I am very satisfied with the Digitrax Zephyr system. And it does have the capability to read back CVs, which some systens don’t. It easily runs three trains at the same time, which is all my brain can keep track of. Would I buy it again? In a heartbeat!
So far I haven’t seen anybody else willing to cough up a DCC system. By the end of this month I’ll have sent a box of track to Maine, a box containing 4 Bachmann F units (in running order) to Michigan. Last month, I sent 2 power packs to Maine and a loco to Wyoming and in all cases I charged exactly nothing. Not one person that I’ve sent things to in the past year has had to put up even one penny.
[quote user=“tstage”]
Sorry, jktrains, I gotta side with Jeffrey on this one. My first DCC system was the E-Z Command, which I bought for $53 back at the beginning of 2005. I wanted to try out DCC but didn’t want to spend a lot of money just to get me “feet wet”.
Even though it does have it’s limitations, I found the E-Z Command quite adequate at running 2-3 locomoitves simultaneously and operating 8 sound functions. I used the E-Z Command for a year before purchasing the NCE Power Cab. During that year I was able to research and determine what DCC system I wanted to upgrade to.
Was that $53 wasted? Not to me. I actually ended up selling the E-Z Command to a fourm member here and, thereby, recouped some of that cost.
The key is to know what you are buying and what your needs are and will be. My needs were to find an inexpensive DCC system to determine if indeed I wanted to pursue that technology. I didn’t have anyone around that I knew that had a DCC system to check out/ask questions about, so this was the cheapest (i.e. least expensive) alternative for me. For Jeffrey, his funds are limited so this was his opportunity to try out DCC at a price he could afford.
Let me put the shoe on a different foot. What would happen if I were interested in D
Frank,
You’re are more than welcome to disagree with me and my logic all you want - even if you are wrong. [(-D] (I’m just kidding. [:)])
Frank, I don’t expect you or everyone else to totally agree with my reasons for doing what I did. I had the Bachmann E-Z Command for a little over a year and I was happy with the product for what it did. To me, buying the E-Z Command was an experient to see if I wanted to pursue DCC or not.
Now, if had I paid full MSRP for the Bachmann (i.e. $100) - compared to only needing another $40 more for a more functional and powerful NCE Power Cab, or $50 for a Digitrax Zephyr - that would be an entirely different matter. However, I only spent $53 for my E-Z Command. That’s nearly $90 less that I had to fork out for my “experiment”.
Was/is the E-Z Command a limited system? Yes, it is. Did I know that before I purchased it? Absolutely. Even if I couldn’t adjust CVs, I could still operate two or more trains on the SAME track…at the SAME time…going in DIFFERENT directions. Pretty cool! [tup] And, with the “ultra-cheap, ultra-limted” E-Z Command, I still could access 8 sound functions with it. Those are the SAME 8 basic sound functions that the majority of us use the most often anyhow.
Frank, your point about buying quality decoders - no matter what DCC system you use - is a good one. Even if you can’t utilize the full capability of a decoder now, you might be able to at a later date or on someone else’s DCC system.
Tom
i dont hear anyone mentioning the Lenz set 100. love mine and the LH100 handheld is the best. just thought i’d throw in my opinion/experience. dont waste your time or $ on the low end starter sets. dive in and you wont go back.
All I’ve ever owned is Digitrax equipment, I started out with the Zephyr and found it very easy to use. It has run my 8’ by 12’ layout with ease while running up to 8 loco’s at the same time. Its expandable, reads CV’s and in my opinion is a great starter unit that will last for years. I now have the Super Chief radio package but the Zephyr will still be used in the yard once my 8’ by 16’ L shaped expansion is finished.
I also have LENZ with both the 90 and 100 throttles. I prefer the 100 but use the 90 for some switching.
I added the XPA for use with a cordless phone. I got a brand new 2.4 mhz phone at Staples for $25.00 and then got a $25.00 rebate. So the phone was free. The phone has an LCD screen so you can see at a glance which loco number you are operating as well as verify the numbers you type in when changing loco’s of stationary decoder addresses.
