ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
While looking at HO, DC locomotives I found categories such as ....DCC equipped.....DCC ready.
My question is what is the difference ....and/or the meaning of ......"DCC Ready" & "DCC Equipped" ?
..........Thanks.........
DCC Ready means it has a decoder socket and will accept any decoder that has matching header. DCC Equipped means it's already installed and ready for a DCC layout.
If you buy a DCC Equipped locomotive, you will have to determine from the description whether or not it has a sound decoder or only a mobile decoder.
From what I believe is that equipped means that it’s there and ready to go, ready means right now it’s dc but has the connector in there so you can buy and plug the part in to make it DCC. No wiring necessary
Do your due diligence when buying, and make sure which you are getting before completing a purchase.
DCC ready means it is ready for a DCC decoder of your choice to be installed. DCC equipped means it has a decoder of some kind installed in it. DCC and sound equipped means it has a DCC and sound decoder installed in it
Sound equipped means it has a sound-only decoder in it, with no motor functions.
DCC and sound ready can mean it has room for a speaker as well as a decoder, or it can mean it is already equipped with a speaker, and just needs a sound decoder that is compatible with the engine to be installed.
I have seen several locomotives offered for sale as "DCC and sound ready", when there was no provision whatsoever for anything to do with DCC.
The first one that comes to mind is BLI's Blue Line. There are others, read descriptions carefully and ask the seller to make sure what you're getting.
If you look at BLIs Stealth line it has no decoder but is equipped with a dcc socket and speaker so you can fit either a non sound dcc decoder such as a Lokpilot OR a sound decoder such as a Loksound.
The first one that comes to mind is BLI's Blue Line. There are others, read descriptions carefully and ask the seller to make sure what you're getting.
I have examined over half a dozen locomotives on BLI's website and have not found a locomotive that comes with sound and no motor control. I've never heard of any manufacturer offering an HO scale locomotive in that configuration.
I have examined over half a dozen locomotives on BLI's website and have not found a locomotive that comes with sound and no motor control. I've never heard of any manufacturer offering an HO scale locomotive in that configuration.
I did find this on the BLI website. It was in the FAQ section. That is a very convoluted way to configure a locomotive. I've never heard of another brand doing that, either foreign or domestic.
I did find this on the BLI website. It was in the FAQ section. That is a very convoluted way to configure a locomotive. I've never heard of another brand doing that, either foreign or domestic.
At about the time BLI offered these, there was another model train company that decided they owned all the rights to DCC and motor controls, and began suing everyone in sight over it. Those events turned everything related to DCC into nobody wanting to do anything with it, for fear of being sued out of business. After a series of legal defeats, the company stopped trying to litigate their own version of DCC into everyone's lives. It's been said that chain of events set that part of the hobby back a decade, and I don't think that estimate is far off.
MTH sued QSI for infringement for what we know as BEMF motor control. My very first locomotive purchase was a BLI Paragon Hudson 4-6-4 that had a QSI installed, but its BEMF control was disabled due to the matter before the courts. About two years later, when MTH lost the case, QSI notified all its customers that they were ready to ship a pluggable module that would restore the BEMF control. They were $20 a pop, but I only needed two of them, one for a Niagara I had just purchased and one for a K4sa 4-6-2. For some reason, all other QSIs were not fiddled with and they all ran as per design...not sure how, but I only needed two modules. But my Atlas Master Gold N&W livery FM H44-66 runs like a normal modern decoder should, and it is from the same year.
I'm not sure if you're being facetious, but if you aren't, Lenz were THE designers and originators of what we now call DCC. They opened up their platform for the good of the hobby, or something along that line of thinking, and the rest is history.
