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Hi guys.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice on this age old question!!!
I will be moving to DCC sometime in the not too distant future. I've tried to do my homework so as not to ask the same old questions - but forgive me if I ask a few.
My Shadowland and Tellynott layout is in HO scale and is (will be) a mountain layout with a port town. The mountain part will have the usual bowel of spaghetti track layout with fairly sharp curves and steep grades. The room is approximately 10m x 6m (32' x 19'). One day it would be nice to have our 2fatpossums group operating the layout - which would mean 5 trains running at one time. This would be the maximum, and typically I would probably do well to run 2. Three members of this group use NCE, along with several other friends living nearby, so I have decided that this is the manufacturer I will go with (after reading several threads suggesting the huge benefits of doing this -using the same system as your friends/ fellow modelers'). As Shadowlands will be a mountain layout with scenery to above my head, and I intend to walk around with a train, switching as I go, I need the system to be untethered. I'm guessing I could operate Tellynott (the port) with a tethered throttle, but can see this being a bit of a pain. Locomotives will mainly be geared, although these are still generally still to be decided. Some brass which may prove problematic? The layout is set up in our barn, on our 11 acre block in rural Canterbury, New Zealand. Let me know if I have missed anything of importance.
My latest plan can be found here:
https://railroad-line.com/node/21187/page49
(also on page 50 is work on a model of a model, which should help with visualization)
So...
If using the NCE radio system - has anyone had problems with interference from electric fences? The TV and radios all seem to ok, but there is the ongoing audible 'crack, crack, crack' when using the landline phone. There are multiple properties surrounding us with electric fences, so tracking down the problem and getting it fixed would be near on impossible.
Is there any great advantage to buying the:
Powerhouse pro 5amp wireless system (plus power supply)
over the:
Power cab, and then later adding a program track auto switch, radio base station, SB5 smartbooster and a CAB06r? (I'm assuming I could also send my power cab back to get it retrofitted for wireless operation.)
The pros and cons I can see are:
Buying the more expensive system would likely mean I would get stung with 15% GST. Probably not so by buying the power cab and later add-ons in two separate transactions - although shipping would be more.
Starting with the power cab would mean I could be up and running for a much smaller initial outlay (although tethered).
By starting with the power cab and later buying a CAB06r I would end up with two throttles (is this right? can I still use the power pro as a cab if taking this route and using with the smartbooster? - It would be nice to have a spare cab for visitors.)
If I bought the Powerhouse pro I would have wireless from the outset.
Sending the power pro throttle back for retrofitting for wireless use would be time consuming and costly - indeed the shipping would probably be almost as much as the $102 it costs to have the work done - maybe more!
OK - I thinks that's it! I am a beginner and not very savvy when it comes to anything electrical or computer based, but I'm hopping that my friends with NCE systems will be happy to help. Putting on modeling weekends and serving up nice lunches several times a year certainly helps!
Cheers, Mark.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice on this age old question!!!
I will be moving to DCC sometime in the not too distant future. I've tried to do my homework so as not to ask the same old questions - but forgive me if I ask a few.
My Shadowland and Tellynott layout is in HO scale and is (will be) a mountain layout with a port town. The mountain part will have the usual bowel of spaghetti track layout with fairly sharp curves and steep grades. The room is approximately 10m x 6m (32' x 19'). One day it would be nice to have our 2fatpossums group operating the layout - which would mean 5 trains running at one time. This would be the maximum, and typically I would probably do well to run 2. Three members of this group use NCE, along with several other friends living nearby, so I have decided that this is the manufacturer I will go with (after reading several threads suggesting the huge benefits of doing this -using the same system as your friends/ fellow modelers'). As Shadowlands will be a mountain layout with scenery to above my head, and I intend to walk around with a train, switching as I go, I need the system to be untethered. I'm guessing I could operate Tellynott (the port) with a tethered throttle, but can see this being a bit of a pain. Locomotives will mainly be geared, although these are still generally still to be decided. Some brass which may prove problematic? The layout is set up in our barn, on our 11 acre block in rural Canterbury, New Zealand. Let me know if I have missed anything of importance.
My latest plan can be found here:
https://railroad-line.com/node/21187/page49
(also on page 50 is work on a model of a model, which should help with visualization)
So...
If using the NCE radio system - has anyone had problems with interference from electric fences? The TV and radios all seem to ok, but there is the ongoing audible 'crack, crack, crack' when using the landline phone. There are multiple properties surrounding us with electric fences, so tracking down the problem and getting it fixed would be near on impossible.
Is there any great advantage to buying the:
Powerhouse pro 5amp wireless system (plus power supply)
over the:
Power cab, and then later adding a program track auto switch, radio base station, SB5 smartbooster and a CAB06r? (I'm assuming I could also send my power cab back to get it retrofitted for wireless operation.)
The pros and cons I can see are:
Buying the more expensive system would likely mean I would get stung with 15% GST. Probably not so by buying the power cab and later add-ons in two separate transactions - although shipping would be more.
Starting with the power cab would mean I could be up and running for a much smaller initial outlay (although tethered).
By starting with the power cab and later buying a CAB06r I would end up with two throttles (is this right? can I still use the power pro as a cab if taking this route and using with the smartbooster? - It would be nice to have a spare cab for visitors.)
If I bought the Powerhouse pro I would have wireless from the outset.
Sending the power pro throttle back for retrofitting for wireless use would be time consuming and costly - indeed the shipping would probably be almost as much as the $102 it costs to have the work done - maybe more!
OK - I thinks that's it! I am a beginner and not very savvy when it comes to anything electrical or computer based, but I'm hopping that my friends with NCE systems will be happy to help. Putting on modeling weekends and serving up nice lunches several times a year certainly helps!
Cheers, Mark.
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