Tips on Selecting a DCC System

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When choosing a DCC system for your own railroad or club, Mark Gurries suggests the following:

Command station: List the features, and prioritize the ones you're care most about. Buy the best you can afford. Your selection of a command station will directly affect your choices of throttles, since it's the command station which sets your cab bus protocol.
Documentation: Are you the type of person who reads the documentation? If so look over the manufacturers' offerings before purchasing. They are not all created equal. Thickness is not the metric. Quality, ease of access, good indexing, organization should be the metrics. Some manufacturers have put Acrobat PDF versions on the Web -- look at these and look at the paper documentation. Get input from existing users on their thoughts about the documentation on the DCC systems they own.
Throttles: This is tied to item 1. Try to avoid purchasing any system until you have had a chance to use the throttles of the various systems, and in particular the throttles of your prospective purchase. Two minutes at a show or in a shop does NOT constitute 'use'. The choice you make here will be with you for a while. Consider the range of throttles available on each system -- low end to hi end.
Wireless: Consider if you really need wireless. It's a very 'salesy' feature, demos well, etc., but many folks with smaller layouts can work just fine with the standard throttles, and save the $175+ necessary for this item, and use it somewhere use on your layout. Do you really plan to operate your layout from another room in the house? Club layouts are obviously a different beast. Like any consumer purchase, buy only the features you need/want -- don't buy because the sales person thinks its neat, demos well, etc.
Upgrades/Expansion: Most systems are expandable to some degree. Also the market for used, working command stations & attachments (at a less than retail price) should be reasonable, so you can consider the option of purchasing something, using it a while, and then resale. Very few people buy 'used' decoders from what I can see, so this is probably not an option for decoders.
Decoders: Once you install a decoder in a loco you'll probably never change it unless it fails. Look at all the features available in decoders, and set your minimum standards -- for example I won't purchase a decoder if it does not support 4 digit addressing. Don't violate your personal standards in this space without thinking long and hard before doing so. Don't be afraid to mix and match decoders with command stations. Despite some minor glitches in this space, inter operability in this arena is very good. Don't be afraid to buy a command station/etc. made by one manufacturer and decoders made my another manufacturer. I do it all the time. Pick each based on your needs/preferences/ability to pay/etc. Also decoder functionality/price performance is much like PC processor pricing -- if you wait a little bit you'll get more features at the same price, or the same features at a lower price. Competition is good :-) The moral of this story is don't buy decoders before you're ready to install!
Dealer Support: Buy your DCC products only from dealers who offer support -- this can come in many forms. But at a minimum, you want dealers who will take defective returns without question or charge to you. There are excellent retailers & mail order sources for DCC products. Be very cautious about dealers who carry a single manufacturer's product. You may or may not get the best fit of a DCC product to your need if they carry only a single vendor's product. It is recommended that you find out why they carry only one line. If they start by saying it's the best on the market, it would be a good idea to drop them from consideration as a place to purchase DCC products. Would you be comfortable if a dealer carried only a single manufacturer's line of locomotives, and used this response to an inquiry?
Manufacturer Support: Overall, manufacturer support in this product space is excellent -- manufacturers are very responsive to customer inquiries, support needs, etc. However each manufacturer does have different warranties and support models. Check this out before buying. Make sure you are satisfied with the warranties & support models of the vendors' equipment you plan to purchase BEFORE purchasing. Make sure you ask about the support available when you screw up (e.g., smoke the decoder) and when there is a manufacturer defect. You may also want to inquire about their approach to product updates/bug fixes. Remember that much the DCC environment is software, and like all software there are bugs. What happens when you find one? What is their approach to 'critical' bugs and what is their approach to 'non-critical bugs'? As noted with decoders, manufacturers often evolve the software in their products (slipstreaming in the trade vernacular) -- again don't stock for future use, but buy when ready to use. One other note -- the best support from the manufacturer is obtained by picking up the telephone and calling the manufacturer directly. Not whining on some list, calling a friend, etc. While friends and list members may assist you, you'd be amazed at the blatantly wrong info I've seen passed around about DCC over the years in these forums. Manufacturers are customer friendly, just call them. One exception to this is knowledgeable dealers. Some of these are very customer oriented. If you find one, stick with them.
Interoperability: Check into whether the manufacturers you are considering do inter operability testing with other vendors products. Some use the NMRA Conformance Warrant system, some don't. It is strongly recommended that you purchase products with the NMRA Conformance Warrants. (It's like looking for a UL label on an electrical product, other 'seals of approval' etc. -- most folks have purchased products without them at some time, but they offer an additional outside analysis of the product. If it's there it's one more plus for that vendor's product.) What is mandatory is that the manufacture has a demonstrated track record in addressing interoperability products PROMPTLY, and without major headaches on my part.

How SVL Choose a DCC System

SVL spent several months figuring out which DCC system to purchase for the club. The decision came from a couple of key points:

The user experience of the DCC system was a top priority at our club.

