Hello, New Guy to this Forum. W/First Question

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B

Bumps

New Member
Little about me; Finally started a HO DCC layout in the basement 3 yrs ago other than the DC one I had when I was much younger. The new layout is three tables connected measuring 32x 4. With multiple rises/heights of track. Had nearly 75 % of the track laid. Then the daughter came home from college. Thought it was a short term so i offered to dissassemble it and keep it vertical for a short term. Its been 3 yrs !! Anyway, i'm down to collecting the rolling stock and Loco's I want so I have them when I'm ready again......?

Here's the ?. Has MTH done anything as of late with their DCS Loco decoder's to fix the problems with not formating/functioning with DCC ? Searched through some post and really only found stuff that was at least a year old.
Really love their products but won't be spending my money if they don't come around..

Love the Forum, reading your Post have answed many a question..
Thanks for your Time.
 
Welcome to the forum.

I was figuring someone with first hand experience would answer your question but since they won't I'll answer from hearsay.

MTH is still MTH. You get the best of their trains on DCS. DCC is barely tolerable on their system. But MTH engine will run on DCC with limited functionality.

I don't know anyone who bought the MTH system and liked it. I do know one person who bought it and was selling it at half price.
 
I have an NCE DCC system and a couple of MTH locos as well as others (Proto 2k and Bachman). A few quirks with the MTH locos, but they seem to have just as much functionality as the Proto 2k ... but then I have just been using the DCC for sounds and consisting so far. Greater depths of DCC may reveal more challenges with the MTH locos.
 


Mth

Thanks for the Replies. :D
Has anyone tried to replace the MTH DCS decoder with a DCC decoder ? Do they use the standard plug in ? Just guessing but probably not, huh.
I'm running Digitrax DCC, well was... I plan on keeping what have though..

Thanks Again..
Dave
 
Looks like I'll stay with Athern and look into BLI steam and diesel. Or any suggestions ?
Thanks
Dave
 
Bumps said:
Thanks for the Replies. :D
Has anyone tried to replace the MTH DCS decoder with a DCC decoder ? Do they use the standard plug in ? Just guessing but probably not, huh.
I'm running Digitrax DCC, well was... I plan on keeping what have though..

Thanks Again..
Dave
Click to expand...

No, MTH locos do not have a plug and the DCS board does not use the standard wiring pattern. It also uses negative leads as the commons for some components which will be a pain when you wire in a DCC decoder. Someone from this forum has already done it (you'll have to do some searching for that thread)

BLI locos run great, but the sounds are only OK.
 
hey hi...............
i am also a new guy to this forum............
 


Thanks Selector..
Hi Shivam fellow New Person to the forum.

Ok, seeing MTH doesn't like to play by the standards of DCC I'm looking else where for my Diesel power. Like Broadway Limited -Paragon 2 series. Always been a fan of Athearn too. I'd like to get the best sound quality for my money. Anyone have any thoughts, suggestions good, bad or ugly. As mentioned before I have Digitrax for DCC.

As far as my Layout;
With things i've been reading here, pics, books and magazines i've read. I'm thinking of tearing apart what i have started which is sitting on its sides at the moment and starting over when I'm ready. Kinda exciting and depressing at the same time.
 
Bumps said:
Thanks Selector..
Hi Shivam fellow New Person to the forum.

Ok, seeing MTH doesn't like to play by the standards of DCC I'm looking else where for my Diesel power. Like Broadway Limited -Paragon 2 series. Always been a fan of Athearn too. I'd like to get the best sound quality for my money. Anyone have any thoughts, suggestions good, bad or ugly. As mentioned before I have Digitrax for DCC.

As far as my Layout;
With things i've been reading here, pics, books and magazines i've read. I'm thinking of tearing apart what i have started which is sitting on its sides at the moment and starting over when I'm ready. Kinda exciting and depressing at the same time.
Click to expand...

One book I would recommend for your layout is John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation". Its available from Kalmbach. As has been mentioned in many other threads, its really one of the "Bibles" for model railroading.

