08-02-2009, 09:29 AM
TrainNut Wrote:I apologize if you've covered this earlier or elsewhere but I see your using an NCE power cab and was wondering how you liked it? I'm thinking of switching from Digitrax and I've got my eye on the NCE.
T/N
I have used an NCE system when I was invited to run a train for a few hours at the La Mesa Club Tehachapie layout in the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. The modular club I belong to uses the E-Z DCC system from CVP. The main differences that I noticed between the 2 systems were as follows.
On the CVP unit the throttle is controlled by a potentiometer that has a stop built in. The pot is rather delicate and easily forced if the train doesn't respond to being stopped. The correct procedure if a signal is missed to stop the train is to Move the throttle up as thought to speed up and then close it again to send another signal. I have found that procedure to not be a problem since when operating I pay attnetion to what my train is doing and bring it to a stop before a "panic" situation arises. The club encourages children to run trains at set ups. We show them how to work the throttle including how to stop the train and what to do if the train doesn't stop the first try. Sometimes we still find broken pots. We send the throttles back to CVP and the cost for repair is $15.00. We consider that a cost of sharing the hobby with kids at train shows, and the club picks up the tab for a broken pot. We are also not sure the damage is always from kids. We occasionally find problems with throttles having broken pots after a show where kids did not get an opportunity to run trains. I'm afraid it is human nature to just put the broken throttle back in the box instead of reporting it, and the problem is not always discovered until the next show! One good thing about the CVP throttle is that when you energize the horn (diesel) or whistle (steam) function with the CVP The horn or whistle blows as long as you hold the button down and quits when the button is released. On the NCE throttle I used at the La Mesa club the whistle or horn was set to blow for a certain interval each time the button was pressed. I could not do long or short blasts to be prototypical. This may be a problem with older NCE power cabs that has been corrected on newer versions, I don't know how old the NCE unit I used at the La Mesa club was. I was using a tethered throttle at the La Mesa club whereas the CVP throttles at the modular club are all wireless. The result at the La Mesa club was that the train always responded immediately to throttle commands. I don't know if a wireless NCE throttle would miss commands. Some of the guys at the La Mesa club brought their own throttles and used wireless on the system. I also did not need to program the NCE. The club member who invited me in to run his train did all of the programming before he handed me the throttle.