Phoebe Vet Just the Zephyr. If you add a throttle then you can control two at once, In fact if you add the 402 series throttle, you can control three at once because the 402 can control two itself. Check out this video: I would run it full screen because it has some small letters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQA11-UE50
Just the Zephyr. If you add a throttle then you can control two at once, In fact if you add the 402 series throttle, you can control three at once because the 402 can control two itself.
Check out this video: I would run it full screen because it has some small letters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQA11-UE50
I will just stick to one controller/throttle since I do not have enough room for a larger "Railroad(s)". I know the $200 price range is high, but I work everyday and get paid every week to be able to afford the controller.
Thank you and thanks for the amazing video :)
Mr. LMD, Owner, founder
The Central Chicago & Illinois Railroad
Mr. LMDThat is why I contacted Digitrax because I wanted to know how many locomotives I can have on one of their controllers so I wouldnt have to pay a lot of money going through controllers til i found the right one.
Sorry for jumping in here so late, but after this two-page thread I still get the impression that you're not familiar with how most DCC systems select and control a specific loco. Since the EZ Command does it differently than most others, that's probably the source of the confusion.
Anyway, with most DCC systems, on your throttle you would select the loco you want to control at a given time, and you control it. When you want to control a different loco, you'd "drop" (different systems use different nomenclature/methods) the loco you were controlling, select the new one, and away you go.
You're not limited to the ten or so that the EZ Command knows about. Instead, power and space considerations aside, you could have literally hundreds of locos on your layout, and as long as each has a unique address (again, something the EZ Command apparently isn't capable of), you could independently call up and run any of them.
And up to the limits of the command station you're using, you could call up and run more than one if you have additional throttles. In the case of he Zephyr Extra, it would be 22 if you count the jump throttles.
I'm thinking you still don't quite understand the way it works with Digitrax and (far as I know) every DCC system EXCEPT the Bachmann EZ.
Perhaps my example will help. I actually have the older original Zephyr. It can control 10 locos at a time. At last count I have 16 locos with DCC decoders in them, plus another 4 waiting - they are undecorated units that need some details and painting first, so it may be a while. At any rate, with the 16 that I have that will run on DCC, there is no issue that my Zephyr can only control 10 at a time. I can line them all up on the track if I wish. I've had more than 10 sitting on the layout.
Or then there is the club layout. Huge - 28x120+ if we are in a venue that allows all the modules to be used. That layout has the Digitrax Super Chief (and a lot more equipment). The DCS100 that is the command station in that system can run either 22 or 120 locos. It comes set for 22 but you can set it to 120. Last time I looked, no one ever made the change to 120. One of the guys brings more than 22 locos just himself - he loves locos, and modern power, and pretty much fills up the tracks in the engine terminal with just his locos. He recently posted a picture and I can maybe count fromt here, but he had already put some away when the photo was taken. So there are all his engines sitting on the track, plus every other club member who brings locos, plus a good number that are club property. All sitting on the layout at the same time. Maybe 10 are in use at any given time, actually moving and being controlled. Far more thna can be controlled by the system are sitting on the layout though.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Stevert Mr. LMD: That is why I contacted Digitrax because I wanted to know how many locomotives I can have on one of their controllers so I wouldnt have to pay a lot of money going through controllers til i found the right one. Sorry for jumping in here so late, but after this two-page thread I still get the impression that you're not familiar with how most DCC systems select and control a specific loco. Since the EZ Command does it differently than most others, that's probably the source of the confusion. Anyway, with most DCC systems, on your throttle you would select the loco you want to control at a given time, and you control it. When you want to control a different loco, you'd "drop" (different systems use different nomenclature/methods) the loco you were controlling, select the new one, and away you go. You're not limited to the ten or so that the EZ Command knows about. Instead, power and space considerations aside, you could have literally hundreds of locos on your layout, and as long as each has a unique address (again, something the EZ Command apparently isn't capable of), you could independently call up and run any of them. And up to the limits of the command station you're using, you could call up and run more than one if you have additional throttles. In the case of he Zephyr Extra, it would be 22 if you count the jump throttles.
Mr. LMD: That is why I contacted Digitrax because I wanted to know how many locomotives I can have on one of their controllers so I wouldnt have to pay a lot of money going through controllers til i found the right one.
