Choosing a DCC System--Which Do I Use and Recommend (84)

[@douglasbishop3252]

Sorry I forgot to reply Thank you for replying to me.

[@mandbhomestead]

Great video Larry. You presented this in a great way. I am glad I purchased my Digitrax system. It is serving me well. Thanks for sharing. Ken

[@douglasbishop3252]

I'm having trouble sinking the digitrax controller. to the engines that I have. Do you have any videos that show exactly what? to do with the controller to program in the engines

[@TheDCCGuy]

Sorry but no, it depends on which throttle you are using and there have been about a dozen different ones. The instructions are pretty straightforward on this so I suggest you mist follow the steps one by one exactly as written.

[@douglasbishop3252]

The throttle I have is a DT602 I did follow the instructions on the that came with the throttle. but I couldn't get the engine move.

[@TheDCCGuy]

Have you used the throttle before or are you totally new to DCC? I have been thinking about doing a series “Beginners Guide to DCC” so this may be a good place to start. Unfortunately with the hurricane and 5-8” of rain headed this way I doubt I will get a video,out this week as planned.

[@DCoombs928]

My first system was digitrax dcs51 on my old 8x10. Expanded with loconet. Now i rebuilt and have a 9x15 with radio, wifi, jmri, and other digitrax components as well as the new 210 booster and command station. Works well

[@ricter591]

Thanks Larry, I started with Atlas DCC years ago so with that money tied into the facia connections I went with Lenz with Sprog for Decoderpro. Using the LZV100 3.6 with Boosters LV101 & LV102 and new hand throttle LH101 seams to be working good for me for now anyway. Thanks for all your info.

[@andersgullberg]

Digitrax, Lenz digital plus, ESU, Märklin, NCE, Zimo...etc what you really want is to use digital system and expanded with more details by control your layout. The most important is what type of digital protocol(s) do you want to control your layout? DCC, MM or and Märklins mfx/mfx+? It various your wally too.

[@TheDCCGuy]

And next we’ll need to add LCC to the mix. DCC was a major step forward here. Prior to that we had a mix of protocols that equalled the plethora now in use in Europe. For the most part we now have it pretty much narrowed down to either DC or DCC along with the occasional O scaler running AC.

[@andersgullberg]

@@TheDCCGuy Yes DCC is the most useful protocol for the digital system.

[@SpencerBaum]

After building my own system using an arduino and jmri, I don't think you can get anything better in terms of price to performance.

[@TheDCCGuy]

Glad to hear its working for you. I kind if wish I had the time to look into these a little more. I’ll keep you in mind if I hear from anyone interested in looking into these.

[@SpencerBaum]

@@TheDCCGuy it was actually kinda simple, there were a couple great videos online that helped a ton and all the software needed is open source. Keep up the awesome content

[@markgoodrich941]

Thank you doing these videos for us. I have learned so much. The camera that you are using now looks fine to me.

[@andrewsobieralski4879]

I just found your channel on utube, growing up all I've ever attach tracks with Brad's and always was disappointed how the track laid on the cork roadbed. I have a 9 year granddaughter asked what some of my hobbies were and model railroading came up there'd almost 40 years difference I watched some of your earlier videos and you were using adhesive to attach cork to the foam and the track to the cork. I couldn't find what you were using looks like best thing since sliced bread

[@kenr86]

Excellent video, thank you. My advice when people ask me is "What system does your local club use, or other model railroaders in your area?" That way you have a ready source of local expertise. But the club I'm in uses digitrax, and I have had no trouble learning how to use it. But, I haven't used any other system, so....

[@TheDCCGuy]

Ken-thanks for pointing that put. I made two versions of this video and did mention it in the other one and then forgot to edit that section back in again. The importance of having a local club “expert” and large installed base cannot be overstated for making the move to DCC smoother.

