Recently I made this posting; https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/controller-needs.137338/ I went there hoping to get some simple answers. I didn't post here because most is beyond my understanding but, they aren't being helpful. First, what are the numbers I will need to add to the controler and how do I find them? Then, if I have turn arounds, loops or y's are special controls needed. I have two HO DCC steamer engines and only 4 feet of straight track. I also am concidering returning to N gauge DC. I have one simple HO and N ab unit. I also have some books but out in a storage building for now. Thanks for any help. Rich VH
Hey Rich, If you are talking about DCC and the address number, it is the decoder address of the locomotive that the controller needs to talk to the loco. Simply put you need to read the address from the loco using the controller, then you can program that in a run the train. Depending on what type of controller it is will determine how you do this. Here's a link to the NCE power cab manual. The rules for DC and DCC are the same here, one track is + the other is - and never the two should meet. One of the best ways I have read on here is to put two different coloured tapes on the sides of a wagon, one side say RED, the other side say BLUE. push it around the track and the tape should always be on the same track (for a simple loop, red stays on the inside track, blue on the outside). If at any stage your tape swaps over then you have a reversal and this requires some type of protection. I don't have any of these on my layout so have never had to solve that issue, but there are plenty of answers out there. hope this helps Chris
DCC decoders and locomotives usually come from the factory programmed to respond to short address 03. Many users reprogram them to respond to the long address matching the road number shown on the locomotive, but you can use any addressing scheme you want. Beyond that, you can put them on the programming track (or in the case of the Power Cab, you can switch to programming mode) to read their addresses. I am in the process of migrating my DC N scale fleet to DCC (replacing the light boards with drop-in DCC decoders), and purchasing additional DCC locomotives. I have one DC steam engine that I will probably have upgraded to DCC. I cannot imagine going back to DC...
I might add that purchasing the NCE USB interface for your Power Cab would allow you to use JMRI Decoder Pro (free software) on your computer (windows, mac or linux) to program or interpret your decoder settings in a more human-friendly form. I use JMRI and would not want to be without it (and I'm a retired Electrical Engineer).
