Simon Moore Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 Hi all, I have a question about dcc. I purchased my layout which has a large amount of nce gizmos & gadgets under the baseboards for point control & signalling. The layout is currently running a nce powercab with a 5amp booster from dcc concepts. If I'm perfectly honest I do not like the nce powercab, i prefer lenz. I also really hate the dcc concepts power supply its fan is so loud it drowns out the dcc sounds from my locos. Will the layout be affected if I switch dcc controllers from the nce to a lenz set 100? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpendle Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 If the Lenz set is using Railcom then you may have to disable that to get the NCE bits to work. Regards, John P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Moore Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share Posted October 16, 2019 Thanks for that John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 30 minutes ago, Rhb Simon said: I purchased my layout which has a large amount of nce gizmos & gadgets under the baseboards for point control & signalling. The layout is currently running a nce powercab with a 5amp booster from dcc concepts. Which Gizmos and Gadgets ? Specific answers matter. If they are on the NCE Cab-bus, then you have a problem in swapping to another maker. Not an insoluble one, but a problem which needs addressing. If they are on the DCC bus, then there is likely to be less of an issue. - Nigel 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 Is Lenz a step up from NCE? What is it that you are trying to achieve by replacing the NCE with Lenz? As has already been said it may not be a straight forward as simply swapping bone for the other and you may not gain anything either for the pain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Moore Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share Posted October 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said: Which Gizmos and Gadgets ? Specific answers matter. If they are on the NCE Cab-bus, then you have a problem in swapping to another maker. Not an insoluble one, but a problem which needs addressing. If they are on the DCC bus, then there is likely to be less of an issue. - Nigel Honestly Nigel, I have no idea what they are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Moore Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share Posted October 16, 2019 2 hours ago, WIMorrison said: Is Lenz a step up from NCE? What is it that you are trying to achieve by replacing the NCE with Lenz? As has already been said it may not be a straight forward as simply swapping bone for the other and you may not gain anything either for the pain. I'm used to lenz & I prefer it to the nce system if I'm honest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 19 hours ago, WIMorrison said: Is Lenz a step up from NCE? ... Try it. You might like it too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 18 hours ago, Rhb Simon said: Honestly Nigel, I have no idea what they are. This is how I understand things... DCC breaks down into 3 components, but some systems combine these. The command station is the heart of the system. You only have 1 of these on a layout It has 2 sides: a 'cab-bus' & a 'DCC-bus'. Throttles & control panels connect to the cab-bus. This includes JMRI. This is proprietary: you cannot connect a PowerCab to a Lenz command station or vice-versa. JMRI is made to be compatible with many systems. There are also control panels available (DCC Concepts for example) which can be used with more than 1 system, but they understand the system's cab-bus. On the other side of the command station is the DCC bus, which conforms to NMRA standards. The signal first needs to go to a booster (DCC's version of an amplifier. You can have more than one of these, but now we are working in the NMRA standard realm, any booster should work). The booster powers accessories, which includes loco decoders. Usually the cab bus is used for input & the DCC bus for output. Railcom allows items on the DCC bus to send back information to the command station. This is an addition to the NMRA standard, so therefore any DCC bus which uses it is no longer NMRA compliant, so it may not work with all components. It can therefore be disabled. I am not sure if that made sense? It does to me, but that doesn't mean a lot! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMorrison Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 1 hour ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said: Try it. You might like it too. I did, which is I have a Z21 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now