Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
okay, this might be a really dumb question... but are different companies controller/throttles interchangeable at all?
I ask, just because, after fiddling with the throttle for my Prodigy Express and having used my MRC Tech II power pack, I find that I like the circle throttle design more, as opposed to the NCE throttle, which you roll forwards, away from you to speed up, and backwards, towards you, to slow down. With this, you only need one hand. I think i like the idea of using both hands with the throttle, one hand holding the controller, and the other managing the actual throttle on the controller.
bahhhh... decisions decisions.
Even if a DCC equipped engine is run on pure DC, the motor is still getting pulse power like when it is run on DCC. The chips on the decoder develop the pulses just like when the decoder sees pulses from the DCC controller.
It is best to run them on pure DC, not power packs with pulse power. Not my opinion.
I use a NCE Power Cab for my own layout. Does eveything I want.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
DeadheadGreg wrote:does anyone have anything specifically BAD to say about MRC's Prodigy Express?
Not bad per se, but limitations (important to me):
Prodigy Express will not read CVs, but will write them. Means you need to keep a notebook of CVs written to a particular decoder. A workaround is to add Prodigy Advance/Advance 2 remote throttle as 2nd controller. All Advance/Advance 2 features become available on the 2nd throttle.
No computer interface available to substitute Decoder Pro for tracking, reading, and writing CVs. Workaround (more expensive than others) is to add SPROG system to use Decoder Pro.
Current output from booster is limited (1.7 amps I believe). Enough for a small layout, but will run out of power for more than 3 sound-equipped locos.
If you can get the PE at the right price - it's a huge step up from the cheaper Bachmann EZ. But Zephyr, ProCab, and Prodigy Advance2 do a lot more - for how much extra money? To me it's a value trade-off. If I could get a PE for less than $100, I'd probably go down that road. Otherwise, one of the other systems starting at $140-$160 starts looking better (PA2 is closer to $200 street price).
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Speaking of Prodigy - in the recent MRC ad in the latest MR, it mentions "computer interface with PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE". Please, PLEASE tell me MRC is not so stupid as to make their computer itnerface work with only software they supply. Such a bonehead move would preclude you from using JMRI, RR&Co, and all the others that work with multiple systems.
--Randy
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:CV readback nakes life so much easier. It's one of the reasons I got the Digitrax DCS50.
That's the "Digitrax Zephyr" if you're not familiar with their part numbers...
I would have to agree being ablt to read CV's is really helpful -- esp if a loco starts acting crazy for no apparent reason (and it doesn't have a MRC decoder in it )
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
NeO6874 wrote: jeffrey-wimberly wrote:CV readback nakes life so much easier. It's one of the reasons I got the Digitrax DCS50. That's the "Digitrax Zephyr" if you're not familiar with their part numbers... I would have to agree being ablt to read CV's is really helpful -- esp if a loco starts acting crazy for no apparent reason (and it doesn't have a MRC decoder in it )
so, are CV's things that you program, like... say, for instance, having a 128 speed-step instead of like, i don't know... 64 step response?
i'm still way stumped on CV's. i know it stands for configuration variables, but why do I need them?
This is what i want to do: Park each of my engines on the programming track, or on the main, one at a time, and program their road # into my system. Once this is done, i want to be able to select individual locos, as well as consist them. Thats pretty much it... I'm not concerned about sound right now, but i think i'm going to hardwire a harness into my engines so that they can become sound-equipped at a later date.
I'm not even really concerned about the headlights... what is there that DCC could do? Is there like, differen't.... patterns that light would flash with? Or isn't it just that they're direction-specific and lit for whichever direction you're going?
Hi All
When I went to the National Train Show I walked up to the guys from Tony's and asked them point blank "Why would I choose one system over another?" He handed me an NCE controler and said "Tell me you couldn't run a train with this having never done it before" (which was right because I haven't ...yet!) I looked at it for a moment and realized that I probably COULD run a train with very little effort.
I see the similarities between the NCE and the MRC so I asked him about the MRC and he had no answer because they had no experience with it. Has anyone used the MRC Prodigy Wireless??? I think it's cheaper but is it good? MRC has always had good power packs and reputation so I'm figuring they still know what they are doing with DCC as well.
Paul
CVs are like pigeonholes - think like mailboxes if you don't know what pigeonholes are . The contents of each oen tells the decoder to do something. There are some standard ones defined in the NMRA specifications, and then there are many that vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. You need to knwo at least alittle about CVs because CVs tell the deocder what address it responds to, how much power it will send to the motor at speed step 1, whether it uses a 'short' 2-digit address or a 'long' 4 digit address, if the decoder will work on DC as well as DCC, what happens to the headlight when you go in reverse, how long it will take the loco to speed up and slow down if you just jerk the throttle wide open, and so on.
At first all you really need worry about is the address - once you have everything running you can start to tweak the operation of individual locos.