[Greg Elmassian]

Most people cannot do that. Also the NCE has up and down buttons for speed, coarse and fine.

I think if you go on features, and keep an open mind, NCE is out in front. Digitrax has other things, notably transponding that are unique, but I'm very happy with my NCE pro cabs.

Now, I don't have any of the smaller, cheaper cabs, so in that department, Digitrax might be better.

Also, NCE has a unique feature on their wireless cabs, that of up to 31 base stations, you can cover a huge area if need be, outstanding for G scale.

Regards, Greg

 

[Trains West]

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 02/01/2009 8:26 PM
Most people cannot do that. Also the NCE has up and down buttons for speed, coarse and fine.

I think if you go on features, and keep an open mind, NCE is out in front. Digitrax has other things, notably transponding that are unique, but I'm very happy with my NCE pro cabs.

Now, I don't have any of the smaller, cheaper cabs, so in that department, Digitrax might be better.

Also, NCE has a unique feature on their wireless cabs, that of up to 31 base stations, you can cover a huge area if need be, outstanding for G scale.

Regards, Greg


what do you mean most people cannot do that ? I think most of the HO club here can do that ..........

don't get me wrong I think both systems are high end ........

but the only thing that I have seen that NCE has and up to now digitrax has not is duplex .... but digitrax will have that soon also ....


not sure what this means------ "NCE has a unique feature on their wireless cabs, that of up to 31 base stations, you can cover a huge area if need be, outstanding for G scale"

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Well Scott, it's very hard for ME to run the digitrax one handed as opposed to my NCE, but I'm only 6' 2" so maybe my hands are not sized properly to my body.

I was wrong on the radio base stations, I guess you have have a bunch of UR 91's (how many and what is the typical range of them?) I don't think they are as suitable for outdoor operation as NCE, but you can put them in a box.

Regards, Greg

 

[Trains West]

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 02/01/2009 8:43 PM
Well Scott, it's very hard for ME to run the digitrax one handed as opposed to my NCE, but I'm only 6' 2" so maybe my hands are not sized properly to my body.

I was wrong on the radio base stations, I guess you have have a bunch of UR 91's (how many and what is the typical range of them?) I don't think they are as suitable for outdoor operation as NCE, but you can put them in a box.

Regards, Greg


so what are you saying ????? .....I am some sort of giant with big hands ??????? .

... I am only 6'2'' just like you ...... I think even my wife can run a dt400 with one hand .... I will check tonight after dinner

ur91 has a great range ........ I had one guy test one and said he was a block away before it no longer worked ... said he had to call his wife on the phone becouse he could not even hear the loco anymore yet it still worked

even with my own I have been 200' away from the ur 91 and still had it work just fine ......... but should you have a dead area yes you could add a secound or third one to cover a bigger area .........

even inside with lights and other thing that will block RF the HO club will just run one UR91 .......... and there layout can be upwards of 10.000 sq ft

 

[Greg Elmassian]

No, I stated maybe there was something wrong with me, that my hands were not as large as they should be.

I have to reposition my hand on the digitrax throttle when switching from buttons to controlling. It's harder to turn a knob with the side of your finger. The thumbwheel on the NCE is easier. My opinion.

And you have your opinion. You CANNOT tell me that I am wrong in my opinion. Each person should try the throttles to see how convenient they are. I also liked the consisting controls clearly marked and separate on the NCE throttle.

Regards, Greg

 

[jimtyp]

I'm not getting into which system is better, I'm replying to the original question as to who has the best price on an NCE 10 amp system. I bought mine a few years ago and this place had the best price at the time: NCE Products

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Those are great prices. Thanks for the link!

Greg

 

[jimtyp]

Also, they were very easy and nice to deal with.

 

[KVBarkley]

As far as the 20 A supply providing too much short-circuit current, I wonder if it would be possible to put together an external fold-back limiter that would limit the short circuit current to *less* than the operating current...

 

[Trains West]

greg I am just responding to what you and chuck said ......


chuck posted a picture and asked if I could do this .... so I posted a picture and said yes I can


you said most people cannot do this ...... I disagree


if you like NCE better don't let me sway you ..... but I am also allowed to try and convince others that digitrax is the best choice by showing what it can do


and yes the tread started with who has the best cost ....... sence what was just posted is just over dealer net it is as good as it gets ...... if I sold at those prices I would be gone in a month becouse I could not pay the bills

 

[aceinspp]

I like the NCE as the screen is larger and easier ro read for us folks tha do not need glasses most of the time. using other systems I need to use glasses. Payed a few bucks more but I'll take it any time over others. Later RJD

 

[George Schreyer]

If you want to restrict the short circuit current, use an external circuit breaker or autoreverser/circuit breaker. The DCC Specialties unit is programmable in 1.27 amp steps to 19.2 amps.

 

[lc17smp]

Wow. At that price I'm half tempted to buy the NCE also and try them both! I could likely sell either system for near what I paid. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Thanks for the link.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Scott, I don't like moving my hand, and your pictures clearly show that your hand moving each time. I like to be able to hold it in one spot.

Obviously you have to change hands to run the other knob, as you have illustrated in your picture.

So maybe my description of the "problem" was not good.

Anyway, I'm happier with the thumb wheel one-handed. I see that you are able to be comfortable using it as shown. I prefer my NCE.

Regards, Greg

 

[lc17smp]

So the Digitrax showed up yesterday. I hooked it all up and layed out a small test track. I had it running and making noise in about 45 min. I'm very impressed with dcc at this point. LOL. I then noticed that the front directional leds aren't on. Why not fix it, right? I checked the power plug (connected) going to it and it was good so on to the cv's I went.

Lets just say that I'm lucky that it still moves forward. It didn't for a while. It turns out that my loco (bought used) has a Massoth eMotion XL decoder along with the Pheonix P5. By the time I realized that the p5 has a dcc board also and the digitrax decoder instruction book cv's are different than massoth I was in it waist deep.

(update)

I have the sound working agian but now no loco movement. It seems to me that I'm changing the cv's of both boards or the wrong board when I make changes. It seems to me that I should be able to scroll thru a list of decoders that are currently on the track and just select from there but what do I know.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

If the decoders are set to the same address, then they can both respond.

There are some tricks, if you are a beginner, I would suggest a very simple way to put 2 switches in that each disconnect each decoder.

There's several ways to do it without the switches, be as a beginner, talking to you about changing between long and short addresses and decoder lock will be overload.

Also, when you are asking questions, be sure to let everyone know if you are programming on the main or using the programming track.

Regards, Greg

 

[lc17smp]

Greg, I am programing on a programing track and then trying it on another. I disconnected the pheonix board and am trying to program the massoth but am having no luck. It wont move. When I look up the address it finds my road number so that appears to work. I think when I reset the massoth decoder back to factory default something wont let it run. (cv value) I did change cv29 back to 4 digit + forward + blah, blah.

 

[lc17smp]

ok. I'm back up and running just with a really sore back. I still dont have front directional lights though. They did come on at one point but just flickered. I'll look into that later. Another odd thing I noticed was that the smoke fan turns on with the horn. The manual (unlocked?) button. There is 2 sets of wires going to the smoke unit. They go into another (3rd) board. (maybe usa board) Almost like it could be set up for a steam loco. Anyways I am really liking the Phoenix system. It gets REALLY loud.