DCC Recommendations

 If I may..... I bought a Digitrax Superchief. Many people said that's where I had my troubles. Actually the system worked great. My troubles were with different brands of decoders and understanding what it would take to program them to work together. I actually think the digitrax system is quite good. It ran two trains at the same time very easily. Some decoders hand quirks in programming that left me frustrated.

 Now many have recommended the  NCE system. It actually looks like the DCS remote to me at a glance. I've heard that it's easy to use also and a quality system.

 I still own a MRC prodigy (early) and keep it for testing decoders.

 Anyway, my point would be to find a system that you like the features and can get a handle on the programming. They all work very well and have improved enough that, I would guess, would leave people to find their own preference of features vs price.

  Joe

(DCS still wins for me)

DCC was my first "Command" back in HO. Once I learned Digitrax, it did not matter what was on track... QSI? MRC your own decoder etc.

I feel that Digitrax offers value and QSI the gold standard. My experiences with other decoders were less than stellar and will leave it out of this post.

What you want is power and a great deal of it.

You told the system which was the lead engine, helper and rear and off you went. If the decoders all had one address, it mattered not because they use Back EMF which is essentially detecting the motor's workload and adjusting accordingly.

I think Proto 3 is good if it knows how to speak DCC on the track for that type of control.

I do own one proto 3 switcher but am sticking with proto 2 and DCS.

The future is bright indeed.

Thanks. I have a friend with an NCE system and we're going to test run a couple of these engines on his layout. He also demonstrated the JMRI application that allows a smart phone to control a train via WiFi with a PC connected to the DCC control system. Don't know if I'm ready to go down that road, but the idea of controlling trains via WiFi is intriguing.

Matt,

I think the NCE system is bullet-proof, and quite simple to use.

I imagine with Proto 3 engines you have no need for DCC decoders, but NCE, QSI and Loksound have turned out to be the most robust and flexible decoders for O scale. (Opinion)

Matt, our group uses the Digitrax 8-AMP Super Chief, specifically the DCS-200 and additional 8-AMP boosters (DB200) to power the layout.  Decoder Pro is a great application has many very useful capabilities, one being the software interface to the command station which opens up possibilities like you mention with the smart phone.

What's been said here in terms of finding the system that works for you is absolutely the right approach.  IMO, you can't go wrong with Digitrax or NCE it's finding the one that works for you, others in the area use it, and hopefully a local dealer carrying the system components at a decent price.

While DCS does hide/mask the whole CV configuration interface in DCC many system manufacturers are starting to do that as well by using more meaningful or friendly names.

I really am impressed with the PS3 locos I've purchased, and I was shocked to see MTH included in the instructions on how to consist locos together and achieve the same lighting effects as what you get when you consist locos together in DCS.  For most DCC systems this is a fairly complex operation.

I've owned MRC Prodigy, Digitrax & NCE...Now I own & use NCE & DCS

Matt,

I think all the main systems are pretty good.   For O scale get an 8 or 10 amp system.  Our round robin group has EasyDCC, Lenz, Digitrax, and NCE and they all work quite well.

the best advice I got was to get a system that your local buddies have.   That way you can get a lot questions answered locally and quickly when you are getting started.   So if your buddy has an NCE system, it would be worth considering an NCE.

I have digitrax with Simplex radio and it has performed pretty flawlessly.   the programming issues I have run into are with Sound Decoders.   Some of them require more power on the programming track than the command station puts out.   I have been told the solution is to get a small booster designed specifically for the programming track.  

My NCE 10 amp system runs the new MTH ALP 46 with Poto Sound 3 just fine.  The new PS3 locos offer the option of running with both MTH motor control or PWM motor control, which simulates acceleration profiles of QSI boards.  Unfortunately, the PWM motor control is a bit jumpy at slow speeds, but the MTH motor control works well.  Consisting MTH locos with engines using other brands of DCC boards will likely require a good deal of tuning, but should be possible.

As mentioned above, programing sound boards can be a problem when using programming tracks.  NCE allows for programming on the main, which is a good work around for this problem and does work with PS3.

I use Lenz, I prefer the big round control knob featured on their basic system which is a 5amp ... and that's more that sufficient for my needs. It has a toggle switch to control direction and this allows me one handed operation with that previously mention round knob. It's about comfortable use for me, and I'm not a fan of push buttons. The major DCC systems are all marching to the same protocols, so pick one you feel comfortable with for your particular needs.

Bob

Thanks for all the advice. Looks like I still have a lot of research to do.

I took the locomotives down to the club today to set them up and noticed that MTH has added selector switches for DCS/DCC as well as 2-rail/3-rail.  The included DCC documentation was thorough, pretty impressive and appreciated. I'm going to try to test a couple of them on a friend's DCC 2-rail layout within the next week or so. One interesting feature I noticed under DCC is that you can set a long address for 4-digit engine ID's. In a club context, this is critical and I wish it was available under DCS.

Thanks Mike, I am familiar with the CVP throttles...nice product.

Bob