12-05-2010, 07:40 PM
I always HAVE been talking about the command station - notice the comment at the end fo my second paragrpah of my second post on this page: "most decoders don't care - it's in the command station"
My main point is that an area of incompatibility exists despite all these manufacturers respecting the NMRA standards. You can set up a loco that works fine on your layotu but when you take it to a friend or club with a different DCC system it won't work. Your PowerCab will allow you to make a loco address 050 - long address using CV17 and 18. I wouldn't be able to run that on my Digitrax system, nor would anyone with a Lenz or CVP system.
I wouldn;t recommend anyone just number their locos sequentially. That why there are so many posisble addresses - use the cab number, unless it's 5 digits which is exceedingly rare in North AMerican practice. In Europe they have problems with that, which is part of why the newest systems use pictures of the loco for selection instead of numbers. I'll stick with just pressing the digits of the number on the side of the loco, simple and it works.
--Randy
My main point is that an area of incompatibility exists despite all these manufacturers respecting the NMRA standards. You can set up a loco that works fine on your layotu but when you take it to a friend or club with a different DCC system it won't work. Your PowerCab will allow you to make a loco address 050 - long address using CV17 and 18. I wouldn't be able to run that on my Digitrax system, nor would anyone with a Lenz or CVP system.
I wouldn;t recommend anyone just number their locos sequentially. That why there are so many posisble addresses - use the cab number, unless it's 5 digits which is exceedingly rare in North AMerican practice. In Europe they have problems with that, which is part of why the newest systems use pictures of the loco for selection instead of numbers. I'll stick with just pressing the digits of the number on the side of the loco, simple and it works.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad of the 1950's in HO
Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com
Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com