POWDIE wrote: it does not have the sound tender. I want a better power pack as my patio has an incline, it has a 1 amp pack now. My local train store wants me to invest in a Digitrax Super Chief(8 amp).
OK....1st things 1st
1. Why does he want you to buy a 8 amp? and not a 10 amp?
2. The patio incline needs to be found out how much of a grade you have on it?
Answer me these and we will keep going..... Remember with a 10 amp pack you could run about 3-4 trains - BUT that depends on size of lay out.
Toad
Ok. Now we are back to a small bump, the committee I think it would be just fine on the gradeTo show you what I use now (almost, ripped up my other track awhile back)
1. Digitrack PS2012 10amp Regulated power supply $139.99
2. Bigsound 2K2 by Phoenix $279.99 + you will need wire and CD bundle for your computer
3. D809SR NEC Decoder $109.99
4. NEC ProCab Wireless $124.99
5. DCC command station CS02 $195.00
6. Ten amp power booster NEC PB110A $210.00
7. NEC RB02 base station $124.00
Total for me because I wanted to go this way was $1,183.96 +/-
Here is a shop to let you know or get into it:
http://www.tonystrains.com/
But there are other ways and remember you have to wire the loco or get it prewired for a extra 200.00. Not to hard to wire them. You said it was a starter and should not be very hard on that one.
Note: I have nothing to do with the store I described above, just a happy camper with them.
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Also there is RCS
http://dnkgoods.home.mindspring.com/page2.html
Dave Goodson is his name and a great guy with great product! Give him a call
Again...Note: I have nothing to do with the store I described above, just a happy camper with them.
I own a digitrax 8amp superchief. It's very nice. I use it mainly on my HO scale layout running over my G scale. It works great (execpt for some programing issues). I thought originally this would be the way to go to run this on both scales. I had figured I would like to run about 6-8 G scale engines and lashups. I installed a NCE 4amp decoder in my USA sd40 and it ran fairly well ( a lot of track feeders/ rewiring was needed) but I always wanted sound. I installed a Dallee sound card and amp but fried the speaker when I blew the horn a couple of times. Ripped apart the engine again and upgraded (?) to a locksound 3.0 and fried it. Upgraded that to a esu locksound 3.5xl sounds nice but found it was even pickier about track voltage drops. I thought I'd run the 3.5 for sound and the nce for the main decoder (very expensive!) in the sd40.
Having purchased several MTH products I decided to go with their DCS system. At first I had no better luck and found this system kept acting up, but after researching for months and testing and testing and.......... I finally found the answers and the system fired up perfectly? Looking back I could have been alot happier if someone (MTH) told me the answers up front but they're not at my house and I had to work them out. My investment became more then it should have but I wandered down too many directions of wrong investments.
I found a lot of problems arose switching engines to dcc that did not live up to my expectations. DCS has been working great and less complicated to use. If you go with DCC you'll have to remember each decoder function and be a programmer to get each brand to work together especially in lash ups. If you only want to run one or two engines stay with dc. Although DCC users assert they can run any brand engine it gets very costly and complicated. That's why I want to recommend MTH DCS for its features, ease of use, and value! At least give it a try. Joe P.
I have Phoenix sound in my Bachmann Shay, Climax, 2-8-0, USA NW2, GP9 and S4. My other, is factory installed LGB in a F7A/B LGB set. All are digital and the quality is excellent if you can get past the price of $279-289 for Phoenix. I also have two USA box cars with steam and diesel sound for tow behind on other engines. I'd have to go with Phoenix for ease of installation, quality of actual digital sound recordings for that specific engine and controllability (ease of adjustments if needed to coordinate sound with engine and volume). The sound also will stay on for a while after the engine stops moving until the rechargeable battery allows an idle and shutdown sequence. Check their website for samples of each sound card.
If you go with DCC you'll have to remember each decoder function and be a programmer to get each brand to work together especially in lash ups. If you only want to run one or two engines stay with dc. Although DCC users assert they can run any brand engine it gets very costly and complicated.
Programming DCC decoders, especially sound decoders, can be very challenging. However, if you have a computer interface for your DCC system, there is free software available that make programming very simple. It is called DecoderPro from JMRI. You use sliders and drop down lists to choose options for the configuration variables. The speed tables used to speed match locos are presented visually so it is very easy, but still a bit time consiming, to match two or more locos.
I'm new to G-scale and have not got my layout even started yet, but I have been using DCC on my HO layout for about 7 years, and DecoderPro for about 4 or 5 years. I have a USA Trains S-4 and intend to install an MRC (8Amp) sound decoder in it very soon.
Scott Jay
Toad that's an impressive list of stuff for an equally impressive price!
I went with battery powered RC (Airwire) and Phoenix sound for a lot less than a grand. RCS (the other RC system) is about the same price as Airwire, maybe a few bucks less, with the only difference being that RCS has one and only one transmitter (throttle) per receiver (loco). With Airwire you can change your throttle setting to control different receivers/locos even at the same time if you can keep track of them. I think I spent less that $700 including a monster battery and charger for my first setup. I should only have to spend $550 for the second loco with its own sound. If I was really stingy and swapped out tenders then I could run the third loco for $150 but not at the same time of course.
Rex
Well...I am looking at it in the long run.
Will be hooked up to computer, even signals.....etc.. All working as one.
It to me is not impressive, it is a item I needed to achive a goal on the rail. Automation, so I can sit back and talk with the folks or run one train if I want. Can do alot with the system.
If you can make a Traveling Over Head Crane, now that is impressive! (g gauge)
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