A bought a ZIMO MX31ZL system a while ago. I will try to tell you all what I think about it.
Let’s start from the beginning. I once owned a NCE Power Cab. I bought it just to be able to test run all the locos I bought. The plan was to buy a wireless system in the future. I talked to NCE support about this and they told me that NCE will release a wireless system for europe in about a year. That was good news because the frequencies used in the US are not allowed in Sweden. So I can’t just import and use a wireless system from the US. But after a year NCE suddenly told me that this was not going to happen. I’m very disappointed. So I sold my NCE system and I will never go back.
I discovered ZIMO and their wireless system for europe. It had been on the market for many years. ZIMO DCC systems are expensive. But it’s also the best DCC system on the market. You get what you pay for. One nice feature is the display that can have three different colors depending on the mode.
GREEN background – LOCO MODE.
RED background – SWITCH MODE.
YELLOW background – INPUT MODE: Address, menu, list of names, programming and more.
ZIMO MX31ZL is much smaller then the Power Cab. Dimensions Wfront – Wrear x Hfront – Hrear x L … 58 - 69 mm x 23 - 39 mm x 150 mm. It weights only 135 g. Here is a picture so you can compare it to the size of my hand:
It’s possible to buy a wireless Cab (MX31FU) and connect it to the MX31ZL. MX31FU looks similar to the ZL, the only difference is a small antenna. This is my plan. I will use the MX31ZL as the stationary (switching) cab for North Yard and the wireless cab for the rest. I will also use ZIMO’s train running software. I can then do OP sessions with myself, a friend and the computer takes care of the rest. It takes a while to learn this system, but you will not outgrow it.