I just looked on mth's website, and they have at least one model available without dsc automatically installed into their locomotive, (I didn't check to see if they were doing this with all their models or not). Their SD-70ACe is available as DCC ready. It comes with an 8 pin NMRA plug, so you can add any DCC decoder.

While I personally do not like anything mth makes, at least this is good news. It seems that mike may finally realizing that he's losing sales by trying to shove that dcs system down everyones throat.

OBTW, for both of you new folks, WELCOME! This is the best forum I've found so far for model railroading. Remember, the only dumb question is the one never asked!
 
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Thanks Cjcrescent,
Thanks for the suggestion on the book. I looked into it and ordered from Amazon $14.98. It not only comes highly rated by yourself but also another 14 other people who took the time to review it at Amazon. Thanks Again.

I'll also take a look at that MTH website again. Love the SD70ace...

Still waiting for the Broadway Limited brochure i ordered in the mail that cost me $1.60. I'd be willing to pay the same minimal fee for some of the companies that only have downloadable pdf files on their website.. I need some glossy pages of your products to look and stare at and read about at work !!!

Thanks Again,
Dave
 
Mth & dcc

January 20, 2010 - M.T.H. Electric Trains has completed development of an NMRA DCC Compliant board and will begin installing that board into the company's HO SD70ACe and SD70M-2 models in each of the paint schemes previously offered with M.T.H.'s Proto-Sound 3.0 digital sound system. The new "DCC Ready" models will begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in late April 2010.

Thought i'd share this info.
 
Yes, but it will have a DCC 8-pin plug and no sound. Thats what they are doing. They're trying to say: "If you want sound, you buy our system" I'm not a big fan of their sound anyways. Theres no transition sound where the engine revs up out of idle. If you throttle up, all you hear is the idle sound abruptly ending and the engine playing some sort of throttling up sound.

If I ever get one, it will most likely be Athearn assuming that they got rid of their Genesis jet motors. (I haven't bought any recent Genesis engines yet, but the SD70s and SD45-2s had motors that start up faster than other brands and cannot be fixed with DCC. I emailed Athearn and they said that they changed motor suppliers and that I should change the speed of my other engines to match the Genesis. I have two Genesis SD70s on the shelf awaiting a remotor.)
 
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After I write a new layout plan. I'm thinking about taking one of my three tables, dismantling it and starting a new. Working from one section of my new plan and going start to finish. ??? Until i have my layout room back. Any as foreseen drawbacks to such a plan ? Is it going to be a pain to align things up when I'm fully ready... I gotta do something.. buying just rolling stock and loco's is fun to a certain degree but i need more progress.........
 
You'll have to carefully plan the transition points between the sections, or module, but it's not hard to align the tracks if you only have one or two that cross each section, and the sections are straight. Curved tracks are possible but much more difficult. Are you planning to dismantle the layout again, or will it be permanent? If it's going to be permanent, just run your track sections so they stick out about two inches from the end of the first module and join the tracks at the begining of the next module. They will bridge the gap with more stability of you do it that way.

If you still want to be able to disassmble the modules, have a look at the Freemo standards at http://www.free-mo.org/standard. You don't have to follow everything exactly, but you'll find a lot of good ideas for connecting modules together.
 
Bumps said:
Little about me; Finally started a HO DCC layout in the basement 3 yrs ago other than the DC one I had when I was much younger. The new layout is three tables connected measuring 32x 4. With multiple rises/heights of track. Had nearly 75 % of the track laid. Then the daughter came home from college. Thought it was a short term so i offered to dissassemble it and keep it vertical for a short term. Its been 3 yrs !! Anyway, i'm down to collecting the rolling stock and Loco's I want so I have them when I'm ready again......?

Here's the ?. Has MTH done anything as of late with their DCS Loco decoder's to fix the problems with not formating/functioning with DCC ? Searched through some post and really only found stuff that was at least a year old.
Really love their products but won't be spending my money if they don't come around..

Love the Forum, reading your Post have answed many a question..
Thanks for your Time.
Click to expand...

first wellcome new guy. second, Put that layout together.
frank
 


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