Nuther DCS Question

[Fred Bear]

Will DCS run conventional engines by remote? How is that accomplished? Lionel 1666's, can they be powered that way? Thanks, Jake

[johnandjulie13]

Using the variable output of the TIU you can control voltage via the DCS remote.

Regards,

John O

[chuck]

This is DCS's weakest feature.  You are saddled with high starting voltages and only 32 speed steps.  A new ZW can do 32/64/96 speed steps and a TPC can do 80-200-400.  You are laos limited to 180 watts for the output channel.

[wrmcclellan]

Although the limited instructions are perfectly clear to those of use that struggled through it - see Chapter 8, P97 of the DCS Users manual. It works great.

You have to use a Variable output on the TIU - so this means you also have to have transformer power at the same time to Fixed Input 1 to simply power the TIU.

Push the TR button on the remote. You will get a soft key highlighted with "S/U". Push that key and it will take you into setup menus for a track. Pick TIU track, pick TIU1 (since you probably only have the one TIU). Pick Vaiable 1 or Variable 2 depending on which output you wish to use (and that you have powered). Now you have to struggle through the menu to name the track by using the thumbwheel to highlight letters (i.e. TRACK 1) and pushing the thumbwheel to select the letter. Highlighted letters are surrounded with brackets like [R] which is hard for people like me to even see on the remote. If you make a mistake on a letter, select the < character - this is the delete [<] - press the thumbwheel to delete. When you are done - select the D character at the very end of the list [D] for DONE. At this point you have successfully added a variable track to your TIU.

When you are done adding the track, the remote at this point does not default back up to a higher level menu - instead asking you if you wish to add another track. Just keep hitting the MENU button until you get back to the top level menu - which usually is the last loco you were running.

Now you can select the TR button on the remote and you will see that the track you named which is associated with the Variable Output of the TIU you chose works. I believe when you select it - it comes up at 12 volts (mine did), so watch out as many newer locos and some older ones can really move at 12 volts.

Almost forgot - If you set the track voltage to zero and then turn the remote off and the TIU off, the next time you turn it on the track voltage will come up at zero.

BTW - now you understand why the DCS manual is sorely lacking in this regard.

Have fun!

[Fred Bear]

Thanks for that Roy, much appreciated! I don't think I would have gotten through that one by myself! Now, one more question. Do I need to spider web wire that track as I did the one running the Proto Sound 2? Thanks again, Jake

[wrmcclellan]

Not sure I understand your question. You should wire for DCS operation which means a spiderweb (hub and spoke; homerun) configuration.

[Fred Bear]

Yes, I meant the spider web, now I understand, thanks again, Jake

[johnandjulie13]

Roy:

That was an excellent summary!  As a relative newbie, I have gone throught the DCS manual several times and have found it to be sorely lacking.  There are numerous features that are glossed over in the manual.  I have advocated MTH to produce a much more detailed user's manual that covers not only operation in much greater detail, but also track wiring and connection.  The product has been out long enough now that many of the shortcuts and tricks (Star wiring, light bulbs, etc.) should be incorporated into an official tome.

Regards,

John O

[ChiefEagles]

I, like a lot of other DCS users [before I went with TMCC and TCP], did not use the remote to run conventionals.  Why, because it was so messy [high strating voltages to get them to move and slow remote responces].  I [like others] just left the track connected to the fixed voltage output and ran them with the transformer handle [just like it was not connected to the TIU]. 

[chuck]

You want to use star wiring troughout the layout, even on a "conventional" control block as the DCS signal should be available in the event you want to run a PS-2 loco into that block.

[phillyreading]

Have you tried watching the DVD from MTH that comes with the TIU and handheld remote, it contains some additional information on DCS & info on DON'T DO's.

Lee F.

[Pennvalley]

I have an 8 x 14 layout - a big "O" shape with a 4 X 10 opening in the center. How would I do a star wiring?

Thanks

[ChiefEagles]

For every lockon [or solder to track] run a pair of wires back to one central point.  Do NOT run one big wire each for common and "hot" around the layout and "tap" on to it.  Running a pair of wires to each lockon takes more wire but actually gives you a better distribution of even voltage around the track.  I used it back in the 70's for convetional layout and the engines didn't slow down like some experienced. 

[johnandjulie13]

Essentially, isn't this how every house is wired?  Power comes to the house and is distributed by the electrical panel.  The panel is the equivalent of a terminal block.  Would that be a correct analogy?

Regards,

John O

[lionelsoni]

Sort of.  But each "home run", as its called, typically serves a number of loads, generally in the same part of the house, to save wire.  The British use a scheme called a "ring main", in which a heavier cable makes a loop around the house, with smaller taps to the outlets ("power points").

[johnandjulie13]

Hello Bob:

I knew I could count on you to provide some clarification.

Could I assume that "home run" wiring would be an acceptable way of powering accessories?

Regards,

John O

[jonadel]

Listen to Chief on this one, he's spot on. It's exactly what I did 4 years ago and it works perfectly and is so simple "a caveman could do it".

Jon

[lionelsoni]

Yes, you can power accessories that way; but, as with the track, you will use more wire.

The situations of wiring a house and a layout are somewhat different.  The house-wiring electrician is trying to save wire and labor.  He uses home runs because he is limited in the number of outlets he can serve with each branch circuit, which must be protected at a modest current, 15 amperes for example.  If he could run a single 14 AWG circuit around the entire house, he would; but he can't, because the customer will trip the breaker by plugging in more stuff than one circuit can handle.

For a layout, wiring that keeps the voltage drop acceptable is often as big as or bigger than you need for safety.  So, if the track itself does not limit the voltage drop to a reasonable degree, it is economical to feed the entire layout or a loop of it from a single bus, which, when you size it for voltage drop--14 AWG or heavier--is plenty heavy for the current--no more than 15 amperes usually.

However, DCS is some sort of radio-frequency scheme which seems to need a star wiring geometry for other reasons, which MTH does not encourage us to understand.  So those using DCS do what they're told in order to make that system work.