This is a description of the DCC component of my railroad model building business. If you are interested, I encourage you to have a dialog with me so that we can discuss your interests and what I can do for you.
I do not want to educate people on what DCC is and how it works. There is a lot of information available from the manufacturers of DCC products. Links to some of those manufacturers' web pages will be found below. In addition to the information provided by the manufacturers, you can find a collection of information, hints, tips, etc. at The World of DCC.
Once you have spent some time investigating DCC, I would be glad to help you with system and decoder selection.
There are two important advantages in buying products that conform to the NMRA DCC standards and RPs:
For example, after looking at the products on the market you might decide that for how you want your model railroad to run and work, the Lenz controls (power station and cabs), Northcoast power station, and a mix of North Coast, Lenz, and Soundtraxx decoders will do the job. You want to know that all of those will work together, and, as important, if there are problems, that the manufacturers whose products you bought support the NMRA DCC standards and RPs which means they likely are working on fixing the problems.
I.e., to realize the above advantages of the NMRA DCC standards and RPs, you must choose manufacturers whose products you want to use are compliant with the NMRA standards and RPs.
Specific information on interoperability problems and workarounds can be found at The World of DCC.
I am a dealer for Lenz, Loksound, NCE (formerly North Coast Engineering), and Zimo DCC systems and decoders, and for QSI, Soundtraxx and TCS, decoders.
Your orders are special ordered from the manufacturer, so your orders must be pre-paid. In return for the wait for your order to arrive, I split my discount with you. If price is your primary criterion for selecting a DCC supplier, please buy from the people whose prices are so low they can't afford to adequately support what they sell.
Below are some general guidelines for evaluating the various systems. Use them as launch pads for your process of selecting a system that meets your requirements.
If you can, talk to people who use the system. Why did they buy it? What do they like? What do they dislike? What is their experience with support? You can talk to me about the Lenz and North Coast systems. Other sources of information are the discussion groups for Lenz (group name is DigitalPlusbyLenz), NCE (group name is NCE-DCC), Soundtraxx (group name is soundtraxx), and Zimo (group name is Zimo-DCC) on the yahoogroups web site. Most of each group's members are proud owners of the group's brand of DCC equipment, so some of the input you will receive may be biased. Once your have purchased a system, the yahoogroups group for the brand you selected may become an alternate source of support.
The most important decision is the system (command station, booster (AKA power stations), cabs, and cab bus) which likely will be the largest single expense you will incur in switching to DCC. Do your best to buy something you will be happy with. Decoders are less costly, so you can experiment for less money.
One very practical approach (but a little more costly) is to follow a rule of thumb that is common in technology engineering: Plan to Throw the First One Away. [Meaning the the first development effort will yield experience that will guide the development of subsequent similar products. In many cases the subsequent product will be so superior to the first one that the first one will be completely obsoleted and rendered almost value-less by some measures by the subsequent product.] This means that the first system will, in addition to getting you converted to DCC, will provide invaluable learning experience. The second system will benefit from all the learning gained during the first system, and can be expected to be a permanent acquisition.
Another way to look at it is what limits you. If you buy a low cost system, use it until you find you are limited by its features. By that time you will have learned more about what you want vs. what is possible, and your next acquisition will be more directed toward meeting your (now refined) requirements.
So one could buy an inexpensive system, such as Atlas or MRC, and use it to learn about DCC. When you are ready to move on, pass it on to a friend.
Do all the cabs for the same manufacturer have the same functionality. E.g., do all cabs have 4 digit addressing? Do all cabs provide an indication of the speed you have selected? Do radio control cabs display the settings for the address being controlled? While this may seem important, I personally find it more interesting and fun to observe what the train is doing and control it from that point of view rather than worry about what the speed setting is. What programming can be done only on the programming track, and what programming can be on on the fly? I am sure you will come up with your own list after a while.
You now have the information to determine the initial and long term cost of each system that provides the features you want.
NCE's system now seems to be mature, with many happy users. NCE offers a wireless version of all their cabs.
Lenz offers a unique and cost-effective approach. The hand held wireless control is an inexpensive cordless phone. A simple adapter supplied by Lenz connects the phone's base unit to the Lenz cab bus. Pressing buttons on the phone results in the desired control. It is simple to set up and work well. However, it is possible, as with the CVP RF1300 wireless cab, to produce undesired results by not taking care to press the correct sequence of buttons when doing something like selecting a loco or controlling an accessory decoder.
I use home made radio control on my Lenz system. It works like a charm, but does have the downside of not displaying on the handheld transmitter the current settings for the address being controlled.
If you are interested in how I modified the Lenz system to work with wireless control please see Wireless Lenz.
CVP Products offers their own DCC system, and also add-on wireless cabs for Lenz and other manufacturer's systems. The Lenz version works quite well.
Wireless control may make the walkaround plug in location a moot point if you plan to have all your engineers equipped with wireless cabs. However, hold off on committing to wireless until all the costs (transmitters, receivers, number of receivers required) can be determined. Note: wireless cabs, like many other DCC goodies, are great ideas and concepts that may prove to be of little interest or value once one has used a system for operations for a while.
It is important to get FM radio control. Infra-red control is less reliable, and you are required to aim your tranmitter at a receiver, just like a TV remote control, when you want to affect a change.
I can supply the Dallee and Soundtraxx sound systems, and can advise you on the pros and cons (yes, there are some!) of sound and the various manufacturers. I use sound on my personal home layout.
I can install decoders and sound in your locomotives. I will ask you to complete a preferences form that describes how you want the decoder programmed, and how you want the functions and lights to work.
Decoder installation done right is not inexpensive. People advertise decoder installations for costs that to me are extremely low. I urge you to shop around and be sure to specify what lights and functions you want. Find out whether you can remove the shell/boiler from the chassis without unsoldering decoder connections. I am a firm believer in plugs for all connections; however, plugs are time consuming to install.
The installation is not complete until the locomotive has been test run long enough to determine whether there is any infant failure (electronic components either fail right away or last a long time) in the decoder, and that things work as you have directed on the form. Decoders that fail during test running will be returned to the manufacturer for replacement at no charge to you. I do not install used decoders or decoders supplied by the customer.
It is possible that during the course of performing installations that other items needing attention will be noted, and that I will recommend to you that additional work be done. This is done in the interest of your finding a high quality satisfying model when you open the box, not in the interest of making work for me, since I have plenty to do.
Decoder installations are warranted to work in accordance with the preferences form you provided me.
Decoders will have the full manufacturer's warranty. You should understand the warranty for your decoder so that if the decoder fails for any reason you will know what to expect.
Most manufacturers provide only a parts warranty, which means that I will charge you for my labor to replace a decoder I installed if it failed after delivery to you. Depending upon the warranty, the manufacturer may or may not charge for repairing the decoder.
Failures caused by improper handling, faulty maintenance, or abuse are not warranted by me. However, some manufacturers' warranties are surprisingly liberal in this area, such that if you make a mistake during maintenance and as a result the decoder is damaged, there may not be a repair charge. See the manufacturer's warranty for the facts.
These web pages were designed and implemented by Rod Miller.