Had it with Digitrax!

[bnsf971]

Tomy, if you finally do decide to got away from Digitrax, please let me know. Even though what you have is roughly the same as mine, being able to read back CVs with yours is a plus.

 

[dinwitty]

does the starter system have a programming track? reading cv 8 is a check if a decoder is working. It will not rely on any programmed address setting. I have the Digitrax super chief with radio, all is well.

 

[jim81147]

Tony , I think you will be happy with the NCE system . I had an MRC prodigy squared that I got brand new that would not work , sent it back to the factory and almost 4 short months later I got it back , supposedly repaired . Don't know if it is or not because at 2 months , I went out and got an NCE , hooked it up and have been running trains since . I am not electronically gifted , so I could not tell you what the capabilities of the system are , but I can make my trains go forward and back , speed up and slow down and make the bell and horn work , so life is good for me . I hope you like your system as well as I like mine.

 

[arealgijoe]

I have a Digitrax DCC system... I went thru a few HELLs. I bought a Zephyr XTrA console and few decoders to start. I joined a Digitrax group on Yahoo and that was a mixed result. I was accused of trolling and everything short of a Digitrax terrorist, simply because I complained and was looking for answers! My console came MISSING the connector strip, I called Digitrax and got the lady from HELL because I bought it online instead of a brick&mortar LHS, which I di not have, although I eventually found a LHS in a nearby county who DUMPED Digitrax.

Before I chose Digitrax I did some research and stuck with it. I have Nscale & I have converted over 100 locos,(intended to start with just a few, (caught the DCC bug) smallest being a Plymouth ind switcher and biggest being a Big Boy. I tried several decoders and settled on DN-135/DN136 (newer version of the 135) and SDN-136 for sound. The sound and none-sound decoders are fully interchangeable if there is room for the larger sound unit. They use plug ins so one can swap a decoder in/out just by plugging / unplugging.
One can also get separate wiring harnesses and dummy plugs to run a loco w/o a decoder.
The Digitrax documentation is horrible! Their support varies from grate to (long string of not so nice expletives deleted)

I have a modest layout (basement rec-room) and have 2 side by side or double main-lines. Outer is for passenger and inner for freight (easier to manage access to sidings, roundhouse and yard. Then I have a dntn trolley track (DC only) and a suburban RDC/ interurban track both end to end, Then I have an oval that runs around the mountain table inside the main lines and a figure-8 over and under higher up and then higher yet is a tight radius circle track (DC only) near the top. My main lines are DC/DCC selectable via master DPDT break-before-make switches. So is my oval around the mountain base and figure-8. one might say I have a very mixed DC/DCC layout.

The Digitrax is a good system, the manuals etc can be impossible at times!

 

[Genetk44]

The Digitrax decoders are fine, not the best available but fine. I use non-sound Digitrax decoders in many of my locos, wasn't impressed by the sound quality of the Digitrax sound-decoders so don't use them. Your story just confirms the fact...NCE is much more user-friendly and has great back-up service.