New to DCC/HO

I have the full blown NCE 10 Amp system (designed for large scale) and I love it. The Power Cab comes with its own power supply. It's a small wall wart type of power supply designed for that system and HO locomotives. Many DCC systems do not come with a power supply just as the DCS system does not come with a power supply. The Power Cab's wall wart is enough for a smaller layout but if you were to build something large you would need to upgrade to the 5 Amp system. There's no way that I know of to hook up a DCC system to the DCS system. You can run DCC through the MTH Commander but you don't actually hook it up to the DCS system. You can run both systems on a layout but they must separated from each other electrically. For instance one loop for DCC and one loop for DCS. And as for track I think that is a personal preference. Being an O scale guy I know little about HO track. When I was into HO, which was about 30 years ago, I used Atlas track and had no problems with it but I would imagine there plenty of choices in HO. I hope this helps. 

Do you intend to stay with both scales?  If you are going to have both and you have O scale MTH PS3 engines that you wish to run with DCC, the 10 amp NCE system would be a good choice to run both scales.  On the other hand, the NCE Powercab will work fine for a HO home layout as it can be extended with extra boosters.  The only real limitation to the Powercab is the number of throttles allowed which is 5 I believe.  That's not a problem if you run mostly by yourself.  As far as power supplies, if not included, use the one recommended by the manufacturer.  Atlas or Kato sectional track is ok; Bachmann not so much.  If it is a permanent layout, flex track is a better option as it allows more freedom.  In that arena, there are many brand choices that are dictated by your specific needs.   I suggest hanging out/researching on some of the HO-centric forums like MRH. 

Brendan

Brendan posted:

Do you intend to stay with both scales?  If you are going to have both and you have O scale MTH PS3 engines that you wish to run with DCC, the 10 amp NCE system would be a good choice to run both scales.  On the other hand, the NCE Powercab will work fine for a HO home layout as it can be extended with extra boosters.  The only real limitation to the Powercab is the number of throttles allowed which is 5 I believe.  That's not a problem if you run mostly by yourself.  As far as power supplies, if not included, use the one recommended by the manufacturer.  Atlas or Kato sectional track is ok; Bachmann not so much.  If it is a permanent layout, flex track is a better option as it allows more freedom.  In that arena, there are many brand choices that are dictated by your specific needs.   I suggest hanging out/researching on some of the HO-centric forums like MRH. 

Brendan

Yes I intend to do both scales. I'll check out the MRH forum. 

I run an NCE power cab with both BLI and MTH engines on code 100 Atlas flex track. For power I use a 24 volt laptop power supply which plugs right into my NCE track port. I'm running right at 100 feet of track with no problems ever. You can run MTH engines with just the NCE power cab and nothing else. Just program your engines cab number into the remote and your set. The only problem with running different brand engines is if you want them to run together in a consist you will run into speed problems as some will run faster than others and cause problems. My new BLI ES44AC is a turtle and my MTH engines are Jack rabbits.

You can fix this by using a digital speed trap on each engine while going into your engine setup and adjusting each speed step to run the same as your other engines. You can find YouTube videos on this procedure.

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

MTH is more compatible now than when they first entered that market.  My early MTH HO locos required a firmware upgrade only available through a DCS system.  Anyway, I have multiple scales and I use DCC for HO and MTH O/S locos and Legacy for Lionel.  

Brendan 

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, ......

Nice folks who are only a phone call away, if you have any problems.

(Long time NCE user)

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? The reason for wanting to use DCS in HO is that if I get a MTH Steamer with the quillable whistle, I'd want to use it and I don't know if you can use that feature on the NCE system. Plus I'd been using DCS for a long time in O scale and I find it easy to use. 

Trainlover9943 posted:

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? The reason for wanting to use DCS in HO is that if I get a MTH Steamer with the quillable whistle, I'd want to use it and I don't know if you can use that feature on the NCE system. Plus I'd been using DCS for a long time in O scale and I find it easy to use. 

If you stick with DCS for HO, you are only going to be able to run MTH locos.

