Subject:
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Re: Progress with DCC and PC
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Tue, 14 Jan 2003 06:34:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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676 times
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In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix writes:
> Alright John, forgive me but I'm looking for the website named "DCC For
> Dummies". Well, its not REALLY named that, but I have no clue of what brand
> to buy, what amperages of decoders to use, or how to get out the cheapest
> (currently taking up collections from you fellow readers for my first
> purchase - currently have $.03).
Hi Rob
Take a look at Tom's Lego Stop at http://www.lgauge.com/
There are a number of good sites including a couple related specifically to
Lego and DCC. Just do a Google search for 'Lego trains DCC' should point
you to what's out there. I probably should not repeat what others have
written so I will just comment on my experence so far.
In my case I did not have much choice because of where I live so I got MRC
decoders for 'N' and 'O' scale. The 'N' scale one goes fairly easily into
the Lego train motor while the slightly bigger 'O' scale are cheaper they
can be used for other things such as the stationery applications, road
crossings, station lights, points etc. Decoders for these scales have
enough capacity to handle a Lego train motor. Tom wrote quite a bit of good
information on decoders, so far I have just gone for the basic motor control
and simple light on/off.
I broke a few Lego rules by building a couple of tenders for my steam locos
on Lego motors. In these I drilled a hole through the top of the Lego motor
and mounted the decoder inside the tender. It means the motor can never be
used in a pivoted 'bogie' or 'truck' type installation. Of course I used
the slightly bigger and cheaper 'O' scale decoders.
I bought the MRC decoders and their Command 2000 controller, this controller
is fairly basic but quite adequate to get started in Lego. It it powerful
enough to drive the track directly so does not need a 'power station' unless
you are running more than 3 or 4 trains at one time. In theory it can run
up to 10 locos at once but I have never pushed it that far. I later bought
the associated 'walk around' throttle so that's 5 throttles in total without
clever switching that give the theoretical 10 maximum. The book says the
MRC Command 2000 requires low voltage AC or DC at something like 16 volts.
However that is for 12volt trains whereas you will likely be using 9v lego.
No problem, just reduce the voltage to the controller which in may case
appears very happy to run at 10v AC input.
I would not get too hung up on the question of track voltage, the decoders
will drop a volt or so (maybe more) and the standard 9v motor is possibly
happier with a pulsed 12v than steady 9v, I don't see how you could go wrong
provided you dont allow a motor to get stalled with full power applied.
MRC is the only brand I have dealt with and their prices seem near the low
end. Maybe the quality is no better than anyone else but the one and only
problem I had, which was a decoder that ceased operating after about 4
hours, they replaced without question. In my experience MRC are OK.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Progress with DCC and PC
|
| Alright John, forgive me but I'm looking for the website named "DCC For Dummies". Well, its not REALLY named that, but I have no clue of what brand to buy, what amperages of decoders to use, or how to get out the cheapest (currently taking up (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jan-03, to lugnet.trains)
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