We knew up front what we had in terms of current member abilities and the experience new members had with Onboard command control. We also knew from operational experience that remembering what channel a given locomotive was assigned to was a hassle. With Keller ONBOARD, we only had 20 channels to work with, and we needed to ensure that no two locomotives shared the same address to prevent unwanted runaways.

We wanted to avoid a steep learning curve. That meant the most basic functions like locomotive selection, direction, and speed control had to be straight forward as possible. Speed control meant and having and a analog speed knob without giving up speed button capabilities.

So we determined what we wanted first. (not in any order)

4 digit address so we could use the actual locomotive number. (nothing to remember)
The knob option since first time users felt comfortable with it. (Less intimidating)
Button option since many members where use to that as well. (keep current members happy)
Straight forward operation of the cab. We wanted to avoid complicated key sequences for basic operation.
Easy to understand visual feedback of the cab status.
Minimal Learning curve for basic operation.

After looking at the systems, we found ourselves really liking the System One, Ramtraxx, and North Coast for the following reasons. It was not perfect, but it met most of our requirements:

The master cab offered the following information at a single glance:
- Current Locomotive number Selected (All 4 digits displayed.)
- Current Speed
- Current Direction Selected
- Current Functions Active
Locomotive selection was straight forward:
- Hit Select Loco Button
- Punch in the locomotive number.
- Hit enter button.
A no-brainer. That's it! An easy analogy to entering numbers on a calculator. The Digitrax system required a dial and search sequence. Not straight forward without having to explain it first. Plus it took time to find the number until you got used to the speed of the selection. Some would turn to fast and overshoot. Others turned real slow and take a long time.
Switching between multiple engines was a snap.
The Cab has a recall button. Hit it and it cycles through a list of recently entered engines that the user has used. One button!-- We did not see a similar feature on the Chief at the time.
The cab offered a thumb wheel.
Well, it may not be a big knob, but it was a knob. For those that only used one engine, it worked fine. It was especially useful for yard switching. We could switch the yard much faster without looking at the cab itself. When working with multiple engines, the Digitrax encoder Knob control would be superior. It was a compromise.
The display used English statements to guide the user through a step. No manual to read or learn. You had automatic Online Help through prompts.
Digitrax had cryptic prompts due to display limits. People had to read the manual to understand them. Again a steeper initial learning curve.
We could also buy a very simple small cab with the big knob and very few buttons for those who just want to run a train if someone else set it up for them. This is great for visitors. They quickly get comfortable with operations and reduce their initial fears about DCC.
The only negative thing about the master cab was the number of buttons.
It has a high initial emotional complexity impact response. It looks more intimidating at first glance than a Digitrax cab. So we do not initially show that cab to entry users. Once they understand that each button has a fixed function clearly labeled like a simple calculator, the intimidation goes down real quickly as in one operating session period. As confidence grows quickly, they come to like the master cab as almost all of our members do. (The cab size remains a problem for some.)

Given these features, we chose Ramtraxx. It gave us everything we wanted at a lower price than what North Coast or System one was offering at the time. It was more than the Chief, but not much more. The Digitrax system required a lot more learning curve to get up and running for basic operation. It would save us money, but that was an initial investment issue. The long term issues of usage would always be there.

SVL DCC Update for February 1999

Since the SVL club initial DCC purchase decision back in 1996, a lot of things have happened. Here is an update of how DCC industry changes and products have affected SVL:

1) Ramtraxx has purchased by Wangrow in mid 1998. Even though Ramtraxx and the system they made is gone, Wangrow has pick up the ball in terms of support. Since Ramtraxx is exactly the same as System One and NCE systems, we still are able to get all the support we need from these vendors. None of our equipment is obsolete. In fact we have upgraded our Ramtraxx command station software to the latest version of NCE's to take advantage of new features offered. It is very easy to do.

The price advantage of Ramtraxx system has not gone unnoticed. NCE has introduced it's POWERHOUSE PRO system at around $325 street price and has all the same ease of use software features of NCE's discontinued Master Series and Wangrow's system. To make it comparable to the Ramtraxx configuration, you would need to add another booster at $125 for a total of $450. This is less than the $510 purchase price for the Ramtraxx system and a lot less than the Wangrow $700 cost. With the Ease of use of the Powerhouse Pro for less than a Digitrax Chief, why buy a chief?

If SVL was to buy today, the PowerHouse Pro would be it.

2) We have purchased 2 Dual NCE Master Series boosters (Power Stations) to help divide out layout into Power Blocks. With the Ramtraxx unit, this gives us a total of 6 Five-Amp boosters. The booster are set up as follows:

Ramtraxx: One booster is dedicated for powering all future (very soon) DCC controlled accessory devices such as switch-machine, track occupancy detectors, and signal driver boards. This keeps the track power issues independent of train flow control.