Brendan

Brendan posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? The reason for wanting to use DCS in HO is that if I get a MTH Steamer with the quillable whistle, I'd want to use it and I don't know if you can use that feature on the NCE system. Plus I'd been using DCS for a long time in O scale and I find it easy to use. 

If you stick with DCS for HO, you are only going to be able to run MTH locos.

Brendan

You're right, I also just looked at the HO Catalog from MTH and they say when you use the full DCS System, you can't use DCC, its one or the other. I'll go with DCC so I can run everything out there. 

Trainlover9943 posted:

.... I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? ....

This may be the video that rtr12 mentioned ....

Trainlover9943 posted:

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? The reason for wanting to use DCS in HO is that if I get a MTH Steamer with the quillable whistle, I'd want to use it and I don't know if you can use that feature on the NCE system. Plus I'd been using DCS for a long time in O scale and I find it easy to use. 

I think EBT Jim beat me to it, but the videos I saw were on NCE's website.

I hadn't thought about the quilling whistle, don't know if that works with DCC or not? Also someone above mentioned MTH updates, I hadn't thought of that wither. I would imagine that can only be done with the DCS system. I now see your point and the need for both systems. 

I have both the DCS and Legacy systems for my O gauge stuff. There is also definitely a need for both of those, IMO. Don't know a lot about the DCC stuff, but I really would like to some how try out the NCE system on my layout one of these days. NCE also makes a lot of other DCC devices for train and layout control and I have been impressed with those that I have seen as well.

rtr12 posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

rtr12 posted:

I also like the NCE system, been thinking about trying it out on my O gauge MTH stuff (all PS-3) in the next couple of years or so. I have looked at most of the other DCC systems and the NCE is the one I like the best. I was also impressed the the NCE systems are mabe in the USA, They have some youtube videos of their factory and how they make their DCC stuff (if you haven't seen them already?). I have not watched them in a couple of years, but I was impressed when I last saw them.

Why not just run your HO system in DCC and skip the MTH DCS system? I am not completely current on all the MTH DCC features, but I thought they had expanded them somewhat from their start into the HO world? Is there is still an advantage to also having a DCS system with HO?? 

I haven't seen those videos, you have a link to them? The reason for wanting to use DCS in HO is that if I get a MTH Steamer with the quillable whistle, I'd want to use it and I don't know if you can use that feature on the NCE system. Plus I'd been using DCS for a long time in O scale and I find it easy to use. 

I think EBT Jim beat me to it, but the videos I saw were on NCE's website.

I hadn't thought about the quilling whistle, don't know if that works with DCC or not? Also someone above mentioned MTH updates, I hadn't thought of that wither. I would imagine that can only be done with the DCS system. I now see your point and the need for both systems. 

I have both the DCS and Legacy systems for my O gauge stuff. There is also definitely a need for both of those, IMO. Don't know a lot about the DCC stuff, but I really would like to some how try out the NCE system on my layout one of these days. NCE also makes a lot of other DCC devices for train and layout control and I have been impressed with those that I have seen as well.

I have the legacy and DCS command systems for my O gauge stuff too. Maybe I'll email MTH and see what they say. 

Here's a pretty old video of a DCS Commander review by a fairly new guy to model rail roading. He had just gotten it as I remember. I haven't watched this since it was new (been a while), but as I recall he was switching back and forth between his DCC system and the DCS system somehow? 

I hope this was the correct video I was thinking of. Pretty sure it is, but if not it should be on his channel around this time period. Might be worth a look if you have time here or there somewhere.

but as I recall he was switching back and forth between his DCC system and the DCS system somehow? 

DCS has a passthrough function.  You still need a DCC system, but you can wire it through DCS to act as a toggle between the two.  

Brendan

Here's a pretty old video of a DCS Commander review by a fairly new guy to model rail roading 

 DCS review  The pass thru function is shown @ the 4:40 mark

Brendan

It's a good unit, but I'd like to use the full DCS System if I can.