What do you wish you knew about DCC or think others should know?

[DCB]

On 21/04/2024 at 09:21, Nigelcliffe said:

 

If you've got a lot of locos,  you either had deep pockets, or the person you inherited them from had deep pockets.....   

 

Most people have far too many locos.  One regularly hears of people with 50 or 100 locos.  How many of them actually get run ?  How often ?    There's nothing wrong with a hobby of "collecting", but don't use the shelf-collection to put down someone else' interest in running.   

Or you have been collecting and building locos for 60 years.  Quite a few of mine alternate between display cabinet and layout,  but last  count there were 60 on the layout, many Hornby Dublo and over 60 years old doing the  heavy  work which 2000  era Horny can't take on so just look pretty.   Though to be fair K's kit built locos are gradually replacing more recent  iterations. so I don't have the time to convert locos to DCC  if I actually want to have time to run trains .

[kevinlms]

On 22/04/2024 at 00:17, GrumpyPenguin said:

& that is the perfect time to have a "cull" of locomotives you no longer/rarely use & us ethe proceeds to pay for DCC.

I know someone who has a very large collection of locomotives and of course uses that as an excuse for no DCC and that he doesn't know how to wire it up.

Fact is he spent a lot of money on DC controllers and loads of money on switches etc, on his new large layout.

He didn't know how to wire that either, so he needed lots of help from others to wire it for him - no he did virtually no work on it himself, even though several tried to get him to assist, at the very minimum.

[Free At Last]

A friend of mine converted to dcc a few years ago because of sound. He has over twenty locos with sound all on address 03. He has a large double track fully scened oval on which he runs two double headed trains on each circuit and when one catches up with the other he just holds it back with his hands.

Some have the whistle on F2 and some the brake.
The wheels on the double headers turn at different rates with different levels of acceleration and deceleration.
It doesn't concern him.
Who said dcc is complicated.

[rogerzilla]

I have standardised my DCC stuff on Bachmann (Zimo) decoders with brake function, generally on F2 but on F7 where F2 is used for some kind of lighting control (Dapol are fond of this).  The exception is the class 03 but you don't really want much momentum in a shunter.

Edited April 27 by rogerzilla

[Pete the Elaner]

On 19/04/2024 at 13:07, Train_Dude said:

Another thing I have realized with DCC is if you want sound in your locos you are better off buying them with sound in to begin with as that will probably save you about £20-£30 a loco in the long run.

 

I don't think this is usually a good idea. Decoders are different & buying DCC fitted includes the manufacturer's choice of decoder, which can be an unknown (my first fitted loco contained Hornby's original bad decoder which had been discontinued several years previous). Bachmann have changed suppliers & their decoders have been inconsistent as a result. It has not always been possible to simply re-blow these either.
The same is true of sound. Manufacturer's have made some poor choices within their sound projects which don't work as well as those from dedicated sound vendors like Legomanbiffo, Paul Chetter or YouChoos.

[WIMorrison]

@Pete the Elaner Fully agree with you, plus if you buy an OEM decoder from Zimo or ESU then they have large libraries of sound files that can be downloaded, some free but mostly paid for the good projects. Plus with the right command station you are able to load the sound projects on your blank decoders yourself ;)

 

[Geep7]

One piece of advice i've learnt over the years. If you're taking a DCC layout to an exhibition, do not leave your rolling stock overnight in the car, if the temp is going to fall below or near freezing, as when you bring them back into the ambient temperature of an exhibition hall the chips don't like it.

[WIMorrison]

My shed regularly falls to zero (and below) over the winter and I have to leave the stock in the car overnight prior to exhibitions yet nothing has ever suffered from the temperature.

[Ron Ron Ron]

On 01/05/2024 at 17:35, Geep7 said:

…… if the temp is going to fall below or near freezing, as when you bring them back into the ambient temperature of an exhibition hall the chips don't like it.

Nothing worst than cold chips….

 

 

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[F-UnitMad]

One thing I do wish I'd known about DCC - what incredible witchcraft is needed to successfully speed match locos. The only way I've managed it is with identical locos by a manfacturer, fitted with identical decoders with identical CV settings.

As for locos from different makers, or fitted with different chips, especially trying to match sound & non-sound locos - that remains utterly beyond me. Which can be quite irritating, modelling American trains.

It's not the consisting together, I can do that easy enough - it's getting locos to perform well together - speed matching - that is the witchcraft.

[BoD]

9 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

The only way I've managed it is with identical locos by a manfacturer, fitted with identical decoders with identical CV settings.

… and even then it’s not guaranteed.

[F-UnitMad]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

… and even then it’s not guaranteed.

Agreed - my four identical locos are matched very closely, but still not absolutely 100% matched. If I consist them all together, but uncoupled & set an inch or so apart from each other, it's er, "interesting" to see the gaps slowly open or close as they move along. 🙄🤦‍♂️😂

[peterfgf]

I have successfully run two Bachmann 4CEPs together, both fitted with ESU Lokpilot Standard decoders set to the same address.  I think I was probably lucky (I would probably use Lenz Silver or Zimo decoders now).

Peterfgf

[Welly]

I wish the RTR manufacturers tell us how much space is available for the decoders in their "DCC Ready" locomotives AND the decoder makers tell us the dimensions of their products!

 

I have just tried to fit a Rails 21 pin decoder to a Hornby 87 and the decoder is too wide! I've had to fit a Hattons 21 pin decoder instead.

[WIMorrison]

Many manufacturers do provide the detailed specifications for the decoders, certainly the OEM do, though I agree that most rebadged seller don’t - probably because you could then find out the OEM of the rebadged decoder.

 

NMRA also provide size guidelines for many decoders.

[Ron Ron Ron]

1 hour ago, Welly said:

I wish the RTR manufacturers tell us how much space is available for the decoders in their "DCC Ready" locomotives AND the decoder makers tell us the dimensions of their products!

 

I have just tried to fit a Rails 21 pin decoder to a Hornby 87 and the decoder is too wide! I've had to fit a Hattons 21 pin decoder instead.

 
The PluX and Next18 interface standards should provide the certainty that matching decoders will fit locos with the matching interface.

A key part of their interface specifications, is the maximum dimensions of the decoder and provision of space to accommodate the decoders in models fitted with matching interfaces.

 

Then comes along a decoder manufacturer with a decoder that purports to be Next18, but fails to comply with the most important criteria for that format.

Hornby’s so called Next18 version of their HM7000 series.

 

 

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