DCC Engine ?

[JoeG]

Im super new to DCC. I'm still trying to understand it at this point.
So if i buy a DCC engine and don't have a DCC controller, will it still make all the sounds and working lights?

 

[UP2CSX]

Basically, no. There are a few makes, like BLI, that don't come with DCC but have DC sound. All the others require a DCC motor and sound decoder. These can be separate or a one piece item. Assuming the engine has a dual mode decoder, so that it will run on DC as well as DCC, the lights will work but that's about it. The good things is that any DCC command station will allow you to use any DCC sound decoder so you don't have to worry about only buying a certain brand.

 

[Tuna]

Some of the Athearn Genesis locomotives are DCC/sound and will run on DC layouts. Athearn provides a small radio transmitter to work the sound. While owing 4 of these units with the radio transmitters, I have never used that capability as I always run DCC.

 

[DCCinstalled]

The thing you would want to look for is that the decoder is Dual Mode. MRC makes a fair amount of decoders for N scale locomotives that allow to to have the sound on DC. If you are just getting started in the hobby I would look into buying a DCC controller from the get go...

 

[RexHea]

loksound decoders (at least the Y6b) are duel mode. I haven't bothered to look at that section, but it is suppose to have fully functional sound in DC or DCC.

I agree above: go ahead and power up with DCC. You will never regret it .

 

[Selector]

Virtually every sound decoder made after 2006 is dual mode. They will operate on both analog (DC) and digital (DCC) track systems, but only if the decoder has its CV29 set to the correct value. If you want to know more about that, the decoder manual will supply the necessary information for proper configuration.

Note that operating a DC engine on a DCC system can be done on systems designed for it, and then only on address "00". You will probably find the experience less than fulfilling. The DC motors will sing and squawk under the demands of the square wave signal imparted by DCC systems.

 

[JoeG]

Ok so it sounds like i should just go with the DCC system to start. lol
Another questons is: does it take any special track or can u run them on code 55 track

 

[DCCinstalled]

The code of track does not matter when it comes to DCC. The code of the track is the height of the rail head.

Where this matters is in what equipment you are running. Some of the older N Scale stuff has larger wheel flanges which will cause problems on code 55. Code 55 looks the best but you will have to make sure that all of your locos/rolling stock have the low flange wheels.

 

[JoeG]

ok cool im starting to get the hang of this lol.
and now for my next question. do the dcc controlers have anything to do with the turnout function or are they ran the same way as Dc, and do the town buling lights run separately.

Thank for all the information it's a real big help!

 

[UP2CSX]

You can use DCC to control just abut anything but you probably don't want to. You can have DCC controlled switch motors but you can have the same thing with regular DC wiring and a control panel. You can use power from your DCC controller to run things like street lights and building lights but figure that an amp of power from a DCC contoller is going to cost you about $50. You can buy a big, older MRC power pack on e-bay for less than that and have 5 amps of power to run lights. You just run a separate lighting bus under the layout and hook it up to the variable DC terminals on the powerpack. You can then control the brightness of the lights with the throttle. I'm running just about 100 lights on my layout, all from a an MRC powerpack I picked up in like new condtion for $20.