I have an Atlas Commander with Hand Held Trotle which is being used on a small 5’x10’ layout. I have installed remote xpressnet panels around the permiter. I have only 7 disesl locos and have recently acquired a BLI Ma1 sound steamer. This sorta threw me into the outdated situation since I can not access all the sound capabilities. I now realize that I probably should have started with a more complex system but I am where I am. The question is where do I go from here? Abandon the present set up and go to Digitrax or NCE or upgrade the Atlas with Lenx 90 or 100 so I could use the Comander and Hand Held as throtles? As you can see I am trying o figure out which bullet to bite. I hope I am not the first to be in this position but maybe it is so. Thanks for your help.
Bill Butler
Bill I have a Atlas DCC system also and decided to upgrade awhile back. I was going to go the Lenz route for compatibility sake but then MRC came out with the Prodigy Advance. It would do just about everything I wanted but for a little less money. I purchased the MRC instead. Works great, only draw back is you can’t run non-decoder engines with it. I added a couple of double throw toggle switches and set the Atlas up again. Now for sound and general running I have the MRC. For my non-decoder engine I can throw the switches and use the Atlas system. There maybe better ways of doing it but I already had both systems.
Chuck Salvatore
Both Atlas systems have one siginificant disavantage you need to be aware of … no computer interface.
In practical terms this means you CANNOT use the DecoderPro (free) software to program decoders from a PC using a mouse to just point and click options. Once you’ve programmed decoders with DecoderPro (and saved the settings to your PC so you can just copy them to another loco with the same decoder model in a few seconds), you don’t ever want to go back to pouring over decoder manuals and programming things one CV or binary bit at a time.
upgrading to the lenz systems seems like the best route , since you can continue to use components you already have . of course you’ll have to do some comparisions of lenz vs digitrax vs nce vs ‘whatever else might be interesting’ to see if you can get all the features you want/need from the lenz
I believe you CAN use the Lenz computer interface with the Compact/Commander, however you are limited in what it can do - or is it that the Compact/COmmander people use a modem and the XPA phone adapter? That definitely can only run trains, no programming.
However, upgrading to a full Lenz 90/100 set gets the ability to fully utilize the computer interface. Exactly what role the Commander console plays in such a setup, I do not know, since it is limited to 2-digit addressing and F0-F3.
–Randy
Illustrating why its not a good idea to buy a low end DCC system.
Buy a full featured system that can have capacity, not features, added to it later.
Dave H.
HI Bill - Your situation is exactly what I went through 2 years ago. I had an Atlas Commander & 4 handhelds for my layout & was in the market for a BLI sound equipped loco. I upgraded to a Lenz 90 set to gain the extra function controls needed for sound. My experience has been very positive. I initially chose the LH90 over the LH100 as I prefered the rotary speed control vice pushbutton control. Ive also used a LH100 throttle & in fact it is capable of more programming than the LH90 and has 13 function controls. The commander can be used as a non programming, 2 digit control with the Lenz system . I still use my Atlas handhelds as they are very easy for newcomers to use. All my locos are programmed to 4 digit addresses so I program a MU address - 2 digit- to any loco that we want to run on an Atlas control. Hope this helps with your choice of a new system. Ted
I have the Digitrax System, and I love it… There is another system that is geating more and more attention. This is the ZIMO. It is slightly more expensive than Digitrax, but it has many more features for the extra dallars. If you need more information I can find you the North American ZIMO Web page. Have fun.
Or find one without all the goofy limitations.