Has anyone done this? There price seems kind of low for the whole set and they have the controler listed too. Did they break the sets up and you have to order both or can you just order the prodigy DCC system and it comes with the controler?
Why in the world would you want a prodigy?!?!
What are you using, JMP335?
Thanks,
Sean
Digitrax. Any of the others are OK, But I wouldnt touch anything MRC made for DCC with a 50 foot pole.
Adam,
I’d recommend Digitrax. It’ll allow future expansion, and lots of people in our area use that.
Probably why Trainworld is selling them so low: nobody is buying them and they want to move them. Not always the case for Trainworld. You can get some sweet deals through them. MRC isn’t known for being the best DCC system out there.
Tom
stay away from MRC. After about half a year you will have a basketfull of ruined decoders and several hundred $$ down the drain. Plus you cant link it to a computer for programming, the “expandability” (HAH!) leaves much to be desired and the control is a flashback to the days of the rheostat. By the way, the MRC systems are especially hard on sound decoders. I dont know why, but Ive seen some $100+ decoders get scrambled after a few months on the near-double voltage of the prodigy systems. One of them was mine[:(]. Now I wont run any of my stuff on an MRC command system. Along with the sound decoder I had 2 or 3 cheaper ones go down. Ever seen 2 SD70MACs play tug-o-war. I did that day.
gee guys you really made my day!!! I’m a newbie and I got a Prodigy Advanced DCC system. I trolled the a net a bit b4 i got the system and you’re the first I’m hearing trashing the Proddy. What gives?
for info, i’m running 2 Bachmann GP-50’s equipped with Bachmann’s E-Z DCC decoders - they go for usd30 a pop - low budget stuff, but its what i can afford - and a Bachmann Spectrum GE-44 with a DZ143 installed by moi in it. no probs, so far.
I bought a Prodigy Advance System and I am very happy with it. I have installed may decoders and even have a few Sound and DCC installs under my belt with this system.
The two main flaws that I see with this system are:
- The lack of programming via computer as stated.
Which is no problem for me. I have no Windows PC’s at home nor do I ever want one.
- The Prodigy Advance Manual STINKS! One of the worst manuals out there.
I had to hunt, peck and poke around to learn how to program my decoders using this unit. In the time I’ve had this unit, I’ve had one decoder failure and that failure LENZ took care of under their warrenty with no problem. I have been sucessful with TTE, NCE, LENZ, and MRC Controllers with this DCC unit.
For MY money, and MY layout this DCC system is more than enough.
PHEW!!! thats a relief!!! Agree on the MRC manual, but stuff on their website helps a bit. Like I stated above, I got a Digitrax decoder and if you’d download their general decoder manual, there’s oodles of generic decoder stuff. I learnt everything from there about CV’s !!!
here’s the link… http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/decodermanual.pdf
Don’t confuse the Prodigy with the Prodigy Advanced. From what I’ve heard, MRC did much better the second time around with the Advanced. If there is no market demand for the original Prodigy after the Advanced came out, I’m not surprised.
As for Trainworld, their prices are good, and they are for real. You call, they ship. I ordered my R-17 subway train on Wednesday at dinner time, and it was at my door by lunch on Friday, shipped plain old UPS ground for the minimum shipping charge.
JMRI does NOT require a Windows PC. It works on Macs and Linux as well. You can program decoders with DecoderPro and create CTC panels in PanelPro and not use anything connected with Microsoft.
–Randy
I have had the Prodigy Advance for almost a year now, and I have not had any problems with blown out decoders. I have a BLI Class A and a couple of sound decoders in my other locomotives and have not had a problem. I really like the PA and the only drawback that I have had is that I can not use DecoderPro through my computer to program the decoders. As for the manual, I have found that all of what I need to know is on the back of the handheld.
I have heard pretty good things about the Prodigy Advanced, but I still don’t believe
it’s compareable to the Digitrax or the NCE or other higher end systems. The original
Prodigy, on the other hand, makes a good paper weight.[:)] I know this because I
bought one a few years ago and returned it the next day. It has the ability to only
program voltages, addresses, and… oh, that’s about it.
If you want a good starter system…
I say, look for a Digitrax Zephyr on sale. You should be able to find one at a decent
price and you will get more for your money. Good luck, Dave
i had a quick look at trainworld’s site . a search for ‘prodigy advance’ pulls up their whole MRC page , on which i found the old prodigy system , but not the new advance
a froogle.google.com search shows wholesaletrains.com with the lowest price on the PA
I can testify about some strange happenings with the MRC system. I remember having to do a ‘diving catch’ to save some of my prized N scale locos. They’ll be running at a scaled 55mph then all of a sudden without my doing they’re charging at super speed towards the end of my layout. Luckily I didn’t lose any of them to this strange phenomina and I’m now looking towards buying one of the Digitrax systems.
If you should buy one of these systems hopefully it doesn’t malfunction like mine and to be on the safe side test the system on the floor and away from any walls or furniture.
What ever you buy (I have a Zephyr, myself), I would buy from someone who knows what they are selling, and can answer any questions you have !!
I recommend Tony’s Train Exchange:
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I CANNOT BELEIVE YOU PEOPLE!!! Are you ALL ticked off with MRC? I have had the Prodigy for over a year and could not be happier!!! I looked at the Digitrax system and didn’t like it, plus it didn’t come with a walkaround throttle. I chose the Prodigy for this reason. I bought it and then the next week MRC came out with the prodigy advance. Didn’t like that either, too expensive. NCE was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of the question. 450 dollars for DCC???!!!???!!!??? Please, do not discriminate against us low-budget DCC users. The Prodigy fit the bill for the price. Just my [2c].
Have a happy day!
Im not going to argue with that. My experience has been with the advance. Now there are MAJOR limitations in expandability, capability, etc. But that is OK for a low-cost system like it is. But you can get a Digitrax Zephyr for less money if you look around!!!(at least when I bought mine, im not sure now) For all you guys who have the prodigy advance. Turn it on and put a voltmeter to the track outputs. Its WAY too much. After several monts of hard running decoders just give out. They dont fry like they would in a short, they just stop working. If you have the advance and like it, thats great. And if you dont run a lot it should be OK. I didnt mean to start a big argument here. I just thought I would express my opinions and throw them out there for people who are choosing a system to see. Personally I refuse to run my locos with an MRC command station at this point. Easy DCC is the best system Ive used, but its too expensive for me. Digitrax is great. Its just as good as Easy DCC except for the wireless throttle issue which i dont need for my small layout.
You guys do not have to be so harsh. I am just trying to get into DCC and not have to rip off my limbs and sell them to afford one. I wouldn’t even be able to use anyother system because i would have no parts left to use it [:O] SO back to my question does it come with the controler or not?