I'm trying to reduce the number of wires running under my planned HO DCC layout. I thought I would control 13 snap switches traditionally with spst switches on a schematic. Still like this idea...but would involve minumum of 27 wires back to the control area.
Not clear on how function decoders work for DCC switch machines.
1. I can power them from the track...with a resistor in line ???
2. What is the best brand decoder for this???...perhaps one with most "hookups" for switches?
3. How many wires, then, need to be run back to the controller?...none? Do I just programme the switches with the DCC decoder?
4. How complicated is the operation of the switches when programed....do I need to have a list of the switches and then "key" the id in whenever I want to switch?
Thanks
There are many possible answers to this subject but i can atleast tell you what ive just done personaly.
On my old layout (DCC), i oppted to use conventional control away from the DCC using STDP switches. I ended up with more wires than you could shake a stick at, there were dozerns of them.
I was scared to go DCC controlled turnouts in the begining because i thought it was complicated, exspensive and tricky to operate and wire. I couldnt have been more wrong.
On the new layout and after seeking advice from this forum, i went with NCE "Switchit's", partly because my system is NCE anyway. These will operate 2 points with the option (that i'l use later on) of controling them from a local pannel with LED's for condition as well as from the cab itself.
Their an absolute breeze to wire and program. 2 power wires to your main 'bus' and 2 wires to the switch machine, job done! Ofcourse if you want local control as ive mentiond above, you'l have a few more wires but you can virtualy plug and play in the begining.
The only downside i can forsee is that when your switch machines are all in place and maybe under the road bed like mine are, you can no longer see the numbers ive allocated them writen on the machines themselves so you can forget which one is which i spose. Thats where the local pannel comes in though. You can then see what address does what switch. I simmply addressed all mine 1, 2, 3, etc.
Couple of other things. There are no DCC switch machines as such. the twin coil machines like Peco can be controlled by a DCC stationary decoder but these decoders differ compared with the ones that control a slow motion stall machine like the Tortoise and are NOT interchangable! The various DCC manufacturers state wether the decoder is for a coil machine or a Tortoise, atleast NCE do anyway. NCE sell a "Switch8", this will control 8 Tortoise machines so is prety good value however i opted to go for the one that does 2 as the 8 version cannot suport local control from a pannel i dont think.
As far as control is concerned, i just press sellect accessory, press the 2 key (for switch 2) press enter. You then see a screen saying 1 for "normal" and 2 for "reverse". Just press 1 or 2 and the switch changes. The cab automaticly goes back to your train you controlling!
I am also a beginner. I have wondered the following as well with respect to switching and DCC:
1.) Is is possible to have manual switching and/or SPST switches locally for the kids, in addition to DCC switching?
2.) Can routes be programmed into a DCC command station, i.e. I have alot of switches and even for the kids it gets cumbersome running around the track flipping switches?
Thanks,
dcg
Yes, it's possible to have manual ground throws, turnouts controlled with SPST switches, and DCC controlled turnouts, but not two different methods on the same switch -- it's an either/or proposition.
I use manual throws on all turnouts that can be reached to throw by hand, and use DCC SwitchIt controllers and Tortoise motors on those I can't reach. But you can't put a ground throw on a turnout that is controlled by a Tortoise or other electric motor because the ground throw would not allow the motor to change the turnout.