I fine for almost all my operating, except for programming, the cordless phone works perfectly.
Range is no problem. The base station can be located anywhere even out of sight. I have no idea about the maximum range except to say it works flawlessly from anywhere in my house or outside the house!
This is a very inexpensive way to go ‘RADIO’. Total cost for the LENZ XPA and phone was under $50.00. And you may have multiple XPA’s connected to the system.
The phone keys are very easy to use as they are quite large.
When I make the plunge into DCC - probably in the summer of '09 - I’m most likely going to go with a very upscale NCE system; I like the heft of their meat-mallet shaped controller - I don’t like that dinky little box which reminds me of a credit card which needs to diet.
I am still chugging along with a Sys1 by Wangrow, ugraded with NCE radios. If I were to build a layout of the size you mention I would try the NCE PowerCab, based on price and versatility.
Roger Aultman
[quote user=“Driline”]
[quote user=“tstage”]
Sorry, jktrains, I gotta side with Jeffrey on this one. My first DCC system was the E-Z Command, which I bought for $53 back at the beginning of 2005. I wanted to try out DCC but didn’t want to spend a lot of money just to get me “feet wet”.
Even though it does have it’s limitations, I found the E-Z Command quite adequate at running 2-3 locomoitves simultaneously and operating 8 sound functions. I used the E-Z Command for a year before purchasing the NCE Power Cab. During that year I was able to research and determine what DCC system I wanted to upgrade to.
Was that $53 wasted? Not to me. I actually ended up selling the E-Z Command to a fourm member here and, thereby, recouped some of that cost.
The key is to know what you are buying and what your needs are and will be. My needs were to find an inexpensive DCC system to determine if indeed I wanted to pursue that technology. I didn’t have anyone around that I knew that had a DCC system to check out/ask questions about, so this was the cheapest (i.e. least expensive) alternative for me. For Jeffrey, his funds are limited so this was his opportunity to try out DCC at a price he could afford.
Let me put the shoe on a different foot. What would happen if
I agree with those who caution about the use of the EZ-Command system. To my knowledge, apart from the recent availability of a booster, an improvement by most standards, and certainly by its own, the device is so limited as to not afford the user much of what makes DCC most attractive. In fact, now that Broadway Limited is marketing sound-equipped DC locomotives, it really does reduce the DC/DCC debate to one of out-and-out utility.
I acknowledge Tom’s fondness and loyalty to a system that was instrumental in his own introduction to DCC, but even he gave his away (to an MRC user, no less…[:-,]) when it had served its usefulness to him. I believe that was at least a full year, after which Tom got the Prodi…er, the Pro-Cab (is it hot in here?) [(-D]
To make the argument circuitous, though, Tom used the system as designed and to good effect…it was a stepping stone to an evolutionary process for him, and I think that is the use to which he commends it to the OP. Money is going to be tight for some of us, but we all have to priorize our discretionary spending. Getting an EZ-Command for anything from the cost of shipping to US$60 is hardly going to be a burden for the vast majority of us who can afford to engage the hobby at all.
So, I have come full circle…and this discussion is essentially reduced to whether the money should be spent on an additional throttle after a more substantial investment that may go bad because the OP may become one of about 2% of DCC dabblers who revert to DC. Personally, FWIW, I had the EZ-Command for about two weeks, 12 days of which it was in a box, either unpacked or repacked. It simply would not program my growing stable of locomotives, but I had made the commitment to go DCC after some reading and thinking. To me, it was like putting a Focus engine in a Ferrari. Sure, it’ll move, but…really…
jktrains,
I wouldn’t even put the E-Z Command in the same comparison catagory as the Yugo. I remember when Consumer Report did a review on the Yugo a number of years ago. The only good thing that they could say about it was that it came to a stop. Despite how you may view it, the Bachmann is actually better than that.
jktrains, have you actually tried an E-Z Command first hand to see how it works? Yea, maybe the colors on the outside make it look a little toyish. Even so, it still can do a fair amount for a very basic DCC system. For someone who has a smallish layout, only wants to operate a couple of trains at a time, and doesn’t have any real interest or desire in tweaking CVs, the E-Z Command would fit the bill just fine.