The second output is being held in reserve for the second level yard.

NCE #1: One booster drives the first track of the double track main. The other drives the track going up the grade.

NCE #2: One booster drives the second track of the double track main. The other drives the Main Yard.

Dividing the layout into power blocks solves the big problem of total layout shutdown when someone creates a short on the track when running the layout from one single booster. It also will allow you to run more trains since the load is divided among many boosters.

3) We have purchased Lenz LK100 reverse loop modules for our 1 reverse loop and our 2 wyes based junctions. The modules can be purchased at a street price of around $45. This is a big cost saver over the option of dedicating a booster with a reversing option to each reversing track section. With a booster costing about $125 dollars, we saved about $240. Enough to about buy another 2 boosters!

4) SVL purchased a second Ramtraxx system for use as a dedicated Decoder programming station and backup for the club in case the first station went down. Although this is a expensive thing to do, for the club, it was money well spent. We hooked up the Ramtraxx unit to a PC and use EASYRAMP software to program the decoders. The software made is extremely easy for members to get the locomotives up a running and configured quickly to club configuration standards. The value really hit us early on as members got hooked on DCC and almost stumbled over each other to get their locomotives converted to DCC.

5) We have upgraded most of our Master Cabs to NCE ProCabs. The PROCAB has addresses some of the short comings of the thumb wheel speed control and adds some new features. Here are the new features.

5a) First the thumb wheel speed control has become an encoder type with no physical rotation limits. This feature simply means that we can now switch between trains without worrying if the thumb wheel speed is correctly matched to the speed of the train we are selecting. The new thumb wheel simply controls the speed RELATIVE to the current train speed. Previous the wheel control was ABSOLUTE control, called a Potentiometer, which had physical limits to its rotation. The potentiometer "POT" thumb wheel position had a direct fixed corresponding speed. However, not everyone likes the encoder wheel which is just fine.

The PROCAB offers the old POT thumb wheel if you want it. But you have to choose at purchase or upgrade time. You cannot have both type of thumb wheel controls physically at the same time.

5b) The encoder thumb wheel itself brings two new mode of speed control operation. They are are Normal mode and Yard mode.

Normal Mode: This simply means that we can use both the button and the thumb wheel for speed control SIMULTANEOUSLY. The old master cabs forced you to choose between Thumb wheel or button control when you configured the cab.

Yard Mode: This mode is new. With yard mode, the thumb wheel controls not only speed but direction at the same time! When you roll the thumb wheel up from stop position, the locomotive goes forward and continues to increased speed as you continue to roll it up. If you roll down, the speed goes to down until you stop. OK what is new about that? If you keep rolling down past the stop position, the Locomotive goes into reverse and increases speed if you continue to roll down. Rolling up slows the locomotive down till you come to a stop. Roll up some more and you are back to going forward!! This is great for one finger operation of the locomotive in a Yard. In fact, it make for true one hand operation since you do not need to use the direction button. The tradeoff is you cannot use the speed buttons in this mode. But who cares? To change mode of speed control, You chose Normal or Yard mode when you configure the cab.

5c) The Cab offer a beeper option in Yard Mode. This really helps the operator know when they have reached the stop position without looking at the cab display. This make one hand operation even easier since you know that you Loco is truly stopped without over shooting the stop position and accidentally change direction of the Loco. The beeper has a volume control so you can turn it off or make it loud and obvious. The adjustment is made when you configure the cab.

5d) The thumb wheel has ballistic acceleration adjustment. This is similar to a computer mouse speed adjustment. The ballistics adjust the sensitivity of thumb wheel movement to changes in speed steps. High ballistics allows you to move the thumb wheel very little and get large Loco speed changes. This can be used to minimize the amount of thumbwheel movement needed to get you switching engine up to speed or slow to a stop. Ballistics of zero gets you back to the "Pot" mode of speed sensitivity. You can adjust the ballistics level when you configure the cab.

5e) The PROCAB is Radio Upgradable. Our club is considering Radio Control because of the frequent "Your Cab cord is across the walkway blocking my way" problem. This give our members a choice since we will still offer the current "Plug In Cord" solution. The original Master Cab was designed BEFORE radio control was even thought of.

6) The Future of SVL DCC. Going forward, there are three things the club plans to implement.

6a) Expand the number of Cab Panels from the current 9 to about 20. By strategically positioning cab panels, we can reduce cab cable walkway blockage and minimize cab reaching for stretching to operate a given industrial area.

6b) Add Radio Control. This gives members ultimate operational freedom to truly walk with their train. Club members could then optionally choose to upgrade to radio.

6c) Add DCC switch-machine control for hidden staging tracks. This is a must since operators will not have easy access to throw the switches. With DCC no control panel is necessary since "Macros", or a set of instructions, can be called up on demand to set of a given route. The operation is made simple by a loco operator entering the desired staging track number as the macro number. The command station will switch up to 10 switches for a given macro.