A friend and myself are going to go with CVP’s DCC.
My question… Is the new updated radio handheld worth the bang for the buck. From what he states it is more user friendly as one does not have to look at the controller to change direction or speeds.
If any of you guys have this new setup let us know your personal openion of it, it does sound interesting.
Thanks for your reply…John
John,
Joe Fugate would be a good one to answer this question. He runs EasyDCC on his layout and considers CVP king of the wireless throttles. E-mailing him directly would be your best bet.
Tom
CVP seems to be a quiet player in the DCC game. You don’t see many folks here discussing it, but those that have the system seem to love it.
The OLD wireless throttle did not require you to look at it to change direction or speeds so I’m sure the new one also offers that advantage. The big advantage to the new one is that it gives you visual feedback regarding the locomotive address you selected. With the older units you could only see what the last two digits were. The newer wireless units also have more “F” funtions available-that’s useful if you have sound decoders.) I have had EasyDCC since 1998 and would never consider another system. A friend who was a staunch Digitrax devotee switched to EasyDCC last year and now he’s a believer for sure. Not all systems work for all model railroaders. Buy and use the system that YOU are most comfortable with or the one that most of your friends have. They can be a valuable source of help when it gets crazy!
Cheers
I’ve used CVP wireless throttles for years and years even before DCC. I have always found them to be excellent (except I can only have 8!).
The newest throttle is my least favorite of the series. The control knob just spins. There are no stops that let you know when it is set at full throttle or off. That means you have to LOOK at the throttle to know where it is set. The video game crowd will like it for the display. But once again I like a throttle I don’t have to look at so what good is a display.
Give those who never had an encoder one and they seem to get all confused. Why do you have to look at the throttle to see where it’s set? I look at my TRAIN to see what speed I have set. And I even have the “oh so complicated” Digitrax - the ony time I look at my throttle is when I key in the numbers to select a loco - I don’t touch-type on my computer keyboard or telephone, either, so it’s not that the numbers are arranged oddly, they are in a standard keypad arrangement actually.
I prefer the finer control of an encoder over the limited range of a potentiometer any day. I have both - the pot on the Zephyr console and the encoders on my DT400, and since I got the DT400 I never touch the Zephyr console anymore, I honestly can;t stand the course control. The oter encoder advantage is you can select a second loco, then go back to the first and the throttle adjusts to the loco, not the other way around.
–Randy
John,
I haven’t used the new throttles yet. I really like the 1300 series a lot. Not a lot of extras just function buttons, direction button and a knob for speed. I never look at the throttle except to call up a loco and I find the shape fits my hand very well. A good choice for people who want to run trains without a lot of fuss or frills…
Easy DCC is really easy and it is very reliable. Product support is great. Try before you buy if possible just to be sure it is what you want. I have operated on most of the other big player’s systems and have never regretted buying CVP…