hi all,
i have been out of the model railroad for about 12 years (ever since the ex-wife sold my intire collection) my son is really instrested in model railroading and i have been looking into getting back into it. my Question is : i’m looking at a dcc system made by roco. the ad states that it can run 99 units at once. is this a good starter system or do i need to get a different system to start with?? thanks in advance… donnie
You are going to find some very opinionated people on the DCC topic here on these forums. My $0.02 is if you are going for simple/beginner, go with the DigiTrax Zephyr. Not a huge investment, nor is it super complex. Following, its not the most powerful system on the market.
[#welcome]U.p. fan
As Claymore1977 has indicated, there will be more opinions here than there are DCC systems available on the market.
Do you have a local hobby shop and/or a local model railroad club ? I would suggest looking at what they carry in DCC systems and also ask what do most model raidroaders use in your immediate area.
If possible, visit a train show. See, touch and ask questions.
You can use the search forum function. The following is a really good starter.
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/626238/ShowPost.aspx
Have fun and regards,
I like my digitrax Empire Builder. Have tried MRC, OK but not so flexible. but easy to use. Lenz? The one I used about 4yrs ago was difficult to use and I felt the controller was illogical. Some of their components were good though,ala the reversing moddules.
I am a Digitrax fan. My grandkids all want to use the UTr radio throttle so they can walk around with thier train when they run it. When I can afford it I need to get four of them so they can all use one at the same time and we can have a really crowed railroad.
You will not save money by buying too cheap and having to toss it if you get serious. Though I went with the super chief, The Zephyr sure gets a lot of good press from the people who own it.
Wanting to try DCC, I bought Roco on E-Bay because of the cost. I now have a system with three controllers with very little money spent. It works fine for my small railroad. The big drawback to the Roco system is the lack of support. If you try this sytem be very cautios in trying cable extensions like Wal-Mart. I did and now two controllers will only work as slaves and not as masters. If the Roco was supported better I could get new parts. I have found very few Roco users. If money wasn’t a factor I would go with Digitrak. Welcome to the DCC world! It is fabulous!!
Cliffs in Buellton, CA.
thanks for the advise guys! next question, where can you find these products at?? there is no clubs in the area and the one hobby shop close that is not worth my time to go to.(they told me the dcc systems are a joke and not worth wasting your money on) the closest place for me is about 2 hours away. thanks donnie
u.p. fan,
Here are the manufacture’s web sites for a couple of brands
Digitrax - http://www.digitrax.com/ - for starter system look at Zepher
NCE - http://www.ncedcc.com/ncetest/nce2.htm - for starter system look at Power Cab
There are still others obviously.
Where can you get them ?
Given you are two hours away from a LHS that may carry DCC, you could consider purchasing from the internet. There are many. Here are a few:
Litchfield Station - http://litchfieldstation.com/lobby/index.htm
Loy’s Toys - http://www.loystoys.com/
Empire Northern Models - http://www.empirenorthernmodels.com/index.htm
The selection of a DCC system is largely a matter of personal choice. Basically, given that these systems follow NMRA standards what will vary from product to product is:
Cost
Available power to run trains
What is needed to expand the capabilities of the initial system
How the cab works - this is the part you, the engineer, operate the trains with
Item 4 is the touchy feely part I was alluding to earlier. Some people prefer to have a knob to control train speed, some prefer a thumbwheel etc. etc. This is the closest part of a DCC system you will come in contact with. Once the wiring is in and the command station connected there will be
The good news is that things have progressed quite a bit in 12 years. I was away from this hobby for 25 years. I am glad I don’t have a lot of my old stuff to retrofit with DCC decoders, sound etc… I am a Digitrax fan but as everyone said all have pros and cons. You’ll find the most support here for Digitrax and NCE, just based upon the number of users.
Welcome back. Also if you feel the urge, it is Ok to have your son as mommy "So where is all of daddy’s old train stuff? "