I am on the cusp of going DCC. The conversations here have created a new wrinkle in my thinking. Should I go wireless? If so, what should I use? How is this done?
I figure, go to the experts, and that is why I am posing this question to you, friends. Any help is appreciated.
I have NCE and waiting for the repeater antennas before going radio.
I don’t know about other systems, but with Digitrax wireless, you have to be tethered to take control of a loco, or program one, but once you have control over it you can control its speed and functions wirelessly. Digitrax offers two kinds of wireless operations, radio and infrared.
The wireless world is wonderful. Following your train around the layout and not having the cord jerk the throttle out of your hand when you come to the end of the teather. Not having to hunt for the next place to plug in. Not getting tangled up with cords of other operators. Even working a large yard is easier with the wireless. I’ve been using wireless even before DCC. Once you’ve gotten used to it you will never want to go back.
I currently have the CVP 1300 throttles on a Lenz system. In some ways they are better than the Lenz 90 wired throttles.
I thought the Digitrax only had to be plugged in to program a locomotive not to aquire it!? That would really be a bummer. That is one reason I didn’t go with Digitrax as my primary system though (I own a Zephyr); I didn’t want a wires hanging off the wireless throttles. One more thing to tangle, trip over, whack scenery, etc.
I have CVP wireless with CVP Easy DCC. The system works great and I have no problems with reception or lost commands.
Guy
My plan (if I can decide on which scale to model) is to use the Lenz phone adaptor and a digital cordless phone, cheap and reliable!!
Ken.
I use Lentz,for the initial price of 264.00 and a additional 49.00 for the adapter ,cheap cordless phone works great.Although I would prefer a regular throttle instead of a cordless phone the system has preformed exceptionally well.I do think if I ever buy another system it would be NCE,after reading all the different posts on wireless control it seems NCE customers comments more than justify the difference in price LENZ vs.NCE.
Does anyone have a link to Cvp/and how do their wireless throttles interface with the lenz system. I must of missed them when I was looking for DCC system.
We have a Lenz Set100, with one handheld tethered. It is plenty for now, as we don’t even have all the benchwork/track completed on our On3 shelf layout. Later on, I was thinking of hooking up another brand, likely CPV, of wireless handset and receiver, hooking into the loconet interface, Sure, we could use the Lenz cordless phone approach, but the CPV hand controller is very nice. Fortunately the loconet is aparently a universal interface and most brands of stuff can interface. I agree with Texas Zepher above, and I like his DCC combo!
People make too much of the idea that you have to plug in to aquire a loco on the Digitrax wireless. For those running realistic operating sessions, this should be a non-issue. A crew takes control of their loco(s) ONCE, at the terminal or crew change point, and stays with that loco until the end of their run, either through freight or passenger, or local freight or passenger. So it’s not like you are constantly plugging and unplugging as if you were using a regular wired throttle.
The biggest problem with the others is range, to get a two-way radio approved, NCE had to use lower power, and there are plenty of posts with people having signal problems even with moderate-sized layouts. They are workign on a repeater system to allow more than one radio base to solve this, but if you have coverage issues with Digitrax you can always add more UR91 receivers as needed.
I am curious about the CVP radio, since that is also a one-way system, yet seems to allow you to aquire a loco address wirelessly. Since they don’t use encoders for the throttle, what happens if you select an address and forget to turn the speed control down? Does the loco take off at the throttle setting?
–Randy
CVP throttles do remember addresses and yes, if you leave the throttle set at full speed and aquire a loco with it, it will take off at full speed. The way the wireless loco aquisition works is that you punch the pound key on the wireless, type in the new loco’s address hit pound again and wait about 10 seconds for the leds to stop flashing. When they stop, you have control of the loco. Simple and effective. Some guys have mounted velcro stickys on the throttles with interchangeable loco numbers so they can see what throttle is assigned to which loco between sessions without having to look it up on the command station. I have never aquired a loco and left the throttle at full speed. Most people turn their throttles off before aquiring a loco. Since the speed control is a knob, it is easy to tell when it is off and the idea that one might mistakenly aquire the loco and run it off the siding accidentally at full speed is possible, but in my experience is basically a non issue
The system doesn’t lend itself well to juggling trains by shifting one throttle on the fly between several locos running at once because of the slight lag time in loco aquisition (CVP has shortened this time in recent update). While I have tried running this way with three throttles assigned to different locos on the same track (all controlled by a single operator), it is not my preferred style of operation because the possibility for accidents is too high (and it is not my operational style). In DCC cornfield meets do happen. One mistake on my part and my string of board by board, superdetailed, wooden side dump gons is rear ended by a consolidation and they are on the floor. I generally try to operate in a prototypical manner, so I generally avoid this kind of stuff with the exception of what if…
While the one way system doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that other two way systems have, it has clear simple inidcators for speed, direction, and a set of function keys. It is a very simple and reliable
I have CVP’s EasyDCC wireless on my HO Siskiyou Line and it has worked very well from day one right out of the box since I installed it in 2000.
We have had almost no reception issues, and being able to use DCC wireless throttles exclusively is a dream come true in layout operations! I host regular prototype-based op sessions and my crew loves the wireless throttles. Many have told me they are spoiled and now don’t like having to plug in when they operate on other layouts.
Im still figuring out my new Prodigy Advanced! Im new to all the functions, I started with MRC’s Prodigy (A toy compaired to Advanced)
NCE
I have both the CVP Easy DCC for HO scale and the CVP AirWire 900 wireless DCC for G-scale.