Seems to me that 8 throttles of any type would be almost more than enough. it
would also seem to me that even with 8 you'd have engineers tripping over one
another. Thankfully I only plan on maybe 6 at most. The layout I have been
designing woulkd handle 8 but 8 most likely would not be needed. With 8 the 2
extra would be relegated to yard duty anyway however that can be an adventure
in itself.
Bob Lampe
Kalispell, MT
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:43:13 -0700
Subject: {S-Scale List} Fw: Easy DCC
Hi all --
I thought Paul's answer to Bob Lampe about Easy DCC might be
of interest to the whole group. I have known Paul for at least 20
years and he doesn't beat around the bush. He holds monthly
TT&TO operations on his large HO layout.
Bill Winans
Prescott Valley, AZ
-------------------------------------
From: Paul Catapano
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:23 AM
To: Robert Lampe
Cc: Bill Winans
Subject: RE: Easy DCC
Robert,
I have been running East DCC for ten years now.
It is, as the name implies, Easy to install. I would guess
that aside from soldiering drops to the track and actually running the throttle
buss through out the layout, it took me one hour to install the entire system
and have it running.
I run 8 wireless throttles and about 8 more plug-ins for a
total of some 16 throttles, not counting the two at the command
station.
My layout requires that 13 positions have a throttle. There
are six switching positions, that is jobs that do a LOT of switching. What that
means is a lot of commands going to and from the command station. Stop, go,
back-up, go forward, etc
Since the up-grade I purchased about six years ago at the
Anaheim NMRA convention I have to say , honestly, I have had NO, that's
ZERO, problems with the Easy DCC software.
If I were to break down my "problems" it would be, 95%
operator error, and 5% hardware breakdown.
It works flawlessly, all the time, every time, with no
maintanence by me. Period.
I get around. I have used a LOT of other systems at a lot of
other layouts, under a lot of other situations, all over the country. Easy
DCC is nearly the easiest to use. LIGHT YEARS easier than
Digitraks.
Now for the downside:
1) You must promise on the lives of your children or
grandchildren that you can never use more than 8 wireless throttles on your
layout, EVER. I do not care what ANYONE tells you, Easy DCC will not support
the
use of more than 8 wireless throttles. You will hear stories about how so and
so
is using 16, 24 etc etc, They have gone through MANY hurdles, and jump through
MANY hoops to acheive that, and it is no simple up grade to do that. Frankly
once you delve deeper and ask some searching questions you begin to find out
that most of those stories all have a lot of caviates. Easy DCC will not
support
more than 8 wireless throttles.
2) Easy DCC's software, the way it is written is so back
asswards, as to be almost incomprehensible. Why they chose to use the procedure
to assign throttle ID, something that should only need to be done ONCE in the
life of the throttle, the way they did; The reason for about 90% of my operator
errors, is so totally beyond me I have nothing to compare it to. Easy
DCC's position that it is operator training, "Paul, you just haven't trained
your crew well enough", after ten, that's 10, years of operation with the same
crew is total BULL SHIT!! The key pad should have some sort of lock out, or
something, ANYTHING!. No one I know that has Easy DCC has found a solution to
this problem, and they ALL complain about it.
3) Easy DCC will not allow you to consist locomotives together
at the throttle, you must do it at the command station. This has become a
bigger
and bigger problem for me as the years have gone by, because my op session has
grown in scope and complexity, and that ability is a necessity. I'm living
without it, but on my next Comand Control System purchase it WILL be a deal
breaker.
Now, knowing what I know NOW, and when I build another
layout I'd probably go with NCE, but only because of the ability to consist
locomotives during Helper operations and for NO other reasons. And if I were to
build another layout that did not have such a focus on Helper Operations I
would
stay with Easy DCC.
Also your layout size will be a huge factor. I run a relative
giant layout, if it were significantly smaller I can think of NO reason not to
go with Easy DCC.
Paul Catapano
