G'DAY
can you help me in regards of what to do. i have a rather large layout and i want to know what to buy in the way of controlers i dont have a base board as yet but i will be getting one soon so should i stay with a regular DC controler or go DCC.
cheers
corey
AUSSIE MOTIVE POWERDC controler or go DCC.
Welcome
I vote for DCC saves time and wireing unless you have to convert a lot of LOCOs to DCC. Search for DCC subjects on this forum and you will find a world of discussions.
Happy Railroading.
Lee
thanks i was sort of leaning in that direction toward DCC
Once you use DCC you will NEVER want to go back. After trying different systems I purchased the Digitrax radio control Super Chief and do not regret it at all. DCC is easy to install, just 2 bus wires that everything hooks into and one loconet line to plug your controllers into. that is it. NO need tor dpdt or rotary switches. Will control switches, signals and even your turntable.
I vote for DCC.
I have the Digitrax Super Chief and love it.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I switched to DCC in June and have never looked back.
I use the NCE Power Cab.
Will
Welcome to the forum! I wish I could understand your last part there...about a base board? I don't understand the term in the context of a layout.
As for DCC, yes, I would encourage you to first learn as much as you can so that you 'get it', and reason out the 'why get it', and then hopefully find someone who is already running it so that you can try if firsthand.
Even so, I can all but guarantee you will be very happy with just about any system that meets your current (get it....current) needs and your foreseeable future needs. Some systems can be added to, but others are dead ends.
You say a large layout...how 'large'? Does large necessarily mean a stiff current draw at any one time....as in, do others work the layout with you in operating sessions? You are probably looking at at least two, maybe three boosters each supplying about 4-5 amps if you intend to have more than about 6-8 DCC engines pulling substantial loads concurrently.
If you are a solitary runner who enjoys one passenger engine blasting around a long loop that needs no management while you play with another engine in a yard, then you could get by with perhaps 3-5 amps total.
Currently, as far as I know, the only hand-held throttle available commercially with twin encoder knobs (meaning you can easily run two engines simultaneously) is Digitrax's DT400 series. I have two. and power them via the 5 amp DB150 base station. It is Digitrax's old system that has no readback of current CV values, so you might wish to avoid the Super Empire Builder package and get a system that allows you to read the current CV values.
I hope I am not talking over your head....sorry if I am.....
-Crandell
Crandell - I hope you don´t mind me jumping in, but base board is a very British term for bench work
Hi!
I was an avid DC guy for decades and said I would NEVER go to DCC. Well, I started a new layout last January and made the jump to DCC. As someone wrote, once you get into it you will never go back.
On the upside, having full separate and concurrent control over your locos is a major plus. And, sound equipped locos with full control over them is a plus as well. Lastly, wiring is easier and certainly more simplified than DC.
On the downside, it is fairly expensive, particularly if you have a large layout and lots of locos to be converted. And, while the wiring is easier, DCC is much more finicky and demands quality wiring and hook-ups.
One thing that is obvious to me is that in my prior DC layout, I had to "relearn" how to operate it if I was away from it for awhile. Things like which switch controlled which block, and reverse loop controls were easy to forget. With DCC, that is no longer a problem.
In any case, ENJOY !!!!!
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Thanks, Ulrich. I am on a British rail forum and have not encountered the term, or not so as it jumps out of my memory with your information. Thanks again.
selector....Currently, as far as I know, the only hand-held throttle available commercially with twin encoder knobs (meaning you can easily run two engines simultaneously) is Digitrax's DT400 series. I have two. and power them via the 5 amp DB150 base station. ..... -Crandell
Currently, as far as I know, the only hand-held throttle available commercially with twin encoder knobs (meaning you can easily run two engines simultaneously) is Digitrax's DT400 series. I have two. and power them via the 5 amp DB150 base station. .....
Crandall,
Just out of curiosity, do you have to put the controller down when turning both knobs at the same time? or are you able to thumb one while turning the other?
Enjoy
Paul
Technically, any Digitrax DT-series throttle will run two trains at the same time with it's twin knobs. That goes back to the old DT100 & DT200, to the more modern DT300 and includes the current DT400 (and it's DT402 upgrade).
As for running both at the same time, you need both hands on the throttle only if you are making control movements at the same time (as if you were running your own helper). Otherwise, if you are running two different trains, one can easily control them with only one hand, one at a time.
Paul A. Cutler III*******************Weather Or No Go New Haven*******************
Paul, the knobs can't be turned for speed change or acquiring an engine, and other F-button functions, simultaneously. If you scroll one, that one gets the brain power, but as fast as you can flick your one thumb over to the other knob, and twirl it even one click, that throttle becomes the active one guiding the other locomotive. So, as fast as you can one-handedly get your thumb and or finger(s) between the two close-set knobs, that is how fast the DB150 and throttle can turn their attention to whichever knob and slaved engine is on that knob at the time.
I do use two hands because my mitts aren't especially large, and I like the more positive control and security over the hubris and possibility of dropping an expensive throttle. It really is simple to hold the throttle from below with one hand and use the forefinger and thumb on the other to reach either encoder knob.
Thanks, your explanation makes it clearer than Digitrax's web site on how the two knobs work.