[@charlesgwyn2115]

I've also used Digitrax for many, many years. Love the DT-500 throttle and still use it. Recently tried the new DT-602 throttle, which I consider a step backward. Trouble is, you can no longer find a new DT-500 from Digitrax.

[@TheDCCGuy]

Yes, I wish I had another DT500 duplex, the ability to turn them 9n and off is great and I like the fit better. The DT602 is just a bit too fat for my liking.

[@MichaelManiscalco-k5k]

🎉love my digatrax system

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

If I had money to burn it would be the ESU ECoS system. For North American made, I will stick with NCE, I started with a Power Cab and have grown to seven controllers (5 radio) and one CS and 4 boosters plus other devices. Reasonably priced, extremely well backed up by NCE service/repair, manuals are complete though a bit unorganized, huge knowledge base on the web. There may be better systems but I am now too deeply invested in NCE to change, I'm happy with what I have, good video, Larry.

[@TheDCCGuy]

John-that was a good approach. I’ve known Jim Scorse for almost 25 years and he engineers a great product. Had he developed his product line earlier instead of concentrating on building Wangrow System One units I might have been a convert. If push came to shove I could switch to NCE and be happy but I have too much invested in Digitrax to switch now and it really is late to start over.

[@Jonathanrailfanning123]

Thanks for shareing for Everyone i started 5 months ago

[@wessuess]

Thanks, Larry. A Lot of good points to consider. I bought a PowerCab at a train show a couple years back because it was a good price and I wanted to try DCC. I started considering other options - including Digitrax (because of number of modules/accessories they offer) and using JMRI with a Raspberry Pi. In the end though I had another consideration: TIME. What do I want to work on and how do I want things to work? I'm sticking with the NCE PowerCab for now so that I can concentrate on DCC-conversions and building the actual layout - really I'm looking forward to painting, weathering, scenery, and structure building more than horsing around with controls and "debugging". Maybe later I'll explore other DCC controller options...

[@TheDCCGuy]

Wes-very well thought out approach. Back in 1994 Wangrow also sent me one of their System One units for review and I loved it. These were basically what an NCE system is now and they were built by NCE for Wangrow. They shared all the same basic design and throttles for compatibility. Unfortunately Wangrow went out of business and I went the Digitrax route before NCE ever really started developing their own line of products. I have a PowerCab and they are great beginner systems plus make a good portable programming setup. Life is full of choices!

[@cirruscapo]

New to building a setup, so Thnx for this I have now decided to go with Digitrax over NCE...

[@HumancityJunction]

Have you tried the Digikeijs DR5000? What do you think about it? (Not affiliated, just a happy owner) My local club is Digitrax and the DR5000 is LocoNet compatible, so it has been working out really well.

[@TheDCCGuy]

From the review that Dana Kawala did in MR and my reading of some of their literature it seems to be an impressive system. Have you had any support issues-as I understand there is only one distributor in the US? That is my main concern with buying new systems that don’t have a large support network, it may be difficult to troubleshoot. Let me know how it continues to work out for you.

[@HumancityJunction]

@@TheDCCGuy Ryan @Iron Planet Hobbies has been fantastic about answering questions. I asked a LOT of questions before I went with the DR5000. Yes, there is a very limited user base, but since I have it connected to Digitrax or JMRI (or Z21) there are large groups that use their equipment.

[@ridgepointerail9462]

They make DCC programming a super fast and simple affair, You could easily set the long address, CV's 3 and 4 in under 10 secs.. And no issues BLI and older pommie decoders eithers...

[@farmerdave7965]

I shall continue to use my raspberry pi with a sprog mounted on it. LCC rocks !

[@TheDCCGuy]

Glad to hear it is working out for you. I had wondered how they handled complex things like DecodrPro. The Sprog units are excellent programmers and I keep one hooked up to the computer on my workbench and use it almost as often as I use my DCS240 command station with integrated USB and PR4 interface. Sprog support in this country is also excellent although I have only had to call him a couple of times early on..