I want to go wireless soon.I use a NCE power cab now.I was going to put in some extra stations for my controller.But with my layout wireless seems it would be much easier to get around my narrow lanes and follow the trains/All my turnouts are hand throws so being close to them is a mus for switching.And does wireless work well.Also are their any other brands that do better at wireless.I do like how NCE works and understand it.Thanks Bob
Bob,
I feel like you do.
I have the NCE PH-Pro 5 amp system and two tethered throttles. I have 14 UTP panels strung around my layout, and it is a pain moving the cable from panel to panel. I am going to send my throttles back to NCE, one at a time, foir conversion to wireless and buy the wireless base station and antenna.
Rich
Alton Junction
Wireless is the way to go. But you should still have several panels spread around the layout so you can plug in a controller in case of a dead battery or losing control or losing radio reception for another reason.
Since the Power Cab throttle has the power booster built into the hand held, how can you make it wireless and still get the power to the track? Presumably you would need to invest in a Smartbooster, the radio base station and have the throttle converted to radio to be able to accomplish this?
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
I have no experience with NCE but can tell you that wireless on my digitrax works flawlessly. I can't imagine with the quality of NCE's product that it would be any different for them.
I really can't imagine running any other way, the freedom is so nice. I also have the duplex setup (don't know if this is available in NCE) which allows me to send and receive signal to the controller which brought it to a whole other level. I never plug in and I can quickly make changes with one throttle.
I have Digitrax duplex wireless and recommend it highly. That said, NCE is a quality brand and if you are happy and comfortable with it why change?
I will leave it to someone who has NCE wireless to tell you what is involved. Once you go wireless you will never go back.
The only downside I have found to wireless is that I occasionally notice that Thomas the Tank Engine is running rapidly around the layout and the 4 year old grandson has nothing in his hand. So the search is on... Someday I will convince him not to lay the controller down and walk away from it while his train is running.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I've used wireless systems from several manufacturers, including NCE, and they all worked really well. After using wireless I would never go back to tethered.
I think that there is a way to add wireless to your Power Cab but that would introduce certain limitations for adding other devices to your system.
Jerry
Rio Grande vs. Santa Fe.....the battle is over but the glory remains!
I have an N scale with tethered trottles and an HO with wireless , there is no comparison, Wireless is so cool , I have yet to trip over the wireless.
I had the ph pro wireless and loved it. If doing so I would recommend the booster as well.
The others including digitrax are just as good but not better for wireless. I curently use the duplex wireless.
Good Luck
Springfield PA
Hamltnblue I had the ph pro wireless and loved it. If doing so I would recommend the booster as well. The others including digitrax are just as good but not better for wireless. I curently use the duplex wireless. Good Luck
HB,
What is the "duplex wireless"? How come you have up on the Ph-Pro wireless? I have the PH-Pro 5 amp system, and I am getting ready to go wireless with the RB02 wireless base station.
Thanks I will probably just get a whole new NGE setup instead of tyring to use the Power Cab,I can allways sell it or use it for a programming track.Now what to get.Bob
NCE wireless is Duplex (2 way) and has been forever. The only reason it is even mentioned is that the long standing Digitrax radio was simplex (one way) and required that the throttle be plugged in to acquire a locomotive. This was always the source of much criticism by NCE users, and much shrugging by Digitrax users. Anyway, last year Digitrax released the much anticipated Duplex version of their wireless. Myself and many other Digitrax users have been happily using the new Duplex since it came out. NCE always had it. Today you can get either system with Digitrax and the coexist with each other. None of which is really relevant to the OP's question.
Just to confirm. If the OP has a Power Cab and want wireless they MUST get a Smartbooster first, and can then add the wireless base station and get the Power Cab throttle converted to radio.
So you are looking at about $250 for the base station and the Smartbooster and about $90 for the radio upgrade for the throttle. You might think about contacting Bruce Petraca for the throttle upgrade. He was the former owner of Litchfield Station and has a very good reputation for DCC. He also happens to be an authorized radio installer for NCE. See the link below.
http://www.mrdccu.com/services/
Thanks Simon.i was looking at the Diditrax SEBXD set up.It is $459.$100 CHEAPER THAN THE NCE.Plus it has auto reverse.I am sure I could get use to the Digitrax system.I mainly just programm my locos and that is it.As long as I can do that and sometime change a CV I would be happy.Plus the Diditrax has autoreverse buildt in.Is the SEBXD system a good deal.Thanks Bob
richhotrain HB, What is the "duplex wireless"? How come you have up on the Ph-Pro wireless? I have the PH-Pro 5 amp system, and I am getting ready to go wireless with the RB02 wireless base station. Rich
I switched to the Digitrax Duplex mostly because of the dual throttle control on the DT402, and also the club uses Digitrax. If you have the PH-Pro 5 amp I'd suggest you just upgrade it as you plan.