There's no such thing as being late in helping fellow modelers lol. I know that all the locos have to have different address to be able to control them and i plan on programming my non-decorated/unlettered locos using their road numbers and since each one have different numbers it should be easy. I'm glad i'm dumping the EZ command because that put a limit on how many I could program into the system/controller.
since one of the recent modelers told me that the Zephyr already have one throttle in the controller i wouldn't have to buy another unless I expanded my loco roster or add lighting and power switches.
thank you and yes, i was getting the bachmann system mixed up with the other dcc controller brands.
rrinker I'm thinking you still don't quite understand the way it works with Digitrax and (far as I know) every DCC system EXCEPT the Bachmann EZ. Perhaps my example will help. I actually have the older original Zephyr. It can control 10 locos at a time. At last count I have 16 locos with DCC decoders in them, plus another 4 waiting - they are undecorated units that need some details and painting first, so it may be a while. At any rate, with the 16 that I have that will run on DCC, there is no issue that my Zephyr can only control 10 at a time. I can line them all up on the track if I wish. I've had more than 10 sitting on the layout. Or then there is the club layout. Huge - 28x120+ if we are in a venue that allows all the modules to be used. That layout has the Digitrax Super Chief (and a lot more equipment). The DCS100 that is the command station in that system can run either 22 or 120 locos. It comes set for 22 but you can set it to 120. Last time I looked, no one ever made the change to 120. One of the guys brings more than 22 locos just himself - he loves locos, and modern power, and pretty much fills up the tracks in the engine terminal with just his locos. He recently posted a picture and I can maybe count fromt here, but he had already put some away when the photo was taken. So there are all his engines sitting on the track, plus every other club member who brings locos, plus a good number that are club property. All sitting on the layout at the same time. Maybe 10 are in use at any given time, actually moving and being controlled. Far more thna can be controlled by the system are sitting on the layout though. --Randy
i understand that the DCC allow the modeler to control all of their locomotives without complication.
I'm just looking for a DCC controller that will allow me to program all of my locos into one controller with or without throttles. I have 15, 17 within two weeks that I want to have on my layout so when one diesel loco or duo is done with their days work, I can place them back into the yard and allow me to play with one of my steam trains. I, myself, also have many of my locos needing DCC decorders and as soon as my layout is done, I will send one loco at a time to get converted to DCC to Mr. Lee (Western Maryland modeler) who will install them for me.
Thank you for your example.
Mr. LMDI'm just looking for a DCC controller that will allow me to program all of my locos into one controller with or without throttles.
No, no, you're still not understanding!
With any DCC system (except, apparently, the EZ Command), you don't program locos into anything.
You use the throttle to select a loco, or more accurately a specific address, and then you use the throttle to control that address. Doesn't matter if the throttle is built-in or external. You're using it, along with the command station, to select and control an address.
Think of it in terms of the old, bakelite dial telephones. They didn't store any numbers, but you could call virtually anyone as long as you dialed their number.
DCC systems work on a similar concept; You don't program addresses (locos) into them, but instead you select any valid address you want and control that address.
And any locos on the layout that are not selected will do nothing.
Stevert Mr. LMD: I'm just looking for a DCC controller that will allow me to program all of my locos into one controller with or without throttles. No, no, you're still not understanding! With any DCC system (except, apparently, the EZ Command), you don't program locos into anything. You use the throttle to select a loco, or more accurately a specific address, and then you use the throttle to control that address. Doesn't matter if the throttle is built-in or external. You're using it, along with the command station, to select and control an address. Think of it in terms of the old, bakelite dial telephones. They didn't store any numbers, but you could call virtually anyone as long as you dialed their number. DCC systems work on a similar concept; You don't program addresses (locos) into them, but instead you select any valid address you want and control that address. And any locos on the layout that are not selected will do nothing.
Mr. LMD: I'm just looking for a DCC controller that will allow me to program all of my locos into one controller with or without throttles.
That is not what I see in the Digitrax video that a fellow modeler posted. It said I can program/address the locos into the controller by following a few steps.
But you don;t "program your locos into the system". Each loco has an address that gets programmed into it. You can own 1000 locos, each with a unique address.
You select one at a time to control it on the DCC system. One throttle, one loco (I am leaving out consists - say you put three locos on the headof a train - that gets controlled as one loco). You cna let one run uncontrolled while you select another - say leave a train circlign thelayotu while you operate a switcher, and you CVAN do this 20 times on the Zephyr Xtra, but 19 trains runnign around your layout uncontrolled is just asking for disaster.
You can hook up additional throttles - 19 of them, plus the one built in to the Zephyr itself, and have 20 trains under control, if you have 20 peopel to handle the throttles.
The key is, the loco address are NOT permanently stored in the Zephyr itself. They are selected as you run them. The capacity is how many you cna run at a time - like I said, you cna own 1000 unuqie locos, and do not need a DC system that can 'store' 1000 locos - there isn't one made, actually.