I guess the important thing that we can both agree upon is making sure that you know what DCC system you are buying up front BEFORE you buy it. If you purchase a DCC system then find out that it doesn’t adjust CVs - and you wanted it to do that - you didn’t do your homework. To bring up the car analogy again: Why buy a Toyota Camry or Lexus when a Echo will meet your needs just fine?
Tom
Crandell & jktrains,
I understand your arguments and agree with them for the most part. Expectations, needs (present and future), and affordability will all dictate our purchase buying. That’s why doing your homework ahead of time is crucial to finding a system that is going to best meet your needs now and down the road.
I’ll freely admit that I do have a special place in my heart for the E-Z Command. It met my expectations and I was happy with the product - even with it’s limitations.
Personally, I would rather run my layout with a Bachmann E-Z Command DCC system - limitations and all - than continue using DC. Operating two different locomotives on the same track, doing two different operations, is why I enjoy the hobby even more today than I did when I first started out.
Tom
Maybe you can tell me why he should go out and pay up to several hundred dollars for a system without first trying a small one first. He knows the Bachmann system has limitations, I told him that up front. There’s no price on this, it’s FREE! Why should he pass it up. If nothing else, he can sell it to someone else. And why does it matter to you that I have several of the systems. I pick them up here and there. I use one on my layout and keep another as a backup. I have a few others in a box, still in their original packaging to give to people who want them. Is that a crime? And why am I giving this system away? Because I want to do a good thing for someone. If I had a Digitrax system that I could spare, I would, and I wouldn’t charge anything for it either, but then that’s the kind of person I am. If I have something that somebody can use and I don’t need it, I’ll usually just give it to them.
I cut my teeth on a Super Empire Builder and liked the DT400. The DT400 was rather expensive and the Zephyr does not have it. To get the Zephyr and a DT400 puts me into Super Chief country for a few more dollars.
Now where I am, I can always get a Zephyr for yard work or such.
Can the Zephyr power the reverse loop boards?
Can the Zephyr do DC over DCC (run my DC engines also), like on address zero or ten or something like that?
Can the Zephyr be configured with a wireless throttle?
I have N scale Bachman EZ DCC and I am running a 160’ of track, 20 switch, 6 locomotive (2 DC small steam) and am fairly happy. Only thing it WONT do that I want is wireless throttle (I have an aux throttle but it is wired). Could consist better also. I don’t have any sound locomotives though, I am sure there is a lack there also. It does DC over DCC and handles the reversing boards just fine. For the money, a good system.
If the Zephyr does all this the 2.5 amps is plenty for me. HO users MIGHT need more amps. I run max three trains at once. Of course N scale doesnt take as many amps.
It will do 8 sound functions (F1-F8). These are the basic ones that everyone uses the most.
Tom
On my MRC sound system it handles these sounds on the indicated buttons.
F1 - Bell
F2 - Horn
F3 - Air brake
F4 - Couplers coming together
F5 - Sand
F6 - Dynamic brake sound
F7 - Reverse gear
F8 - Compressor
Sounds of the prime mover go up and down according to throttle position.
I have a total of 8 amps availible to the booster and a total of 25 amps maximum off the house electrical box. My BLI ABBA F unit set in full cry never uses more than three amps total that I can see.
Some of my hand tools pull 5-10 amps or more.
Which is why I say 5 amps is PLENTY.
The DCS 200+ I think is a special booster/command station that auto reverses for you now. However lots of good parts are availible to do that job. Me I dont do reverse loops but have a switch for that manually if I need to.
My new NW switchers have the “Notch system” now and are able to behave/transistion at appropriate speeds and loads but those functions take the first 9 keys anyhow.
I really have calmed down on the bell and whistles. Maybe a pair of toots and a few dings before moving out.