheaper cost of entry comes with a user interface that annoys you like it does me.
Unlike most on this forum that has responded so far I have an experience with both systems. Both systems are very good. The NCE system is probably more beginner friendly than the Lenz. Both systems are upgradeable and adaptive to change. Lenz uses a DIN plug on their throttles that is easy to plug and unplug where NCE uses a little telcom connector that can and will fail after multiple uses. I love the LH90 engineers throttle with the big knob and direction toggle. Functions 0 through 4 is a one touch deal and higher functions that I never use is several button presses. Functions can be set to momentary or latch on latch off unlike other systems. The loconet system does not need additional power supplies like some systems need when doing multiple throttles. Like NCE each throttle needs it own address. As Mr B has stated the LH100 is a super throttle.
I have an NCE system at home. It is more user friendly and easy to use. The large hammer head throttle is hard to beat. I have had problems with the Telco connector but is easily repaired with the proper tools.
Both systems are very capable.
Pete
I have Lenz on my home layout. Recently I installed a NCE system so that I could evaluate NCE as possible system for our club layout. I would agree that NCE system is a little easier to learn.
For my purposes, the downside with Lenz is that it does not support turnout routing and doesn’t have a full featured wireless throttle. The main downside with NCE (and Digitrax) is the oversize throttles which aren’t as pleasant to use as the Lenz one.
As noted above, best to try both and see what you prefer.
Lenz is certainly a very capable and well made system, and was a “finalist” for me when I was deciding on a system a few years ago. One thing you might want to take note of is Lenz’s prices have increased quite a bit over the past couple of years and may cost as much or more than the Power Pro set now.
thanks for warning me about how many things are wrong with that comparison. Having looked deeper they are both about the same price and both jmri compatible. For the sake of $2 more, I think I’ll go with the NCE power pro system.
thanks again
Hi,
I use a Lenz system from the first year it was produced.
Update were made to the system by Lenz via my hobby shop.
I never had any kind of failure whith the system.
I am a Nscaler and use a lot of lenz decoders as well as Digitrax, both performed very well but it seems the Digitrax are somewhat a little more fragile, but i’ts my opinion.
Many guys forget that DCC is based on Lenz protocole which offered it to NMRA years ago.
Lenz give all the basis for a universal system.
However some things are not easy to program but it seems to be the same by the others manufacturer.
A recent forum here in Europe say it’s the more reliable system on the market which is full compatible and certainly offer one of the best brand of decoders.
The rest is Your own choice.
Marc
Interesting on the throttle size AGAIN. I can;t find information on the size of the NCE throttles, either the full hammerhead or the smaller CAB-04 and CAB-06 units but I did find dimensional data on Digitrax and Lenze. The Lenz throttles are 2.6" wide, Digitras is 2.4". Lenzis. is .9" thick, Digitrax is .85" thick. Height is really irrelavent to fitting in your hand. Width and thickness are the main factors, and Digitrax throttles are smaller than Lenze, so I dunno about this “too big to hold comfortably in your hand” stuff comes from. Not to mention, not every user needs the biggest full featured throttle - the Digitrax UT throttles for basic train runnign are significantly smaller than either option from Lenz, and the same size or maybe a tad smaller than the train running throttles from NCE.
–Randy