Your responses indicate you don't quite have a handle on how this works. You CAN utilize a feature called the 'recall stack' to access previously used locos, but unless you are flippign back and forth betwen 3 or 4 locos tops, I find it much easier (and less buttons to press) to just select the loco as designed. Worst case, the loco address is a full 4 digits - 1234. To select this loco on the Zephyr requires 6 button presses - Loco, 1, 2, 3, 4, Enter. To access this loco fromt he recall stack requires pressing Loco, then as many as 19 presses to scroll through the list of locos, then Enter. If 1234 was just used 2 locos ago, it would be a total of 4 button presses, but if it was 10 locos ago, it would be 12 button presses - so it's easier to just key in the address.
I don;t knwo how to make it more clear. The LOCO has an address. You don;t load the DCC system with the loco ahead of time, you select a loco when you want to operate it. It is, as I said, nearly the opposite of the Bachmann, where you DID assign a loco to one fo the buttons. The Bachmann system attempts to completely insulate you fromt he workings of DCC - what it actually did when you assigned a loco to button 1 was program the LOCO to address 1. With a full-featured DCC system, the address can be anything from 1-9999, and when you want to run a given loco, you tell the system what loco you want to run. It's perhaps a subtle but very important distinction.
ANother example. Sitting here in front of me is an Atlas Trainmaster number 802. If I want to run this loco, I can take it upstairs and on my Zephyr dial in 802 and run it. If I take it to the club layout, I put it on the track, pick up a throttle, adn select 802, and off it goes. If I take it to a friend's house, I pick up a throttle, and dial in 802. It is in no way tied to my Zephyr. It's 802 wherever I go, and I need not do anythign on any other DCC system to make it know about 802, I just say "run loco 802" and it runs.
Maybe it has already been said; maybe it hasn't. When you program a locomotive with a decoder installed into it, it's the decoder that you are programming - i.e. giving it a 2 or 4-digit address; NOT the DCC system. Once the decoder is programmed, a locomotive can then be "called up" (to use Steve's good analogy of a telephone) or selected with any DCC system using the address that is programmed into the decoder.
The address and any CV (configuration variables) settings are stored in the decoder itself. That's why when you purchase a decoder you get a decoder manual with it. It generally tells you what the decoder can do are what default values are for some or all the CVs.
Does that make a little more sense now? Or, is it still clear as mud?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I'm done with this post since a few modelers do not understand that i have a LEARNING DISABILITY.
The best way I can understand things is visually like i stated before and one modeler who I am quite grateful for his patience and respect sending me a video of how he used the Digitrax Zepyhr in a youtube video. This is why I have not posted anything for the last few weeks because the only place where people who do not understand or take the time to read when i say i have a disability is this website.
I'm sorry for being a 22 year old man asking for advices which is hard for me to understand alittle bit and people keep being disrespectful.
tstage Maybe it has already been said; maybe it hasn't. When you program a locomotive with a decoder installed into it, it's the decoder that you are programming - i.e giving it a 2 or 4-digit address; NOT the DCC system. Once the decoder is programmed, a locomotive can then be "called up" (to use Steve's good analogy of a telephone) with any DCC system. The address and any CV (configuration variables) settings are stored in the decoder itself. That's why when you purchase a decoder you get a decoder manual with it. It generally tells you what the decoder can do are what default values are for some or all the CVs. Does that make a little more sense now? Or, is it still clear as mud? Tom
Maybe it has already been said; maybe it hasn't. When you program a locomotive with a decoder installed into it, it's the decoder that you are programming - i.e giving it a 2 or 4-digit address; NOT the DCC system. Once the decoder is programmed, a locomotive can then be "called up" (to use Steve's good analogy of a telephone) with any DCC system.
it's perfectly clear and understandable the way you said it. I do not know why anyone did not explain it that way instead of taking the hard way and explaining it in very long paragraphs.
Thank you sir.
I asked a similar question till I discovered the answer was in programming 2 locos for one address slot. You can nto run two controllers, UNLESS THE TRACK WORK IS SEPARATE FORM EACH OTHER.
I skimmed over the 3 pages of answers you got. I see a lot of goobledy-gook, and not sure a clear answer as to how you can have all your locos programmed in. Not sure my ansower wil be clear either.
I have the EZ Command. It is true that it can only run 10 loces, {9 if you want to leave #10 clear for turning on/off lights like I do.} Unless you program more than one loco to an address.
AS LONG AS YOU DON"T RUN THEM AT THE SAME TIME, you can program in 20 locos {18 if you save #10}.
How?
By programming more than one loco for an address slot.
Heres an example:
Slot one has CSX GP35 and CSX SD35 programmed into it.
Slot two has NS F7 and NS F9 programmed into it.
Slot 3 has BNSF GP40 and BNSF BNSF GE33 programed into it.
If you ONLY run ONE of those two you have programmed into a slot, YOu will have no Problems! You can run EITHER CSX GP35 OR CSX SD35 . And You can trade off locos as you wish.
