Friends,
I'm generally not considered a computer or electrical geek although
I do get along with the latter most of the time. the jury still being
out on the computer end (although I have several in my business--I have
yet to understand much about them). However, since I started building
my layout I desired to eliminate as much hassle as possible in running
trains on a medium sized layout. Small layouts with 1-2 trains is not a
problem and the large club layouts with assigned engineers, dispatchers
and such, also is not a problem when the crew is trained, but the medium
sized layout that wants to 'act' like a large one with the simplicity of
a smaller one is what I consider the advantage of DCC.
Several years ago I switched to a system called Dynatrol which
worked fairly well although it was more costly in the end and certainly
had it's limitations. After seeing DCC in operation, I sold off the
Dynatrol because the DCC is about as 'limitless ' as I'll ever need.
I have my layout wired in the old block style (which is great for
the occasional hard to fine short) so installing DCC was really just
four wires--two in and two out. I have since added two additional power
districts so now I have added an additional 8 wires--not a big deal.
The circuit breakers in the boosters will do a fine job of taking
care of the shorts that will pop up on all layouts with derailments and
running through turnouts the wrong way. The main difficulty I've had is
in trouble shooting those pesky brass engines that like to short their
pilot and trailing truck wheels against the frame. The circuit breaker
will fire so quickly you generally don't have time to see any sparking
to detect the problem.
When it comes to installing decoders, ten minutes is about right
if your doing a SHS or the more recent AM models with the DCC socket.
It is simply plug and play. Doing an install in most older diesels with
lights takes me about 2-3 hours and add an hour for sound. Steam
engines can be either easier or more difficult but that is due to the
complication of disassembly of the engine--that too will change.
For those with large fleets of engines--time and money will be a
factor. But if you do one engine per month--it's $20-30 and one evening
per engine. It's a good time to get all that old grease out of the gear
boxes anyhow!
Most of our club now is familiar enough with running with DCC on
our modules and my layout that they enjoy running the layout rather than
fooling with blocks. The downside (and there are some) is understanding
the system's procedures to 'booting up' the system and accessing the
engines, programing etc. This all takes a little time and practice--but
if I can do it, you can also. My suggestion is buying a basic system or
perhaps a used system (to save some bucks), do one engine and learn the
procedures. Practice the start up and programing for a few months--then
go visit a large layout where the system is totally blended into
operation to see what can happen and what you can expect for the
future. Face it DCC is here to stay!
Bob Werre
Arden Goehring wrote:
> Michael - you are from that special planet inhabited only by EE's.
>
> 10 minutes maybe if you are in the process of building an engine. A
> whole lot more if it is a finished painted steamer from years ago.
>
> Yeah it's no big deal if you have a coffee table layout. A starter set
> & four decoders for $200 & you're done. But you only have enough power
> to run two engines at a time.
>
> How about a layout that needs 30 amps & has a fleet of locomotives.
> We're talking $4000 without sound.
>
> > I just had some correspondance with another S gauger to the effect
> > that a circuit breaker is not fast enough to protect DCC equipment
>
> That could only be true if you wired the layout poorly, which is
> difficult to do with DCC. If you wire a layout poorly with DC, you'll
> have the same problems.
>
> > (Sing to the tune of "Heartaches By The Number" = "Headache number one
> > is when I bought you...") How much money does something that can't
> > survive a momentary short cost, anyway?
>
> I think you'll find that the circuit breaker built into any "power
> station" can survive momentary shorts, tools dropped on live rails,
> etc. I've had numerous "accidents," none of which has damaged any
> equipment. Can't say the same for when I had DC.
>
>
> -Michael Eldridge
> -San Jose, CA
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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