Fender,
The SEB xtra is a decent system for sure, but you need to know a couple of things about it. First, yes it can be used as an auto-reverser or as a booster. If you were to get it, you would be using it as the primary booster, so IMO the fact that it can be used in auto-reverse mode would be redundant. You would still need a separate auto reverse device like an AR-1 or any of the many that are available from other manufacturers. So add that in if you are working out overall costs.
The other thing to know is that the SEB does not have the ability to read back CV's. Now this may not be an issue for you, and there are many that have the SEB and don't care that it does not have CV read back. Personally, I like it, because it lets me check that what I have written has been accepted. I also tend to use the JMRI program via a PC interface, and like to read CV's a page at a time.
Now you can get around this shortcoming of the SEB by getting a PR-3 PC interface that can provide both the CV read back and the computer connection. But again this is additional cost you need to add to the cost of the system.
Also, when pricing these things, make sure that the power supply is accounted for in the cost of the unit. The larger starter system like the SEB, the SuperChief and the Powerhouse Pro do NOT include the power supply in the base price and this needs to be added.
I just want to make sure you are comparing prices on complete systems.
simon1966 Since the Power Cab throttle has the power booster built into the hand held, how can you make it wireless and still get the power to the track? Presumably you would need to invest in a Smartbooster, the radio base station and have the throttle converted to radio to be able to accomplish this?
I was speaking to NCE about upgrading handsets and I believe that I was told that the PowerCab could be converted to radio operation. Thinking about that, maybe that conversion was when one used the PowerCab on someone else's PowerPro system.
That said, I'm not sure why a smart booster would be required. Why cannot the radio base station be plugged into the other "normal" jack on the front of the panel? Then you could get one of the smaller handset radio throttles to walk around with? The PowerCab would remain plugged in and could be used for programming when required.
Or am I missing something?
Maxman, I think you are correct in principal, but I also think you might fall foul of the Cab limitation of the base system. As I understand it the radio base counts as a Cab and presumably the radio throttle would count as a Cab. It would be worth checking with NCE to see if this is a viable scenario.
simon1966 Maxman, I think you are correct in principal, but I also think you might fall foul of the Cab limitation of the base system. As I understand it the radio base counts as a Cab and presumably the radio throttle would count as a Cab. It would be worth checking with NCE to see if this is a viable scenario.
Hmmmm, you might be correct. I think I'll try to call NCE tomorrow and ask, right after I call Digitrax and ask them why I can't program one of their old decoders in ops mode.
I will say that when I recently purchased my radio base station and hand-held, I just plugged the base station into one of the front jacks and I don't remember any instruction that said anything about it being considered a cab. At least there was nothing that said I had to assign it a cab number. I did have to assign the hand-held a cab number. But I have the PowerPro, not the PowerCab, so I might be comparing apples with potatoes.
I just looked at the instructions for the NCE RB-02 radio base station and they show it plugged into one side of the utp jack. The other jack is shown as going either to the PowerPro or the PowerCab. See the hookup diagram here: http://www.ncedcc.com/images/stories/manuals/rbo2_rpt.pdf
Still probably worthwhile to call NCE to confirm.
You're the one posting on the JMRI forum? The DH121 is REEAALLY old, and predates Ops Mode programming.
I really hope you have that only because you've been using DCC for a long time and didn't recently buy such an outdate piece of hardwarey.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker The DH121 is REEAALLY old,
The DH121 is REEAALLY old,
Discontinued 12/2002 according to the Digitrax knowledge-base.
simon1966Maxman, I think you are correct in principal, but I also think you might fall foul of the Cab limitation of the base system. As I understand it the radio base counts as a Cab and presumably the radio throttle would count as a Cab. It would be worth checking with NCE to see if this is a viable scenario.
Yes this is a viable scenario. The base station plugs in and essentially becomes the second cab. You then must buy a radio cab which could then be considered an extension to the base station and not a third cab.
But, in doing this, you would not be able to add a computer interface, or any other device that requires plugging in. So, this would not be an ideal setup for anyone desiring more add-ons. Adding a Smart Booster would be a better solution for many.
