DC or DCC??

DC or DCC


  • Total voters
    75

jambo101

Member
Agree about the sound making it pricey. For my first foray it's under $40 for an Atlas loco and $25 more for an Aztec frame for the speaker and about $60 for the decoder, so the decoder and milled frame are more than 2/3 the cost. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to solder the speaker lead back to the board and actually be able to run it on the test track.

As a one train one operator on a shelf layout i;ll stick with the DC for now but having a DCC equipped loco i found the sounds became a bit noisy and monotonous after the novelty wore off,If i ever do get into DCC it sure wont be for the sound effects..
 
Even for a small, fairly simple switching layout, I like DCC for the CV's - full control of sound, lights per the rulebook, and momentum are like another level of detail for me.
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
As a one train one operator on a shelf layout i;ll stick with the DC for now but having a DCC equipped loco i found the sounds became a bit noisy and monotonous after the novelty wore off,If i ever do get into DCC it sure wont be for the sound effects..

Apologies for getting slightly off-topic, but I'm curious to learn more about your shelf layout as I'd like to expand or revise my shelf layout.

I have two layouts -- a 4x6 ft layout with two loops and sidings. I also just built a small switching layout (4 ft long by 11 inches wide), but it doesn't hold my interest as much as the oval round-and-round one does. We also live in a small house, so space is always a problem.

Maybe I'll go DCC one day, but right now I can't seem to justify the expense and hassle.

Thanks!

Rob
 
L

lester perry

As far as cost is concerned I would advise anyone just starting out to DCC from the beginning. I have spent enough on DC power packs over the years that I could have saved money If I would have started with DCC. I know it would have saved a lot of work in wireing. So I am willing to say do it from the start.
Les
 

Biased turkey

Active Member
I already voted.
I started with an N scale Fleischmann DCC layout. I was born in Europe so I wanted to have an European layout.
I was disappointed with Fleischmann DCC throttle because it is incremental ( as in digital ) and not continuous. I had another problem with DCC when I built a micro layout with a sector plate: plenty of glitches.
Now I'm satisfied with my MRC 200 tech 4 DC controller and some Atlas GP7s and GP9s. An analog throttle gives me a better feeling.

Jacques
 

riverotter

Midwest Alliance Rail Sys
Basic decoders are less than $25.00 each. If you buy locomotives that are dcc equipped rather than just dcc ready, the price is probably less. On the other hand if you want sound to go with your dcc, the cost is considerably higher; but the cost of sound & dcc equipped locomotives is less than the cost of everything sold separately.

If basic decoders are ~$25, why are DCC-equipped locos $50 - $100 more than the same model without DCC? I know I have to be missing something here, otherwise it would make way more sense to buy DCC-ready and add a $25 decoder than buy the same model DCC-equipped.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
A basic decoder will run the locomotive and have 1 cv avaiable to use for lights. I haven't looked into the price difference between dcc ready and dcc equiped without sound, but a lot of the dcc equipped models coming out now have sound included. They may also have extra cv's available to allow you to do rule 5 (I think that is the correct number) dimming, they may also allow you to adjust speed tables to synchronize speeds between 2 locomotives that don't match. There may be some other capabilities that I haven't thought of, yet. Since I have virtually all of the locomotives I want to run, I have been mostly concentrating on retrofitting my old models with dcc decoders. I haven't really been price shopping new models. I took the word of others that the price of a new dcc equipped model was no more than the price of the dcc ready model model plus the price of the decoder. It may be that the people trying to convince me that buying dcc equipped was more economical were people who buy r-t-r rather than kits because they don't want to be bothered with building a kit or are afraid to take a locomotive apart.
 

e-paw

Member
I like plain old DC block control. It's simple to wire, trouble shoot (I'm an electrician), and it gives you the feel of a dispatcher. Plus it gives me a break from technology, I hate programing and computers. O, wait I'm on one. Got to go!!
 

brakie

Active Member
If basic decoders are ~$25, why are DCC-equipped locos $50 - $100 more than the same model without DCC? I know I have to be missing something here, otherwise it would make way more sense to buy DCC-ready and add a $25 decoder than buy the same model DCC-equipped.

Simple really..We are paying for the manufacturer to buy the decoders and then somebody gets paid to install them at the factory.

Enter Bachmann..They use a simple decoder in their DCC on board standard line locomotives and sells them for less then $80.00...Go and try to figure that one out.sign1 I gave up..wall1
 

Relic

Member
I guess I'm stuck with the 5.00$ DC controllers I started with,even though my "empire" has grown to all the way arround a 26x16 ft room with about 20 ft of staging.Used lots of lamp and telephone wire.
 

WReid

New Member
I started off with DC but a friend of mine who was a hobby shop owner showed me a Digitrax DCC system and let me try it out on his layout. I was hooked right away so I bought a new Digitrax Empire builder system on the spot.

That was way back when the Digitrax Empire builder system had just hit the stores.Last year I decided to switch to NCE as it looked more user friendly.I liked it and it seemed a little less complicated to use but the large handheld throttles were not my thing.I was also used to Digitrax so I made the switch back to Digitrax.

I found it was expensive to get started in DCC but after that depending on what extras you want it is not all that bad.It can get expensive if you want sound in all your locomotives.I for one like having sound as it make running the trains even more enjoyable.I have made a promise to myself that all my steam locomotives will get Tsunami sound decoders.I am even adding sound to my brass CNR 2-8-0 consolidations.

I also like DCC because it means less wiring on the layout and makes running two locomotives on the same track easy.No block switches to worry about.Granted my new layout will be small but I enjoy the freedom of operation it gives.



Wayne R
 

brakie

Active Member
As far as cost is concerned I would advise anyone just starting out to DCC from the beginning. I have spent enough on DC power packs over the years that I could have saved money If I would have started with DCC. I know it would have saved a lot of work in wireing. So I am willing to say do it from the start.
Les

Les,A new modeler could start with the very basic Bachmann EZ DCC for about the same price as a MRC power pack at discount.

The real startup cost is in the decoders.Of course a very basic DCC decoder can be had for $15.95.

One can always upgrade later if they choose to.
 

iis612

Member
I am less suprised with these numbers. Previously I had been somewhat in shock as the numbers were close to 50/50.
 
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