Anyone have any experience with this system yet? ------------------ Scott Jay member of: Half Nuts Model Railroaders
Well, I don't trust it. I had terrable luck with their power packs, went through 4 of them, (warrenty thank God) just on a little short, it would blow a circuit and send my trains at full 12 volts around the track!. Plus I read their breif statements on their web site, it doesn't support complex consiting, That's the whole reason (mainly) to get DCC is to consist different makes of locos to all go the same speed... ------------------ espee2 Railroading in Southern Oregon www.tunnel13.com layout: SP's Newberg Branch in N scale
The Atlas DCC system was designed by Lenz, and is a step up from the MRC Command 2000. It is able to support 99 locos and 99 accessories, since it only allows two-digit addressing. Therefore, advanced consisting is out of the question. Four-digit addressing is required for that, and I believe I read on their website that they are working on an upgrade for this feature. You can still consist locos and run them at the same speed, but instead of temporarily assigning them the same number (other than their original) you now re-program the decoder and "permanently" assign them the same number. Example - Advanced Consist: I want to consist locos 473 and 477 (the decoderes are assigned this number). I temporarily assign them the number 73, so both decoders accept and commands sent to "73" (just the way we do it, last 2 numbers of lead loco). At any point in time (on the main) I can create or break-up this consist. Example - Old-Style Consist: I take 73 and 77 (now have two-digit addressing) to the program track. Actually, only have to tak 77, and re-program as 73, then can run the consist (as they both accept 73). Same thing, just more convenient to have advanced consisting. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society, NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
Having been a Lenz user for going on 2 yrs. I would think that the Atlas system will upgrade soon and on a regular basis. That has been the case with my Lenz 01. A thought though call or e-mail Debby Aimes. She is the Lenz dist. in the USA. She is very straight forward and can probably give you some news. I'm away from my normal computer so I don't have that info handy but there are lots of sites that can give you the Lenz usa web site. I think it might be tttrains.com but I'm not sure. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine. Member #33
About the upgrade for the atlas DCC system, yes Harron is right. The atlas DCC system only allows 2-digit addressing. But he did not say that there is an upgrade for HO scale already out. So sajay, if you model HO scale you are in luck because you can buy a Dual-Mode Decoder which supports 4-digit addressing. (It costs $29.95) If you are a N scaler, well you are just going to have to wait for atlas to come out with Dual-Mode Decoder that supports N scale. Hope this helps. If you have any questions just ask.
