I recently recieved my long awaited pre-order for ST's BNSF 25th Aniversary Edition in numbers 6163 & 6075. After programing the engines for consist operating I have to say the wait was well worth it. The LOK Sound 5 decoders with built-in dule power capacitors offer flawless runing at every speed step, the engine details are top shelf together with great factory programed lighting & sound effects right out of the box. I dont understand why Intermountain, Rapido, & Athearn Genesis don't have built-in capacitors in their DCC engines, as all of these products are within the same retail price range. I recently noticd on their web site that BLI now includes built-in capacitors for their Rolling Thunder 4 equipped engines. Although I clean my track a using a CMX with Aero Track Cleaner its nice to have such reliable engines on my roster in the event a dirty or dead spot comes up from time to time. Bayway Terminal NJ
I don't think that keep-alive capacitors are particularly necessary or useful on large 4 or 6 axle engines. I never have power issues on any of my large engines, and even my two-axle trolleys perform flawlessly. For me, the secret is powered frogs, which eliminate those dead spots, along with clean track. I think a clean environment helps, too. No smoke, a long way from cooking, and not exposed to the outside like in a garage.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I'm very impressed with my Scaletrains.com engines. I too, bought the BNSF 25th Anniversary Heritage engine. My buddy brought over his Athearn Genesis BNSF engine and we tried to put it in consist. It was taking way too long to speed match so we ditched the consist. I also bought a pair of the CSX SD40-3 engines; one with DCC Sound and one DCC ready. Put in a lokpilot decoder and got them very very close to speed match in consist.
Neal
Unless i'm wrong on this topic I believe accurate speed matching for consisting can only be acheived by programing the exact same decoders & same manufacture's engines, even to the extent of the engines release date due to the engines factory installed motors and internal drive train design? Bayway Terminal NJ
Bayway Terminal Unless i'm wrong on this topic I believe accurate speed matching for consisting can only be acheived by programing the exact same decoders & same manufacture's engines, even to the extent of the engines release date due to the engines factory installed motors and internal drive train design? Bayway Terminal NJ
Nope, one of the joys of DCC is that you can program different decoders and manufacturers to be speed matched. It's much easier when they are the same, but still possible when different.
Thanks, i will have to read my NCE controller booklet again on speed matching, but before i try to consist different manufacutured engines i will experiment with matching speeds on my two MTH HO SD70's, both engines run fast especially within the low range steps. Bayway Terminal NJ