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Lester Perry Wrote:Robertinontario sound is what got me into DCC. I like DCC as it simplifies running my layout. But it does come with its own headaches. For me there is a large learning curve, whatever that means. I just do the basics. I am a one man operation. I have had operating sessions and they were a lot of fun but no longer do that.
That sounds very similar to my situation. Sound is very tempting (for me to consider DCC) yet I'm sure I'd be on a big learning curve as well. My layout is a one-man operation as well.
What were some of the issues or headaches that slowed you down?
Rob
Rob
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Actually nothing major. Just fine tuning decoders to work as I desire. I have one tsunami that I play around with sometimes and usually get it all messed up. I also have one digitrax sound bug which I like a lot. I am starting to figure some things out now. I now have these 2 set up so that when you slow down the exhaust chuff stops while the loco continues to roll to a stop. Also it will move about an inch before the first exhaust chuff. Just don't ask me how to do it. The end result is it's pretty cool  . All in all I love it most of the time but in all honesty there are times I must walk away or it will get very expensive.
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Lester Perry Wrote:Actually nothing major. Just fine tuning decoders to work as I desire. I have one tsunami that I play around with sometimes and usually get it all messed up. I also have one digitrax sound bug which I like a lot. I am starting to figure some things out now. I now have these 2 set up so that when you slow down the exhaust chuff stops while the loco continues to roll to a stop. Also it will move about an inch before the first exhaust chuff. Just don't ask me how to do it. The end result is it's pretty cool . All in all I love it most of the time but in all honesty there are times I must walk away or it will get very expensive.
Thanks! Well, maybe one day I'll venture into DCC then. The sound part is pretty cool though.
Rob
Rob
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Sounds is a wonderful thing...if it is done well. I'm under the impression that most of it stinks. Tsunamis and LokSound, in my opinion, are about the only thing in small scales which doesn't detract from the experience...but then speaker placement/quality is a huge deal too.
This past weekend was a show. I 3-rail guy had his big boy pulling 60 cars or so. There was just one enormous problem with it: tender's don't make exhaust sounds...cylinders expelling used steam out the stack make exhaust sounds. That really detracted from his locomotive up close...far more so than the cigar smoke or the too-tight curves. The same certainly applies to smaller scales...but the spatially gap between where the sound should be coming from versus where it is coming from isn't as great. If done well, sound adds tremendously to the appeal but far too often it detracts from the experience for me unless it is well done (proper speaker placement, excellent sound card & speaker set up correctly, and correct sounds for the engine).
I agree with those of you who swear that DC will last as long as you in terms of its use, but I'll be very surprised if new DC only engines are still being released in 10 years. Afterall, are there new engines being released without decoder plugs? The cost to add the cheaper decoders is far less than cost to distribute DC-only engines in addition to the DCC equipped. It isn't at all disimilar to offering "headlight equipped" and "non-headlight equipped" engines....
Doctor Wayne, don't lose hope in us youngens! We made up the majority of the attendees at my local NMRA show and I'm the only one that shows up at meetings...
Michael
Michael
My primary goal is a large Oahu Railway layout in On3
My secondary interests are modeling the Denver, South Park, & Pacific in On3 and NKP in HO
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Don't worry, Michael, I never lose hope and I don't mind being left behind, either.  
Wayne
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doctorwayne Wrote:... I don't mind being left behind, either.
Wayne
Geez, Good Doctor ... I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it being "left behind" ...
... DC is still a major part of the overall system ... I mean, don't the motors still run on DC? Wouldn't AC current burn those little can motors up in a skinny minute?
No, not left behind ... more like still steaming down the track first mapped by pioneering surveyors, the original right-of-way ... while some have taken the turnout and are now running on a different track, a newly graded right-of-way.
Yeah, I think that sounds a lot better!
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
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P5se Camelback Wrote:Geez, Good Doctor ... I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it being "left behind" ...
... DC is still a major part of the overall system ... I mean, don't the motors still run on DC? Wouldn't AC current burn those little can motors up in a skinny minute?
yeah, I think that sounds a lot better!
Yeah, but you won't find block wiring control anymore, or headlights that brighten and dim with the throttle, lol.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
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Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
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You're partially right, I suppose. The layout is a single block, but I can kill sidings if I wish to park a loco somewhere - it's not particularly complicated, though. To put it in the context of DCC, it would've been more work (and expense) for me to run a bus line around the layout to ensure reliable operation were I using DCC. As it is, there's a pair of wires from the power source to the tracks - pretty simple.
I don't need multiple train control - there's only one operator, so there's only one train moving at a time. I spend a lot of time and effort re-building locomotives and rolling stock, and there's absolutely no way that something's going to be running somewhere on the layout when I'm not right there beside it to savour every aspect of it.
The lights don't dim or brighten with the throttle simply because I don't use operating lights - in my modelling era they weren't illuminated in the daytime, but even if they had been prototypical, I would have removed them - it's simply a feature that doesn't interest me. On second thought, it's a feature that I don't want in my locos - I spent too many years servicing or building locos for people who wanted lights, and I really grew to dislike that aspect of the hobby. They look fine on someone else's locos, but to me, they're a nuisance.
Another aspect of the DC/DCC discussion not mentioned much here (although I have seen a lot of talk about it elsewhere) is track cleaning. From what I've read, trouble-free operation in DCC is very-much influenced by the cleanliness of the track. I have just under 200' of mainline in service, with another 60'-or-so yet to be built. If I had to clean all that track (and probably that much again if staging tracks, passing tracks, and sidings were included) I'd remove the layout - I retired so I wouldn't have to work on stuff I don't enjoy. 
I can't imagine any scenario that would compel me to switch to DCC, but I don't have any problem if someone else chooses to do so.
Wayne
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GEC: how do you run your trains on DC without block wiring? i mean, don't you still have to section off tracks?
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90% of my switching layouts has been block free and on that other 10: 9% use Atlas Seclectors and 1% used DCC wirh the required feeder wires.
I avoid blocks if at all possible.
Larry
Engineman
Summerset Ry
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Dc - I have neither the skill set nor the income to run DCC.
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before I went DCC I installed latching reed switches in all of my locomotives. The wave of a magnet turned it off or on. I called it PCC. Poorman command control. I kind of miss it.
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That sounds like a great idea, Les. 
Wayne
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Lester Perry Wrote:before I went DCC I installed latching reed switches in all of my locomotives. The wave of a magnet turned it off or on. I called it PCC. Poorman command control. I kind of miss it.
Okay... I'm curious. How exactly did this work? It sounds like a rather innovative way of controlling your locomotives on DC layout.
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