if you have a PowerCab, it doesn’t make sense to buy another
but at our club, several members will bring their PowerCabs from home and use them, or when operating on a friends layout. When plugged into a layout with a NCE DCC system, they come up as cabs and need unique cab numbers which are easily configurable.
(The electronic copies of the PowerCab manual (1.65) says (pg 14) an extra cab must be cab address 3 which implies that only one additional cab can be used on a system with a PowerCab. However, my printed manual says an extra cab must be set to address “3, 4 and/or 5” which implies three additional cabs can be used.)
Originally, the PowerCab only supported one additional throttle. 1.65 expanded that, but with a major bug - if you do a full system reset, it reverted to the original behavior. 1.65B is what you should have, that supports the extra addresses for additional cabs and doesn’t have the fallback bug.
If you have a POowerCab and wanted an extra full feature throttle, the only reason to chose another PowerCab over getting just the ProCab would be if you want a spare in case it breaks. Or you want to set up a test track away from the layout and don;t feel like unplugging the PowerCab all the time - because you CAN buy just the PCP and a power supply to accomplish the same thing and move the one PowerCab from the layout to the workshop and back.
If you have a PowerCab and expand by buying a full PH Pro system, or get the SB5, there is NO reason to buy a second PowerCab.
If I were the OP…and I wanted a throttle like my Power Cab…and I had a choice between a ProCab throttle that cost me $150 (discounted) and another Power Cab that costs $180 (discount), I personally would spend the extra $30 because it gives me more options:
I can leave PC #1 hooked up to operate my layout
I can use PC #2 at my bench (using the 2nd PCP that came with my PC #2) for programming while I operate trains on my layout…or,
I (or a friend) can walk over and plug PC #2 either into the RIGHT connector port of the PCP panel for PC #1 or a UTP panel that I have in another location of my layout to operate another locomotive
I couldn’t accomplish 2 & 3 with just a CAB-06 or a ProCab throttle.
Is it the most effective way to approach the use of multiple throttles? - Perhaps not. Is it the most economical way to approach the use of multiple throttles? - No. It does give me the most options though for a little more $$$ than a ProCab throttle.
That was the primary point of my earlier thread when I spelled out all the various options to the OP about adding an additional throttle to his home layout. If the OP just wants an extra throttle for his layout, the CAB-06 is just fine and less expensive.
The differemnce comes in which cord is used to plug it in. At home as a Power Cab, the flat cable (6 conductor) is used to connect to the layout through the PCP, which feeds it the power provided through the wall wart that powers it.
Used alternatively as a throttle on layouts powered by a Power Pro system, the curled cord (4-conductor) is used to connect the Power Cab to the control bus via plugging into a UTP. Then it acts like a standard Power Pro throttle.
Additionally, it is (was?) an option to special order a Power Cab with the wireless radio option so no cord would be needed when used on a Power Pro system.
it’s not the cord that makes it operate as a cab. It’s that it receives cabbus poll message sent by the commands station that makes it operate as a regular cab (not a PowerCab).
even if you used a 6 conductor cord on a club layout with a command station, the 2 outside conductors aren’t connected to anything on the UTP. (see jack labeled “Right Front” below, which is how the UTP jacks are wired)
if you plugged a PowerCab into the PCP jack with the track connections using a 4 conductor cord, it would come up as a PowerCab beacuse it wouldn’t see any cabbus polls. Of course there would be no track power because the PowerCab isn’t connected to the track because of the cord.
pins 2 & 5 provide power to the cab/PowerCab on either the PCP or UTP
Looks like they made the right decision to leave off that DPDT switch which would send track power out the rear 6p6c socket. That would only confuse people.
i thought this was interesting. Does NCE save money by only using a 6 conductor RJ-12 jack for the one carrying track power and 4 conductor jacks everywhere else
at least on my PCP, all the jacks are the same and have 6 conductorsd and NCE UTP schematic below shows 6 conductor RJ-12 jacks
i was wondering why even support carrying track power to another panel. I think it’s the ability to have the PCP panel away from the layout and provide power to the track from a distant UTP panel.
Counting contacts, all the connector ports on my PCP board are 6-contact. So NCE is apparently using 6-contact connector ports for all connections and only wiring the LEFT front connector port for track power. That makes inventory easier since you only need to track a single part rather than two.
I’d love to know what sites you are referencing as i have not found anything close to htose prices when I search inline. Granted, I’m not a teenage Google whiz kid that seem to be able to find the smallest trivia in under 30 seconds!
NCE uses MAP - minimum advertised price. They set the minimum price a retailer can publish on their page. So you can’t just pop on your favorite site and check the price shown - you have to actually add the item to your cart and then see how much you REALLY are going to pay.
