01-16-2013, 04:31 PM
Here is the straight DC walkaround control system that I'm partly replacing with DCC:
It was made by ITTC, who is still in business http://ittproducts.com/ doing sound modules for layouts. However, he quit making the DC walkaround systems in the early 1990s, deciding that there weren't going to be many new straight DC installations as opposed to DCC. That was his call, of course, but the two ITTC walkaround systems I have are very robust and have lasted 25 years. If I'd been able to get replacement parts, especially the handhelds, I'd have stayed with them.
However, there were some downsides: as you can see, the tether wire for the controller was always getting caught on something, and a lot of the time it wound up pulling the handheld controller to the floor, so the handhelds are beat up. Also, the standard phone jacks are wearing out. As a result, I'm going to radio control for my DCC cabs, and I'll change from two ITTC systems to one, cannibalizing the parts in best shape from the other to keep the one running.
Here's a photo of the first loco that I've installed a decoder in -- no biggie, a TCS plug and play in a Bowser WM F7. You can see from the headlight it's on DCC!
It's running with a Bachmann GP7 with the factory decoder. At some point I'll need to be like Reinhard and replace this decoder with a better one.
It was made by ITTC, who is still in business http://ittproducts.com/ doing sound modules for layouts. However, he quit making the DC walkaround systems in the early 1990s, deciding that there weren't going to be many new straight DC installations as opposed to DCC. That was his call, of course, but the two ITTC walkaround systems I have are very robust and have lasted 25 years. If I'd been able to get replacement parts, especially the handhelds, I'd have stayed with them.
However, there were some downsides: as you can see, the tether wire for the controller was always getting caught on something, and a lot of the time it wound up pulling the handheld controller to the floor, so the handhelds are beat up. Also, the standard phone jacks are wearing out. As a result, I'm going to radio control for my DCC cabs, and I'll change from two ITTC systems to one, cannibalizing the parts in best shape from the other to keep the one running.
Here's a photo of the first loco that I've installed a decoder in -- no biggie, a TCS plug and play in a Bowser WM F7. You can see from the headlight it's on DCC!
It's running with a Bachmann GP7 with the factory decoder. At some point I'll need to be like Reinhard and replace this decoder with a better one.