hello sports fans,
Last night I finally got my digitrax super chief 8A R up and running and was i ever impressed! This is my first experience with DCC and wonder why i didn't go this route years ago. (probably had a lot to do with funding ..or lack of..)
The light function F0 is awesome. Turning the lights on and off and keep them on for an idling locomotive is the best. I even consisted my yard switchers and ran them for awhile. Soon i'm going to put in some mars lights and eventually get a couple of sound locomotives to run with the consists.
Right now I'm waiting for an MS100 serial port from Tony's Train Exchange so i can download decoderpro to an old computer a friend at work gave me and write some speed curves to the locomotives so they will all run at the same speed.
Tonight, i'm going to put in the radio reciever to loconet so that I don't end up with a hump in my back. The phone wire from the DT400 throttle to the command station is pretty short and the command station is low to the ground and don't think i'll be able to stoop down like that for much longer running the trains in the fetal position.
I think DCC is going to really be awesome once I have it the way i want it and will open up whole new dimentions into this thing we call model railroading....chuck
I know how you feel! I spent all of my time in DC trying to invent excuses as to why I didn't "need" DCC. Then I finally bit the bullet and bought the Super Empire Builder, and now I'm so completely hooked! Why the heck didn't I swicth sooner?
Welcome aboard to Digitrax DCC!
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Regardless of what era you're modelling, welcome to the 21st century!
When I put in DCC, all I had was a loop of track with a passing siding, and two spurs to nowhere. But, suddenly I was the happiest 12-year-old kid in town again. The 40 years of cobwebs on those old trains were swept away, and all the fun came back. Wait 'til you get sound...
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
That's GREAT, Chuck! Now that you have your first DCC system, here's some homework for you: Tally how many times this week you emit an uncontrollable child-like giggle while running trains...and report that amount back on Saturday.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
tstage wrote: That's GREAT, Chuck! Now that you have your first DCC system, here's some homework for you: Tally how many times this week you emit an uncontrollable child-like giggle while running trains...and report that amount back on Saturday. Tom
Tom.... Is that before or after I got it working? I really should have counted all the romp'in, stomp'in, snort'in, holler'in , curs'in, fuss'in and toot'in I did before i got the darn thing to work!....It sure gave me some trouble on my first sesson!....chuck
Chuck,
Chauk it up to the learning curve. You tackled quite a bit last night...AND you attempted consisting! That's a full evening!
Chuck, I know exactly what you mean about the lights. After running DC for a few months and getting used to have the intensity of the headlights fluctuating with the voltage, it was a real pleasure to have the headlight come on at full intensity and stay there while the layout was on.
DCC...You're done for now...
tstage wrote: Chauk it up to the learning curve. You tackled quite a bit last night...AND you attempted consisting! That's a full evening!
Yeah thats not the most user friendly DCC system for a first timer (if the controller is the DT400). Congrats on getting into DCC, its a lot of fun, especially with wireless :)
Now you know what it's like to be really "aboard", Chuck. That system should keep you busy and happy for years.
Have you fooled around with CV's 3 and 4 yet? I really like the slow jerks on the couplers, and you can hit button 3 for coupler crash as you let them take up the strain.
Everyone says the DT400 is not user-friendly. How so? It has a dedicated button for everything - no "shift" or "function" double or triple function controls. One button, one function. User-unfriendly was the DT100 and DT300, ESPECIALLY the DT100 with the pseudo-hex mode since none fo the numeric portions of the display had more than 10 digits. Who would guess B6 = 116? I KNOW hex, and B6 is supposed to be 182, but in the old Digitrax psuedo-hex is was 116. go figure. The DT400 is pretty simple to operate. More buttons <> more complicated.
--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 wrote: Everyone says the DT400 is not user-friendly. How so? It has a dedicated button for everything - no "shift" or "function" double or triple function controls. One button, one function. User-unfriendly was the DT100 and DT300, ESPECIALLY the DT100 with the pseudo-hex mode since none fo the numeric portions of the display had more than 10 digits. Who would guess B6 = 116? I KNOW hex, and B6 is supposed to be 182, but in the old Digitrax psuedo-hex is was 116. go figure. The DT400 is pretty simple to operate. More buttons <> more complicated. --Randy
I have never used another paddle, but I really like my DT 400's. You can run two locos one-handed by toggling between each encoder, and if you are really adept, run four by double-pressing the encoders and dialing in the previous loco. When you have two paddles, as I have, it makes for a hectic ops session.
(..no, I don't do that....I'd break something...)
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Dave Vollmer wrote: Why the heck didn't I swicth sooner?
I might make the plunge on the 25th. I can't wait, but I might get something else.
Whatever it is it will be good.