kenn
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by kenn on Feb 17, 2023 18:24:18 GMT -5
Alrighty then. I'll have to decide if I want to go down the road of micro-electronics work. My hands are still stable -- eyes not so much so I'll need a cyborg helmet.
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Post by husafreak on Feb 21, 2023 18:53:28 GMT -5
Maybe look at what locos have "drop in" boards available? If you only buy locos that can use those boards it is pretty easy. It's when you start wiring in boards and modifying chassis to accommodate them that it gets tricky, IMHO.
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Post by BAZman on Feb 25, 2023 18:03:34 GMT -5
Summarizing: Use Digitrax Zephyr, because you can get answers local and faster.
All DCC systems (Digitrax, NCE or MRC [which copied the NCE 'hammerhead' has instructions on the back of the Throttle/Cab).
Your can borrow one of your buddy's Throttle (or they can come over and more easily help you).
All systems put the same NMRA 'data' on the track so any decoder manufacture will run exactly the same with Digitrax/NCE/MRC or DCC++ (think Arduino-ish control).
Wiring is the same: 2 wires to the track. There is no 'polarity', just hook it up, change the connections tomorrow, runs the same. It is an 'AC' (alternating current) but not that wall socket sinewave. There IS a 'polarity' rule tho if you using Reversing loops or parallel track/loops. They have to the same rail-to rail pairing meaning if the left rail has 'red' wire, the parallel track has to have the left rail red too. Otherwise you do NOT have to have blocked and isolated track like DC where you can't just run your train everywhere, whereas DCC you can anywhere, any direction and any number of locos at any speed - ALL on the same 2 wires and 1 Throttle/Cab.
Accessories tho are a different game. Most are related to the Throttle/Cab bus (not the wires to the track but the ones between your Throttle/Cab and the 'Command Station' and then to the Accessories. In the DCC nomenclature, the Command Station takes whatever Throttle/Cab/WiFi and makes it work NMRA common-for-all language. So, if you use the Digitrax Zephyr which uses 'LocoNET' and you want, say a remote turnout control (DS64/DS74), you have to use theirs). However, those same 'messages' are also on the track rails so you can use some other branded items. Its sorta the Digitrax sorta has nice boxes with lights and pushbuttons and others have just a circuit board.
***DCC has Power on the track ALL OF THE TIME so if you stop your trains, just be aware. If you did not completely stop your Loco(s) say you rolled the throttle all the way back, you thought, it could creep ever so closely to a turnout not in the correct direction and ultimately short. (DCC can run you loco so realistically slow to make a Cheshire Cat smile, but a short can bring tears). Similar to DC (although 3-5-9 volts and lower currant), both have short protection. But it is EXTREMELY serious for DCC! The Zephyr puts out 13 Volts @ 3 Amps. 13x3=~40 Watts !! That can 'poof' a wheel wiper (bridging front and back axles on a turnout frog or mis-wired Reverse Loop. It can also melt axle/wheels. SO ALWAYS WATCH YOUR TRAINS!!! The Zephyr and NCE and all others have built-in Short protection. But that does not act until 1/4 to 1/2 second (makes a quick 'beep', and then turns it back on again in another 1/2 second[\i] and repeats .. . .. .. ALWAYS WATCH YOUR TRAINS!!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 22:03:37 GMT -5
Concerning short circuits in DCC : in the past I saw even contact springs in Rokuhan turnouts MELTED (picture published a few years ago by a German modeller). So I decided for my layout : the best DCC is ... NO DCC ! Conventional control was the best, and You can have current limiters to a safe intensity (if You don't wanna run multiple units of more that 2 locos). A well known joke of many politicians (among others, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, first President of the independent Ivory Coast) : "We couldn't go further, because we had arrived to the edge of an abyss ; but meanwhile we succeeded in making again a big step forwards !" Editor's note: please take notice that this user posted the message and then deleted his account. I can only assume that he relocated to the Ivory Coast.
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Post by scanrail on Jan 29, 2024 10:45:18 GMT -5
It sounds extremely strange to me to accuse DCC itself for being responsible for melting and anything else. As a person who often provides repair service for locomotives and all kinds of other Z scale stuff, I can say that I already restored a very big quantity of locomotives damaged by melting of the truck frames, wheelsets, housings and anything else that can melt at all. And guess what? 90% of these models were ANALOG! DCC is just the way of controlling trains, it CAN'T be a reason of melting itself! Let me be honest: thinking so only means not knowing what DCC is at all, or just a result of being scared of anything 'alien'.
For info, most DCC command stations are equipped with current limiters right out of the box; such devices also exist as a separate accessory. Furthermore, in most cases, short circuit detection is WAY faster and more reliable in DCC than in analog! Because short is usually detected in DCC digitally, too - which is obviously much faster than reaction of simple thermal resettable fuse in some analog controllers.
As for turnouts, there are two ways of switching them - with electromagnetic drive or with a servo. Rokuhan turnouts use the first method of switching (simply because it's easier to hide it under the trackbed due to a very small size). Thus, it is the Rule #1 to use power impulses SHORT ENOUGH in order not to burn them. It is a very common mistake of beginners when they use too long impulse for switching electromagnetic turnouts or even apply constant power to them and don't turn it off at all. It is absolutely clear that even the best ever turnout will burn or melt down under such conditions.
Furthermore, here is one more advantage DCC offers here: you can set exact period of impulse in milliseconds applied to the turnout for switching - and it will always be the same. This is one of the basic parameters in DCC function decoders intended for switching turnouts.
So, here is a good advice: don't deem DCC as smth bad just because you don't know what it actually is. And watching your trains against derailing and possible melting down applies to both DCC and analog modes to the same extent.
Regards, Alex
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Post by husafreak on Feb 2, 2024 11:50:58 GMT -5
Thank you for debunking this popular myth. Or maybe I misinformed myself. But I unscientifically thought only DCC brought with it the danger of a short melting parts of a loco.
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