please explane

[Orange trainman]

Helo I am faIrly new to this hobby and a total "newbie" when it comes to DCC. the last time i had a layout i hooked it up to a transformer fliped a switch turned a lever and my train ran.. so my question is this? that unit ran off A.C( I pluged it into a wall socket) so how dose DC OR DCC work?, what provides the power? do I need an ac/dc power converter/ i know that you used to have to have a convertor to run a D.C  object off A.C. or vise a versa..please explane how DCor DCC works, I have purchased both DC and DCC locos and will propubly build a DCC layout as that is the most modern technology out there. BUT how dose it work

[BlueHillsCPR]

 DCC = Digital Command Control.  Basically it uses a low voltage AC to carry a digital signal to the DCC decoder in the DCC loco.  The digital signal tells the decoder to make the loco go faster etc. 

Here are a couple of links that will take you further in your quest for knowledge.

All About DCC

Tony's DCC Primer

 

[MisterBeasley]

Operationally, DC (or AC in the Lionel world) runs the track.  The power you apply goes to all locomotives on the track.  More complex DC layouts use "blocks" of track, and "cabs" to control them.  In these layouts, you would set toggle switches to select which "cab" is connected to which "block," and then that cab will control whichever locomotive is in that block.  You can think of a simple layout as a single cab with a single block.

DCC runs the train, not the track.  Power is on the track all the time.  You control things with a throttle, which you use to select an engine by number.  Once you've chosen an engine, all the commands you send from your throttle go to that engine only.  Once you get that one moving, you can select another engine, and get that moving, too, and so on, so you can have different engines running at different speeds and directions, all at once.

Some DCC systems plug directly into the wall, and some require a power supply.  The supply plugs into the wall, and then a couple of wires carry power to the DCC system.  From there, power goes to the track.

[rrinker]

 AC, like Lionel trains, is alternating current - the direction of flow 'alternates', in the US the standard is 60 times a second. To reverse an AC motor, you have to change which windings are connected in which order - that was the function of the E-Unit relay in the Lionel locos. Pressing the direction button on an old Lionel transformer interrupted power to the rails, causing the relay (it realy was a solenoid - same thing with no contacts) to drop, and when power was reapplied, it pulled in again and rotated the switch contacts. Moving the speed control varied the AC voltage, and thus the speed of the motor.

DC is direct current - it flows in only one direction at a given time. A DC motor can be reversed by changing the polarity of the DC current - flip the + and -, and the motor spins the opposite way. The reversing switch on a DC power pack does exactly that. The speed control once again varies the voltage being applied to the track, which varies the speed that the motor turns.

DCC is a bit more complicated. There is a constant AC-like signal on the rails, at a constant voltgae, at all times. It's really a square-shaped wave _|-|_|-|  (well sort of liek that) where the width (the space between the vertical lines) varies to carry data to the decoder installed in each loco. The decoder is a small computer that responds to that data and controls the speed and direction of the loco's motor. And can do all kinds of other neat things like make whistle and bell sounds, turn lights on and off, etc.

                                   --Randy