I've taken a huge decision. My future layout and what rides on (ie my AZL and MTL locos) will be DCC. Indeed I came to the conclusion that's the only way to follow to have reliable operations at all speeds, as like I suspected, my good GP38s with basically one electrically isolated axle (traction tires) are more sensitive to rail dust than MTL Geeps. Would you guys recommend some good books or magazines about DCC for an absolute layman like me? I must confess I've never considered beeing involved into DCC one day and thus I've never read nothing about... Dom
Hi ddechamp71 Aside from books etc. I have got a lot of "free" info from www.wiringfordcc.com. Worth a look. As a newby myself, it's not as strange as I thought these days. The worrying about such esoteric things as HEX numbers for decoders has gone. LarryO
Hi, when adding DCC to your locomotives, do not forget to add a few tiny buffer capacitors to the decoder. By that means, you will get super-smooth, reliable operation even on not-so-clean rail. A great description (originally in German, but accessible via Google Translate) is here: https://translate.google.com/transl...fferschaltung-fuer-16-v-smd-kondensatoren.php I have managed to squeeze 3 - 6 micro-capacitors of 100 uF each into my locos, and they now run like a charm. See the two videos at the bottom of https://www.1001-digital.de/pages/b...fferschaltung-fuer-16-v-smd-kondensatoren.php for a comparison. For the very small locos, like V60 and BR98, you need 1. a very small decoder (best: Tran DCX77s, from Austria - http://www.tran.at/Produkte/DCX77z.shtml; this minimized the need for mechanical work) 2. a bit of milling / drilling on the loco. For the bigger locos, there are also very nice plug-and-play decoders, see http://www.velmo.de/html/english.html. Best Martin
Thank you so much guys. @Martin/zscaler2: my locos are AZL and MTL diesels, and for those I heard that Digitrax releases dedicated decoders. Dom
A list: http://www.wiringfordcc.com/intro2dcc.htm (starting point) http://tonystrains.com/tonys-dcc-primer/ These 2 books have graphics (digital data on track, re: Address, etc.), duty cycle (Pulse Width Modulation) for Motor Speed control (related CV's 2, 6, and 5), lighting effects, the magic of CV29, etc. DCC Made Easy: Digital Command Control for Your Model Railroad (Model Railroader Books) Paperback – August 1, 2002 by Lionel Strang http://tinyurl.com/num6zv7 The DCC Guide, Second Edition (Wiring & Electronics) Paperback – June 2, 2014 by Don Fiehmann http://tinyurl.com/pho3lfw
Remember, same 2 wire to track for DC, same 2 wires to track for DCC (and not polarity sensitive Most locos: pop shell off. Place new decoder in place. Use and ohm-meter on Rx100 or higher (analog meter) or any Digital meter to check each motor contact to frame. Almost impossible to have a short to the frame but most decoders do NOT like that! Do NOT place your loco on the main track ! Use a Programming track. This is a low power (current limited) track, designed to help check for these shorts. For the NCE Power Cab, connect all up, including track. Press Prgm/Esc, 4, Enter. After Main Off message, place loco on the track and press Enter again. The NCE Power Pro has separate Program Track. For Digitrax, they have separate Programming track terminals and I believe others have similar. About the only thing you really need to program is the Address. ALL decoders are address 3 (Short Address, meaning essentially 2 digit numbers with NO O (zero) in front. Higher than 2 digits or place a O in front of any number and it becomes a Long Address (you cannot have both Long and Short). You can only read the address from the Programming track (most all DCC systems). Most locos are 3-4 digits anyway. Any 2 or more locos will run on same address. If you do not change the Max (CV5) and Mid (CV6), then most locos run faster and you only will typically use the lower portion of the 128 speed steps. You can tweak CV5 so that it nearly matches 128 MPH/KmH and CV6 to bend the curve for the mid point speed. This, you can do Programming on the Main (OPS mode). On NCE, just press Prgm/Esc, Enter and verifiy the Loco address displayed. Press 2 for CV option, then 5 for Max CV, and enter a digital value between 1 and 255. The default is 255 or 0 (same). So entering 128 should be about 1/2 speed it was. (remember to change CV6 proportionately, or ~64 in this example). ? Just ask.
If you wire a decoder in, the NMRA color standard is simple: Red Rail (the Right hand side) Orange (the motor + side, that made it move forward) Yellow Forward light. Black Rail (common Red/Black for power ) Gray (other motor - side) White Reverse light.
