What brand of Loco etc?

[Sprintex]

It's right now 


Paul

[justintime]

Thank you for the advice chaps.  I live quite a way from Lincolnshire but it would be well worth the day out when it comes to buying my DCC System especially if I can see them working.

Whilst Im shopping, what wire do I need to power points, Track etc etc?   

[Sprintex]

It was worth the 2 hour drive for me. They first asked me a series of questions like layout size, number of trains, etc for power requirements and also what I wanted out of it now and maybe in the future - sound, computer-control, etc? Also what price bracket was I looking at. They then showed me the various systems available for the criteria and let me have a 15-20 min play with them one at a time while they served other customers, then came back and gave me a different one to play with, all very relaxed. When I went there I was half-set on the Lenz 90 Set, after a couple of hours it was between the NCE Powercab and the Prodigy Advance² - I came away with the Prodigy system purely on personal preference of the display and hand-throttle, but most of all I came away knowing I had made the right choice for ME and my money wwas spent wisely 

Minimum 16/0.2 wire if you intend to use solenoid point motors (Peco, Seep, etc), same really for track droppers. The main DCC bus something much bigger, household mains cable is usually quite cheap and about the right size 


Paul

[justintime]

Thanks Paul,
"The main DCC bus" is that a - & + circuit I should run around the underside of the baseboard like a ring main to take feeds from as and where I need them?

[Sprintex]

That's pretty much it yes. A 'ring' is not the ideal analogy though as it's best in DCC to have it radiating out from the controller rather than in a circle, otherwise you get echoes of the same signal arriving at different times.

As an example here's half of my layout:-



The red/black wires are the DCC bus, as you can see it comes from the edge-connector where the control-panel cables plug in (bottom-left section, top-left corner) and loops down then up roughly following the path of the tracks above. It curves all the way round the end and down the other side, where it loops back on itself and finally ends in a little choc-block (white plastic thing with screw terminals). The same thing goes on the other half. The little red squares on the main DCC bus are where the droppers are attached with Scotchlok connectors - this is another one of those areas where everyone has their own preference be it soldering connections, using choc-blocks, but I chose these as they are perfectly adequate, quick and easy to attach and can be bought in large bags from online retailers such as Rapid Electronics.


Paul

[justintime]

Brilliant, thanks Paul.

[Jack]

Thanks Paul,
"The main DCC bus" is that a - & + circuit I should run around the underside of the baseboard like a ring main to take feeds from as and where I need them?

Your learning!

Brian Lamert web site mentioned earlier by Dock Shunter, can be a bit daunting, I brought the book, it was a bit easier, I could read, think and go back to the subject as and when; easier. 

While you're out at the model shop ask if they have the Peco booklets. There are two on basic wiring and another which is an introduction to DCC. I can't remember the price now but some are 50p each, others are £1 each. The Peco series give good basic, beginners advice on the subjects they cover.

[edwin_m]

A catch point protects the mainline from runaways on a siding by derailing errant vehicles before they foul the mainline and cause a collision.

That is a trap point.  A catch point looks similar but was provided on gradients to derail any portion of a train that became divided and rolled back down the hill.  For the last twentysomething years all trains have had automatic brakes and catch points are no longer used but trap points still are. 

One of the jargon traps (sorry) many people fall into, even on the real railway, but the two terms have been officially different since at least the 1950s.

[justintime]

While you're out at the model shop ask if they have the Peco booklets. There are two on basic wiring and another which is an introduction to DCC. I can't remember the price now but some are 50p each, others are £1 each. The Peco series give good basic, beginners advice on the subjects they cover.

Thanks Jack, ordered these the other day as they were so cheap I thought I may as well have them to hand.

[EtchedPixels]

That's pretty much it yes. A 'ring' is not the ideal analogy though as it's best in DCC to have it radiating out from the controller rather than in a circle, otherwise you get echoes of the same signal arriving at different times.

That is basically a myth. The signal propogates so fast it's irrelevant. And fortunate it is a myth because all those oval layouts wouldn't work otherwise.

Alan

[justintime]

Hi Alan, Are you saying I will be safe just making a kind of oval +/- ring main to take my feeds from?

[EtchedPixels]

Hi Alan, Are you saying I will be safe just making a kind of oval +/- ring main to take my feeds from?

If you want to yes - for anything but a huge layout it really makes no difference. If you think about it an oval layout with a single feed is exactly the same thing.

If you are building some giant mega-layout the way some of the US model clubs do then other aspects of the cabling become a concern and you do have to start worrying about echo, ringing and the like but not on the kind of layout most of us build !

[Sprintex]

The point I was trying to make was that it doesn't HAVE to be a ring, as many people seem to think it does. It is quite acceptable to have the DCC-bus come to an end so long as the two wires cannot come into contact with each other 


Paul

[justintime]

Thanks Chaps.

I was thinking of getting some cheap twin & earth which is Max. Rating: 240V, 16.5A.  Will that do or is it over kill/underkill?  Cheers, Ian.

[Donkey]

I used twin and earth for my layout and it works a treat. I stripped the outer (grey) insulation off and used the blue and brown covered wires for my dcc bus, as a ring and used the earth wire as a common return for my point motors. Hope this helps.

Marty