newbie questions

[dr.bones]

after many years of abscense fom the hobby i have decided to get back into it [:D] so i have a bundle of questions.[?]
Back when i was a child there was no DCC what is that?
What book s do u recomend so i can start giving matenence to my older locos and fleet, also since they were sets lifelike and bachmann i believe, should i change all the trucks for metallic ones and should i change the older plastic couplers for newer magnetic ones, these sets are aprox 25 years old, im starting to read magazines such as model railroader and few others.thanx for all the input.[:D]

[joeyegarner]

Hi, glad to hear your back in the hobby. Myself i have been in and out for years. my oppinion on couplersp; They have lots to choose from these days, there is of course Kadees that I consider the Cadilac of couplers but there are also Mchenry and Bachman makes a nice knuckel coupler also and yes I would change them. I still use alot of plastic trucks but have changed most of my wheel set to Kadee sets, metal wheels with plastic axels. They have some premium Locos now for fair prices, so you should look into some other manufactures. Proto2000( lifelike), Bachman has (Spectrum series) Athern and Atlas also have much better equipment than before. I wouldn't spend alot of time with the older engines, just not worth it. I have 3 Proto 2000 and Sevral Athearn's and just bought an older Atlas GP-40.
I don't know much about DCC but fplan to buy it in the next few months. It is relativly simple these days and you may be able to use the instructions that come with your purchase. Hope I've helped you. Joey

[selector]

Welcome. Digital Command & Control (DCC) uses a square wave in AC, not DC like your older sets. Keep in mind that many still use DC rectifiers, but the bloom is long since off the rose. DCC requires that decoders be wired directly to a motor that is isolated electrically from the frame and the track power; that is, only decoder input directs motor function. With DCC, you can run trains individually like on the real thing...different speeds and directions, even on the same track!!. Try that in DC.

If your engines are in good condition, and you can get them running with a minimum of fuss, you can convert them with an appropriate decoder. Then, all you need is the controller. Of course, now the conversation gets sticky because each manufacturer designs different characteristics into their products. For example, some permit interfacing with a PC to program the decoders. With others, you program thm with the controller only. That said, the DCC system is non-proprietary, so the decoders will work with each controller in the vast majority of cases.

Check out MRC, Digitrax, Lenz, EZ-DCC, in no particular order. And, spend lots of time here. Oh, and I know that Digitrax has their own discussion group.

[SpaceMouse]

Hi and welcome.

In short DCC powers the track with constant AC voltage and sends a carrier signal to individual decoders in individual engines. Basically you control the trains not the track and you can run multiple trains indepent of one another. If you are re-entering the hobby, think DCC.

While there is a lot you can do restore your old trains, they will still not run as well as most of the lower end stuff on the market today. The technology is just that much better. You will spend more time, engergy, and money than it is worth. Instead, spend your time looking at what aspects of the hobby you like, what era, roadnames and locations you would like to model and then ask here where the best bargains are for those criteria. In the long and short run, you will be happier with what you have.

[emdgp92]

I second replacing the couplers with Kadees. They not only look better than the horn-hook style couplers, but they work 1000% better. They're available in many different styles to fit most rolling stock available. I also started replacing my plastic wheelsets with metal ones. The metal ones stay cleaner longer, and are always in gauge. Additionally, they make a nice "clickety-clack" sound when going over rail joints :)

[loathar]

Yea. Keep your old stuff. Upgrade couplers and wheels.If your going to start small, you can use your old DC.It's easy enough to upgrade to DCC later.Don't try and do too much too fast.There's so much stuff out there now it can really get your head spinning.
Good luck and welcome back!

[cacole]

The best way to get accurate answers about DCC is to read the document called "DCC For Beginners" on Tony's Train Exchange's Web site.

http://www.tonystrains.com

Some of the answers given so far are not correct. For example, DCC is not an AC current on the track -- it is a DC current with a square-wave AC component (the DCC command signal) superimposed over it.

Each locomotive will need to have a DCC decoder (receiver) installed. Some DCC systems allow one DC locomotive to be operated, but doing so causes their motors to overheat and is not advisable.

Also, you need to read through jfugate's "FORUM CLINIC: Twelve years using DCC," on this forum. There's a lot of good information to be had there.

[howmus]

dr.bones, [#welcome], [#welcome], [#welcome]! After you read the basics about DCC you might want to get the more involved stuff (particularly if you are into the nitty gritty of things) here: http://www.wiringfordcc.com/

Take things one step at a time as you get back into the hobby and don't hesitate to ask questions here at the forum. There are a lot of great folks here that will be glad to help you. Understand that you will get a lot of conflicting ideas. There is no one way to make a layout. Take all suggestions as just that, suggestions, and find what is going to work for you. Have fun with your trains!

[pcarrell]

dr.bones,

Welcome back to the hobby!

As you can see there are many different opinions on how to do things these days.

My advice is to read. Knowledge is power. Use it. Find out the answers to all of your questions.

As to the more tangable things, I would say that if your locos run well with just a good cleaning, then you have a good starting point.

I would concider either running a friends newer loco, or maybe even purchasing one, just to see what the new technology has done since you've been absent. Try out a good one though, so that you really are comparing apples to oranges (thats what you want in this case).

Second off, do explore DCC. It is MUCH easier to do a decoder or two to start out and then just add one more with each new loco purchase rather then to try to change over a whole fleet at once.

Most of all...READ! Be informed.

Oh, and once again, WELCOME BACK!!!!!

[selector]

"BASIC PRINCIPLES

• The power on the tracks is alternating current (AC), and not DC or direct current."

Copied from the URL you listed, cacole. Weird, huh?

[loathar]

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

"BASIC PRINCIPLES

• The power on the tracks is alternating current (AC), and not DC or direct current."

Copied from the URL you listed, cacole. Weird, huh?

I'm scratching my head on that one too.I didn't think you could run a DC motor on AC current without a big bulky transformer.

[howmus]

QUOTE: Originally posted by loathar

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

"BASIC PRINCIPLES

• The power on the tracks is alternating current (AC), and not DC or direct current."

Copied from the URL you listed, cacole. Weird, huh?

I'm scratching my head on that one too.I didn't think you could run a DC motor on AC current without a big bulky transformer.

Well, basically you can't run a DC motor on AC. What happens is the packets of instructions sent to the decoder (more or less AC) tell the decoder how much (or rather how long pulses of) DC to send to the motor. The motor is getting DC but the decoder picks up information from the AC at the tracks. It actually is much more complex than this but I hope this clears it up for you.

[loathar]

Kind of like getting a signal for your TV through your cable line and also a different signal through the same cable that your computer modem can interpret?

[SpaceMouse]

More like powering your phone and getting the voice signals.

[JohnT14808]

DSL does that for computers.....same line can get your computer to the Internet while you chat on the phone (same line) with a friend. Can't be beat. And the download speeds........whew!!