Just in case anyone has been following my saga about my MRC DCC system, as this afternoon, its done. Thought it went flakey on me, thought I fixed, Thought it flakey on me , thought I fixed it,. I went back and forth all day today to finally deal with the fact, its done. I will put in a call tommorow to MRC for the hope of some off the wall, out of the blue fix… but I doubt it.
So… I have been looking and doing some homework on a new system and the NCE has caught my eye. Everything I read seems to lean me toward it. One adavantage it has to me over Digitraxx, is that my club uses NCE and that could solve some issues for me. (The second choice I think is the MRC Prodigy Adavcned)
I am looking for input, good, bad and the ugly on what your impressions of the system are. Reading someone’s article is one thing, real world input is another. Lemme have it.[;)]
*I have a decent sized layout. 90 foot double track mainline and over 325 feet of total track. (includeing sideings, industry and yards) At most would be 3 operators. More likley 2 for now. I do have sound engines and only plan on getting more. At most for operating, I may have 10 engines on the track, but I am only running 3-4 engines at any given time
I LOVE my Powercab!
I would not get rid of it for the word!
I am new to DCC but have been a MR since age 6 and I am 38 now.
I used to use nothing but MRC, but their quality has gone WAY down. I still have 40 year old MRC DC powerpacks still working for my switch motors and lights though.
I got my Powercab on Ebay new for $139.00 and bought the CAB04P so my son could run trains with me. You can run 4 trains at a time if your layout is room sized and they are not sound equiped. I can run 3 BLI sound equiped locos with no problems.
NCE has excellent customer service. My Powercab power supply went out after 6 hours of use. I had not even sent in my warranty card yet and Larry at NCE sent me a new one in 2 days!
I have had it for 2 months now and have NO problems.
I have the NCE 5 Amp Power House Pro Radio set for my home layout and have been very pleased with its performance. If we ever need a new system at our HO scale club we will switch to the 10 Amp Power House Pro Radio system because of its simplicity of operation. I have researched all of the wireless systems, and NCE is the only one that currently supports all of the functions available in sound decoders. While it’s true that some of the available sounds are ones that you would hardly ever use, there will no doubt be other technological advances in decoders that will require even more controllable functions in the future and NCE seems to be the best at keeping up with technology. System upgrading is easy, too.
One minor glitch I encountered with an NCE ProCab was with a loose antenna connector. Removing the cover and soldering the connector back onto the circuit board corrected the problem in less than 5 minutes.
I’ve been an NCE user since 1998 when our club bought its system, I liked it so much I got a Procab and cab 04P in 1990 and have loved every minute of it.
The support from NCE has been wonderful, even after the club guys dropped a few cab 04s and broke the potentiometers off, they were fixed at no charge. My power supply went over voltage,NCE not only fixed it, but sent me a “choke” to wire inline to prevent it from happening again. When I told them that they club was using the same power supply, they sent “chokes” for the club units too! Even when I had problems with a brand X decoder, NCE had a solution for me.
Now that I have gotten DecoderPro on my PC, I’m tied into my NCE system so custom tailoring of speeds, start voltages, and also fine tuning of sound systems is a breeze! (Or at least a lot easier than keying in each individual CV!) When the system updates were released last year, swapping out the eprom was so easy, my kids could have done it.
The added perk for me is not only can I use my throttles on the club layout, but several other layouts in the area are NCE powered, so I can go run other places and never have to worry about not having a throttle to use.[:D]
Even though you mentioned that you were looking specifically at the NCE ProCab system, below are links to a couple of reviews that I wrote nearly two months ago here on the forum:
These include the initial reviews, pics, issues, and questions and comments by members about the Power Cab and the CAB-04p extra throttle.
John, since the Power Cab and ProCab throttles are identical, and the Power Cab can be used as an extra throttle on the ProCab sysytem, I’m trusting that it should still be helpful and answer a number of your questions you might have.
With that said, I’ve been VERY happy with my Power Cab. [:D]
Ha! How ironic. A week ago I was kinda asking about the NCE system and someone looked up your thread and posted to me. I tried to find it agaihn last nite (Your thread and review) but couldn’t. So, thanks for giving me that info again.
That 's great that you really dig the system, but I suppose I have a concern about the power. It sounds like I will need to get a booster to cover the sound equipped engines (great artcile on it at LitchfeildStation.com) but I was wondering how it has been for you. How many, what kind and how often do you run stuff? Has it been able to handle the load ok?
I think that is what killed my MRC Prodigy. I overloaded it, and never shut down, just gave me all it had, unitl it had no more.
Thanks everyone for all the info on this, this is exaclty what I need to hear/read
I have a BLI and Trix Mike with sound and can run them both with the Power Cab WITHOUT the Smart Booster. The Smart Booster will raise the Power Cab’s max. output up from 1.7A to 3.0A and the extra throttle capacity for the Power Cab from 1 to 3.
From the specs that you’ve given, John, you might be fine with that scenario for now. Even if you do “outgrow” the Power Cab power capacity, you can still upgrade to the Power Pro and use it for an additional throttle - without losing on your investment. It would be the least expensive way to go initially.
I just got my new NCE PowerCab up and running over the weekend. After 4 0-scale and 2 HO scale layouts, this my first step into DCC, and what an amazing change!! Three locomotives all running 2 different directions at 3 different speeds!
Two friends recommended the NCE system over Digitrax and so far it works flawlessly. The only problems I have had has been due to ‘operator error’. I’m still learning the details of programming, but even that part is kinda fun.
The most improtant factors in purchasing a low cost DCC system are not what it will do, but what it won’t compared to it’s larger and more expensive brothers. With this information it’s easy to determine what you could buy within the same product line for more money. I have very little knowledge of the NCE Pro Cab, so I would hesistate making any comments about it’s limitations. I also take what people on the forums say about new DCC systems with a grain of salt. It seems as though everyone who gets a new system seems really excited about it, and doesn’t really explore the systems weaknesses. I noticed this with the MRC PA until I finally purchased one and played with it myself. Only then did I realize how much you were really giving up when compared to a full featured system.
The other important thing for me would be local product support. If you are in an area or run in club settings where an NCE system is in use, it may be a good idea to go with that system. Technical support and ideas from your fellow modelers is invaluable and will go a long way in the enjoyment you have when using your DCC system.