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Picking a DCC system is a personal thing. I think that you should try as many systems as you can before deciding which to buy. The previous post about going with what the local guys use (presuming that they nare honest, and they like their system) is also worthy of consideration. I tried several systems and settled on Easy DCC. I especially like the wireless throttles. They use a knob instead of buttons for speed control and are very reliable. The previous poster who was having to use two steps to enter 4 digit addresses was using the old system. Using the current handheld or command station, I punch in the address, wait 10 seconds (wireless), and I'm off and running. The tech support is great (they fixed a throttle my neighbor's kid broke free of charge) and the system really is easy to set up and run. The downside to this system is there are no frills on the wireless handhelds and there is no two-way communication between the wireless handheld and the base station like some other systems use. By this I mean the handheld unit does not get updates from the base station and while it does tell you which direction the loco is going and its speed (by physical knob position and LEDs) it won't tell you which functions are on or other info (you can check this on the base station). I don't need this feature (two way updating) and I have seen it cause problems with other DCC systems when the reception in the room is less than perfect. For example in the NCE system my friend has, the wireless hand held sends a new command to the base station and then waits for an update from the station before showing the new command on the throttle. If the signal should get lost by the station or not be received due to reception problems, the handheld won't be updated. The user may not be able to tell if the command station received the new command and is responding slowly or if it has been lost and needs to be re-sent. I have had situations where I sent a reverse direction order twice and ended up going the same direction because the station saw both signals when I thought it only saw one...This doesn't happen with the EASY DCC wireless because although it is spartan, the knob always shows speed and the direction is indicated by LEDS on the hand held which show which direction command the throttle is sending to the base Station. The above is not intended to start a flame war with NCE users. I have seen NCE systems work perfectly and it is quality gear. I am pointing out the differences between the design of the systems. I like being able to see all the cool stuff on the the handheld that NCE has, I just liked the feel and simplicity of the EASY DCC system better than NCE and other systems. I would also suggest that you avoid sets that are not able to be expanded. You will love DCC (hopefully) and probably will want to expand at some point. Some of these sets scrimp on features that make DCC so cool (consisting, 4 digit addresses, not enough function buttons, no wireless capability etc) Ducking for cover, Guy
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