DCC

Selecting the "Right" System

When trying to decide which DCC system to go with, I quickly narrowed it down to the North Coast Engineering and Digitrax systems. There are many great DCC products on the market, and there are probably several that could meet my need. I came down to these two choices based on the fact that my friends in my round robin club use these systems. That means I have local expertise to draw upon when I need help, which I view as critical (and a source of extra throttles for large operating sessions!).

After consideration, reading, asking of opinions, and using the two systems, I chose the Digitrax Super Chief (Radio) system for my layout. My reasons for selecting Digitrax were:

• More local support available. I have at least 4 or 5 people locally who are actively using Digitrax that I can lean on for help.
• More "plug and play" accessories. It seems to me that there are more third party vendors making products to be used with Digitrax for things such as signalling, etc... Having more options is attractive to me.
• Loconet! Learn more here.
• Cost. While no system for a large layout is going to be cheap, going with Digitrax was cheaper in the long run.
• Infrared capability. I do have a radio receiver, but I can go wireless with non-radio throttles as well since all of Digitrax's throttle are infrared ready.

There are a few things I do like about NCE such as their throttles, but it is sort of a Windows vs. Mac type debate in my opinion. One of the message groups I subscribe to likes to say that "There is no best DCC system, only what's best for you" and I truly believe that.

Power Management

I am using Tony's Power shields for power management. The layout is broken into 8 power districts, currently running off of one booster. I eventually plan to have a second booster. I decided to mount all of the breakers centrally along with the boosters using the concepts in an article in the December 2000 Model Railroader. With the Power Shields, I have the ability to turn on/off any district from my DCC "board" as well as utilize a hard-reset feature. Here is a picture of the board.

What is DCC?
Digitrax