DCC Wiring Book?


conrail92 said:
Can anyone sugesst a real good dcc wiring book i can lookinto for ho scale?
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Why do people insist on making DCC hard? Don't be confused by stuff that people post that make it sound hard. It is easy. There are two rails and two wires from the DCC command unit. With few exceptions it is simply hook them up and go.

exceptions:
1. Reversing loops. But even then with DCC there are automatic circuits that make this a breeze. The hardest part is isolating the reversing section and this is no different from DC.

2. If one has mass quantities of locomotives than more than one feeder is needed to transfer enough power to the track but there is nothing hard about that.

3. It only gets slightly more work is if one has a large enough layout that one needs power districts. In that case just treat each power block as an indivi

If the issue is hot frogs on the turnouts that is not a DCC issue. The wiring is the same as DC.
 
that makes me feel better the only real thing im confused about is with the boosters do i need any extra boosters if i operating a 10x12 layout? with a 2 track mainline a yard and some industries? if so how many would you guess. as a rough esitmate.
 
conrail92 said:
that makes me feel better the only real thing im confused about is with the boosters do i need any extra boosters if i operating a 10x12 layout? with a 2 track mainline a yard and some industries? if so how many would you guess. as a rough esitmate.
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It isn't the size of the layout. It is the current draw of the locomotives, and lighting in cabooses, passenger trains, and anything else that draws power.

So to start with determine the power output of your DCC unit. A most common size seems to be 5 amps. As I recall the Digitrax Zephyr is an exception at 2.5 A.

Depending on how old your locomotives are they can count anywhere from 1/4 amp to 1 amp each. The older the higher. I count old Athearn Blue Box at 1A each. Modern units like the Kato and Atlas are 1/4 each. Add another 1/4 A for each sound unit. The really best way to do it is to buy a DCC amp meter and measure the units. So generally, a 2.5A Digitrax Zephyr can deal with 2.5A/0.25A = 10 modern model locomotives. Which just also happens to be the number it can hold in its control queue (I wonder if that is calculated rather than just circumstance?).

When the number of amps for equipment on the track gets close to the rating of the DCC control unit, it is time to get a booster. Our club has one booster just for the round house and steam locomotive service facilities because so many locomotives congregate there.
 
I would think you could run your layout with a Zephyr. I saw a 20 x 20 layout run with 8 locos, 3 with sound on a Zephyr.
 
I have a prodigy express system and i dont plan on running anymore then 4 loco's at a time 5 at the most and non will have sound.... littel out of my price range at the moment, do you think i will need a booster?
 
conrail92 said:
I have a prodigy express system and i dont plan on running anymore then 4 loco's at a time 5 at the most and non will have sound.... littel out of my price range at the moment, do you think i will need a booster?
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The Prodigy Express is rated at a power output of 1.6A. No, unlesss those are really power hungry locomotives I don't think you need a booster.
 
thats a good thing cause the power booster i saw where as pricy as the system itself almost. i was going to make all my atheran bb dcc but i relised it be to expensive. and i dont have a ton so it wouldnt be a real lost only thing ill realy miss out on is using the amtrak loco's
 
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