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Hutch

Hutch

Well-Known Member
After a lot of thought and finding dcc to be very expensive and technical, I've decided to discard it and get back to the simplicity of DC trains.

When I started up again after a few years away, I promised myself I would keep it simple and concentrate on scenery. Then, DCC struck and I found myself spending too much and wasting time fooling with wiring decoders and troubleshooting when they don't work.

All I need now is a dual controller and hope that my dcc engines will work on it. I'll remove the decoders if I have to. I'm perfectly happy to watch my trains go round and round while I work on scenery or weathering which is what I always wanted to do.
 
Hutch said:
After a lot of thought and finding dcc to be very expensive and technical, I've decided to discard it and get back to the simplicity of DC trains.

When I started up again after a few years away, I promised myself I would keep it simple and concentrate on scenery. Then, DCC struck and I found myself spending too much and wasting time fooling with wiring decoders and troubleshooting when they don't work.

All I need now is a dual controller and hope that my dcc engines will work on it. I'll remove the decoders if I have to. I'm perfectly happy to watch my trains go round and round while I work on scenery or weathering which is what I always wanted to do.
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Exactly. Why spoil the enjoyment on something that becomes complicated.

Seeing trains running through scenery is an art in itself. Enjoy.

David
 
Whether your DCC engines will work on DC depends on the type of decoders in the locomotive. Some of the more recent decoders have dual capabilities. If you don't have the original instructions the best way to tell is to connect the locomotive to a DC power pack, and BRIEFLY turn the controller to about 1/2 power or about 8-10 volts. If the engine has dual capabilities, it will start moving. If the decoder has sound, you will get partial functionality.

As far as giving yourself the ability to run several trains at once on DC, the best way to go is to break the layout into blocks, with each block connected to a DPDT switch, wit center-off (so you can stop a train in that block, with one side of the switch connected to one of the DC controllers, and the other side connected to the second controller. You can then run the engine and train (if the block is long enough to completely contain the train, and another train into another block powered by the second power pack. Keeping track of which block is controlled by which depends a bit on whether you can walk and chew gum at the same time. But it can be done. I started out that way, but since I only run one train at a time, I connected the individual blocks to a master DPDT non-center-off toggle, with one side going to DC and the other to DCC, as I have both systems connected to the layout.
 
Now I want a dual dc controller. I'm looking at the tech7 but something used would be fine I think. A couple of Bachmanns would probably be fine. What do you think?
 
Hutch said:
Now I want a dual dc controller. I'm looking at the tech7 but something used would be fine I think. A couple of Bachmanns would probably be fine. What do you think?
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I do not know about other controllers, but here in the U.K. I use Gaugemaster controllers.

David
 
Hutch wrote:
"Now I want a dual dc controller..."

Do you have either an iPad or an Android tablet handy?
(this won't work on a phone)

If so, try this right now (it will cost you nothing and hurt nothing):
Go to google play or the App Store.
Enter into the search box "roco z21"
You'll see an app with a red engine on a blue background.
Download and install it. Again, it's small, and affects nothing else.
And... it's COMPLETELY FREE. A free app.

Now, start fooling around with it -- without the z21 hardware it will run in "demo mode" -- you'll see how it works.

Turn your tablet to horizontal orientation.
From the main screen, touch the big arrow which takes you to the engine controller.
You should see TWO controllers, side-by-side.

Does this work for you?

I've been running dual controls from the beginning (2018). I can run MORE THAN two engines at once -- sometimes a third for a little while, or even "four at once" (but not for long, my layout is small).

And did I mention that the z21 app is completely free?

EDIT:
Here's what the z21 app looks like running on a Samsung tablet:
z21 on tablet.JPG
 
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I have no idea what this expensive controller ,almist $500, has to do with running DC trains.
 
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Hutch said:
Now I want a dual dc controller. I'm looking at the tech7 but something used would be fine I think. A couple of Bachmanns would probably be fine. What do you think?
Click to expand...
I'd go with two separate controllers. If one of them shoots craps or otherwise starts acting up, at least the other one will still work.
Not necessarily so with a dual controller, I'm thinking. I could be wrong on this, as I am not an electronic wizard by any means. 😞

That's my three cents worth (it used to be two cents, but inflation, and all that jazz). :p
 
So, I was having a little hissy fit when decided to go DC. You knew there had to be a backstory right. Yeah, I was having DCC problems.

My two BLI diesels were running funky, on off on off. I had trouble using the macro function and when the macros didn't work, I had to remove the shells to manually reset them.

I'm just going to avoid the macros until I get JMRI running. I don't want to do that until I have decent sceniced layout. At that time, I'll be using my phone to run trains, and any second hand phones I can get my hands on.

I also plan on the ability to switch to DC and back. Just to test DC trains before adding a decoder. I probably won't add sound again as I have 4 and that's more than enough. After turning off all the sound, I found I prefer that.

Now if I ever get those macros working, I'll turn on the sound again but at half the volume.
 
Several years ago, I purchased a couple of BLI sound-equipped N-scale E-6 diesels. While they were initially pretty cool, I found that after a few minutes of running, the sound basically became annoying to me, even though they weren't loud. And, they didn't necessarily work well or play well with my other non-sound equipped locos when it came to consisting. Would have taken far more programming/re-programming macros and CV's than I really wanted to mess with. I like simple, and while I'm fully capable of messing with complicated, I don't find any fun in it at all.

I ended up selling them off. Others may be ga-ga over sound-equipped locos in HO and N-scale, but as for me, just not my cup of tea.
 
Hutch said:
Now I want a dual dc controller. I'm looking at the tech7 but something used would be fine I think. A couple of Bachmanns would probably be fine. What do you think?
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This brand new is about $150 if you can find one in the US.
 

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Go with MRC. The Bachmann power packs won’t last long. Please test it before buying it used. If the dealer won’t allow you to test it, it’s probably junk looking for an unsuspecting buyer.
 
Hutch said:
After a lot of thought and finding dcc to be very expensive and technical, I've decided to discard it and get back to the simplicity of DC trains.

When I started up again after a few years away, I promised myself I would keep it simple and concentrate on scenery. Then, DCC struck and I found myself spending too much and wasting time fooling with wiring decoders and troubleshooting when they don't work.

All I need now is a dual controller and hope that my dcc engines will work on it. I'll remove the decoders if I have to. I'm perfectly happy to watch my trains go round and round while I work on scenery or weathering which is what I always wanted to do.
Click to expand...
It is actually very simple to run multiple trains on a DC layout, no DP (double pole) switches required, as long as you have sidings to pull your trains off on (just like the big guys).

I only switch one track on my layout, and have several sidings to pull trains off on and shut off. You only need to shut off one track to make it dead, no reason turning off both, as long as you are consistent with which track you switch. You will need a break in the current on each end of your sidings or one break in the current in the case of a spur.

I had the dual controller on my last layout, however find out I don't need it because I could not run two trains at once (mentally). Maybe you can.

Good to hear you are willing to simplify, most people go the other way and get more complicated as time goes on.

Dave LASM
 
Hutch said:
Now I want a dual dc controller. I'm looking at the tech7 but something used would be fine I think. A couple of Bachmanns would probably be fine. What do you think?
Click to expand...
I don't like the dual controllers because the amperage gets shared between the two, and most often changing the speed on one impacts the other. I would say two separate controllers.
 
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