Nce compatability

[Kurt]

Hi gang

new here, haven't been in ho for 40 years. Starting a new small layout and want to go DCC and sound.

i want to know if I get the NCE starter system can a steamer with a soundtraxx decoder talk to the NCE system or are all decoders specific to their respective brand? I guess I want to know what will work with what when I bid on ebay. If it's DCC can I add a sound decoder of my choice. If it's sound and DCC ready will it work with my DCC system (most likely NCE).

i just got a used DC rivarossi steamer. If I run DC to start with, can I convert my DC engines when I go to DCC?

thanks in advance for any help,

Kurt

 

[Espeefan]

Yes, thanks to NMRA standards all DCC decoders will communicate with any DCC system. I use NCE and have decoders by Digitrax, NCE, TCS, MRC and others. They all work just fine. You can hard wire or plug & play mount a DCC decoder in any DC loco. How much work you have to do depends on how old the loco is.

 

[HOexplorer]

Alan is correct. Good to be in model railroading these days! Jim

 

[Selector]

Caveat, though!!! Do not mix up DCS and DCC. Mike's Train House sells many HO locomotives that contain decoders with their own proprietary digital control platform. They call it DCS. It is not the same as DCC, and you won't be able to have full compatibility between the two different systems. Some recent MTH offerings come strictly DC and DCC-ready (you install your preferred decoder), and you can control DCS locomotives with your DCC system, but not fully...not with all the capabilities built into the DCS decoders. I don't know if DCS systems can run DCC decoders fully, but my bet would be that they cannot. In case it matters to you, the HO hobby world on this side of the Atlantic runs about 90% DCC and maybe 10% DCS.

Otherwise, there is full compatibility between decoders of different manufacturers and the DCC systems put out by the various companies. DCC is DCC, no matter where you go on the planet.