You cannot run all these 6 locos at a time. You can run three. You can run two or three from DIFFERING slots {if your EZC willhandle 3 locos}.
I have 14 locos programed into the 9 sltos on my EZC.
Now, for a consist, I also have a F series A and B set that I have programmed to run together {both} on one slot ,so those two I would load on track in proper order and turn on that slot#. It will run them as a consist after I have set the pair up for running together.
Hope this helps
Keep in mind you have to remove the "dead ones" you are not using from the layout as you cannot have them all sitting there idle as you will have a conflict and they won't run! OR put them on a switched off spur so there is no conflict.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
The 20 locos is how many addresses the command station can hold in it's memory. 20 throttles is what the max number of throttles can be hooked up to the Zypher. Joe
galaxy I asked a similar question till I discovered the answer was in programming 2 locos for one address slot. You can nto run two controllers, UNLESS THE TRACK WORK IS SEPARATE FORM EACH OTHER. I skimmed over the 3 pages of answers you got. I see a lot of goobledy-gook, and not sure a clear answer as to how you can have all your locos programmed in. Not sure my ansower wil be clear either. I have the EZ Command. It is true that it can only run 10 loces, {9 if you want to leave #10 clear for turning on/off lights like I do.} Unless you program more than one loco to an address. AS LONG AS YOU DON"T RUN THEM AT THE SAME TIME, you can program in 20 locos {18 if you save #10}. How? By programming more than one loco for an address slot. Heres an example: Slot one has CSX GP35 and CSX SD35 programmed into it. Slot two has NS F7 and NS F9 programmed into it. Slot 3 has BNSF GP40 and BNSF BNSF GE33 programed into it. If you ONLY run ONE of those two you have programmed into a slot, YOu will have no Problems! You can run EITHER CSX GP35 OR CSX SD35 . And You can trade off locos as you wish. You cannot run all these 6 locos at a time. You can run three. You can run two or three from DIFFERING slots {if your EZC willhandle 3 locos}. I have 14 locos programed into the 9 sltos on my EZC. Now, for a consist, I also have a F series A and B set that I have programmed to run together {both} on one slot ,so those two I would load on track in proper order and turn on that slot#. It will run them as a consist after I have set the pair up for running together. Hope this helps Keep in mind you have to remove the "dead ones" you are not using from the layout as you cannot have them all sitting there idle as you will have a conflict and they won't run! OR put them on a switched off spur so there is no conflict.
Thank you.
ba&prr The 20 locos is how many addresses the command station can hold in it's memory. 20 throttles is what the max number of throttles can be hooked up to the Zypher. Joe
Thank you sir. I'm planning on getting the Zephyr soon.
I would caution you with the Digitrax PR-3 and a laptop. I want to get the PR-3 for Christmas this year but I noticed in the system requirements that Windows 7 is not on the OS compatible list. I emailed Digitrax and they responded it will work with the 32 bit windows 7 but not the 64 bit version.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/
Microsoft's web site has an "XP Compatibility Mode" module you can load into Windows 7 which avoids most conflicts with the 64 bit version.
Curt Webb I would caution you with the Digitrax PR-3 and a laptop. I want to get the PR-3 for Christmas this year but I noticed in the system requirements that Windows 7 is not on the OS compatible list. I emailed Digitrax and they responded it will work with the 32 bit windows 7 but not the 64 bit version.
Not sure why they would have told you that.
Both my layout computer and my office computer run 64-bit Win7, and my PR3 works just fine with both of them.
None of that "compatibility mode" stuff is needed, either (especially since that only applies to programs, and not hardware/drivers).
Just download the zip file with the drivers from the Digitrax Web site and follow the Vista installation instructions. Some of the Win7 screens/prompts will be slightly different than what's shown for Vista, but they're close enough that it shouldn't be a problem to follow along.
Edit: Here's a link to the zip file with the PR3 instructions and drivers.
Vista instructions are located in the PR3 Help.pdf file
Vista 32 and 64-bit drivers are in the win_xp_vista32_64 folder.
I use the Locobuffer USB and it works fine with all my computers with various software. Good support too. Interfaced with DCS200, etc.
http://www.rr-cirkits.com/
Richard
I've had 3 different laptops and my desktop, all with Windows 7 64-bit. My PR3 has worked on all of them, with both JMRI and Soundloader, as well as Loconet Checker and the DigiIPL program to update my DT402 throttle.
In fact I just configured my latest laptop to take to the train show, with both JMRI and the Loksound software, with both the PR3 and Loksound Programmer attached as hardware. Works perfectly fine. My program/test track was modified with a DPDT toggle feeding the rails from either hte PR3 or Lokprogrammer. Now, so long as I don;t forget a cable or power supply - got it all in my box of gear to take so if I forget that I'm minus a lot of important stuff.