The radio setup I prefer is a Digitrax Zephyr plus a DT402D/UR92. This gives you the DT402D throttle, which nicely controls two trains at a time (with it's twin knobs), plus you have the Zephyr throttle to run a 3rd train, or for another operator.
rrinker You're the one posting on the JMRI forum? The DH121 is REEAALLY old, and predates Ops Mode programming. I really hope you have that only because you've been using DCC for a long time and didn't recently buy such an outdate piece of hardwarey. --Randy
Yes, Randy, I confess. I know the thing is old, but it was what was available when it was purchased (unfortunately along with several of its cousins) many years ago. It predates my purchase of any sort of DCC system and any knowledge of JMRI, etc. Unfortunately I didn't know about the pre-dating ops mode programming thing. I guess the guys who tried to help me didn't realize this either. Had someone piped up at the beginning about this fact it would have saved a bunch of people from reading useless posts. Oh well, it was a learning experience.
As a side note, we are going to try to use one of the DH121s as a turntable motor controller over at the club. Initial experimentation seems to indicate that it might be good for that application. Better to use it for something rather than throw it away.
jwils1 Yes this is a viable scenario. The base station plugs in and essentially becomes the second cab. You then must buy a radio cab which could then be considered an extension to the base station and not a third cab. But, in doing this, you would not be able to add a computer interface, or any other device that requires plugging in. So, this would not be an ideal setup for anyone desiring more add-ons. Adding a Smart Booster would be a better solution for many.
I agree with you about the computer interface. However, that did not seem to be the OP's original desire. My thought was that the smart booster was not needed to accomplish what the OP wanted to do, but could be added later if necessary.
maxman rrinker: You're the one posting on the JMRI forum? The DH121 is REEAALLY old, and predates Ops Mode programming. I really hope you have that only because you've been using DCC for a long time and didn't recently buy such an outdate piece of hardwarey. --Randy Yes, Randy, I confess. I know the thing is old, but it was what was available when it was purchased (unfortunately along with several of its cousins) many years ago. It predates my purchase of any sort of DCC system and any knowledge of JMRI, etc. Unfortunately I didn't know about the pre-dating ops mode programming thing. I guess the guys who tried to help me didn't realize this either. Had someone piped up at the beginning about this fact it would have saved a bunch of people from reading useless posts. Oh well, it was a learning experience. As a side note, we are going to try to use one of the DH121s as a turntable motor controller over at the club. Initial experimentation seems to indicate that it might be good for that application. Better to use it for something rather than throw it away.
rrinker: You're the one posting on the JMRI forum? The DH121 is REEAALLY old, and predates Ops Mode programming. I really hope you have that only because you've been using DCC for a long time and didn't recently buy such an outdate piece of hardwarey. --Randy
Which raises an interesting question about old decoders. If they still work, what are you supposed to do? Throw it out? Stop using it?
If they still work and the feature set works for you, keep using them. Somethign newer will probbaly add something, like BEMF or more lighting features (in this case, the DH121 doesn't have all the fancy beacon and mars and gyralite features that the 3-series (like the DH123 that repalced it) have.).
There's no reason to toss a perfectly functioning decoder.
rrinker If they still work and the feature set works for you, keep using them. Somethign newer will probbaly add something, like BEMF or more lighting features (in this case, the DH121 doesn't have all the fancy beacon and mars and gyralite features that the 3-series (like the DH123 that repalced it) have.). There's no reason to toss a perfectly functioning decoder. --Randy
Well, since my goal was to learn how to speed match a couple locos, and since the DH121 can't be programmed in ops mode, it is sort of useless for for my purposes. Especially frustrating after spending a number of hours and bothering some well intentioned folks who were trying to help me.
As I see it, right now I'm stuck with 3 or 4 decoders that I will never have a use for. Now, where did I put my ball peen hammer.
When I got back in to the hobby and the time came to buy a system, I thought buying wireless was a no brainer. I bought the NCE PH-PRO-R.
Wondering around the trainroom with this in your hand is just awesome, as you forget you have it and go about running things without worrying about seeking out that physical connection point. The only downside is a couple of times I have put the controller under my arm to do something that required two hands. Doing this can have undesirable consequences on the layout. I have learned.
I think NCE should put a small ring on the controller that a lanyard could be clipped to. That would increase the Beer carrying capability of an operator.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
They're still good for turntables, or locos that run single. You can still speed match with the program track, it's just more of a pain, trial and error.
I'll go with everyone else and say wireless is the way to go.
One thing not mentioned yet is consider having your yard/s tethered. That is unless your yards are so big that wouldn't work. It keeps the YM close and save you $ since you have all of the parts. No need to "waste" a wireless throttle on the YM - next the DS will want one too
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”