jonte
Western Thunderer
Morning Jonte,
There are others on here who are better versed in the dark art of DCC but here are a couple of my own thoughts which I hope prove useful to you.
My own requirements for DCC are very simplistic. The trains need to run, and run well. Secondly, if so fitted, they need to make a noise and therefore the controller needs to be able to access the available functions on the sound decoder.
As you're at the very start, to reiterate the advice I was given, avoid cheap decoders. Some can make a nicely running loco run worse. I have experimented and found Lais decoders to be fit only for the bin, as are Rails own brand decoders. DCC Concepts are frankly, not much better and in my case would not provide a gradual stop/start.
I therefore use primarily Zimo or those produced by Zimo for Bachmann and have found that without recourse to tampering with CV settings they can be fitted and used, providing excellent running from the start ( with a loco that runs well on DC as a starting point ). ESU or Lenz are equally suitable alternatives. More expensive but a case of yer gets wot yer pays fur.
Controllerwise, I use a NCE Powercab. Not the ultimate DCC controller but it's user friendly and works well enough. Crucially, it should be Grandchildren friendly and easily grasped, both operationally and literally.
As you probably well know, don't waste your time with a loco that doesn't run well on DC. DCC won't fix that.
The earlier locos which are not DCC Ready can be 'hardwired' however, some early mechanisms such as Lima do not always respond well and experience has shown that the resulting running won't match a more modern mechanism so tge question has to be, is it worth doing ?
As I say, just a few thoughts based on my own somewhat limited experience.
Rob
Morning, Rob, and thanks for your kind advice. This is indeed an area that’s new ground for me.
The only DCC fitted loco in my possession is an 8F, bought on a well known auction site sometime ago and which had erroneously been listed as DC, which I only discovered after I plugged in my DC Gaugemaster…….and nothing happened! (To be fair, the seller was only selling it as part of his recently deceased father’s model railway items, and wasn’t a modeller himself).
My suspicions aroused, I took it to a small model shop and asked the guy to test it for me, whereupon it burst into life via a DCC wired section of test track. He kindly offered to swap it for a DC powered Black 5, but something made me hesitate, at which point he offered me the display DCC controller he’d been using for less than half price, which is how I ended up with my EZ Dynamis power pack! Thanks for recommending your choice of Powercab; perhaps in the future, Rob, but for now, I’m used to the Dynamis which took me long enough…………. Hopefully you’ll understand.
Indeed, I’d already taken stock of your recommendation for the Zimo, which was suitably noted, and which I’d been keeping an eye to. They shall indeed be my decoder of choice, so thanks again. Funnily enough, not long before your recommendation, I’d purchased one of their own decoders from Hattons for a Duke I’d bought from elsewhere; not surprisingly with my track record,it’s still not fitted, so,perhaps I might just use it as ‘first blood’ to cut my teeth with, happy in the knowledge that I’ll have the Zimo to fall back on if it gets fried in the process.
Thanks for the heads-up on poor running locos: they shall be suitably dispensed with.
Your experience with Lima is noted, and something I shall bear in mind when attacking the Hornby Ringfields which I guess aren’t too dissimilar. One of them has quite a decent motor; the other’s a bag of nails, for which I’ll try a CD motor replacement I’ve seen online and which responds quite well to chipping. That said, there’s only one real way to find out, but they’re only fifteen or so quid, so nothing to get too flummoxed about if it all goes awry.
Anyway, thanks again for your advice and interest.
Please pop by to see how I fare.
Jon