NCE power cab

This is the thing, isn't it? I was perfectly happy to pay for the parts needed but instead I got abuse and the phone hung up in my ear. If he thinks that is going to get any return business or recommendations, then he is sadly deluded. The Basil Fawlty of the model train world!

It seems to me that by treating me the way he did, he is causing the very thing he is complaining about: that is, people going to "outside sources" for their equipment.
And just for the record, I wasn't rude in any way to him.

 

Going back all those years, I first dabbled with DCC on my old layout, which was wired for DC cab control. This was actually ideal for later conversion to DCC, simply by hooking up the DCC controller to one of the circuits and switching all track sections to that controller.

I bought a cheap Lenz Compact system to see if I liked the whole concept, and chipped a couple of locomotives. That was all very promising, so more locos got converted, and I started getting more ambitious with the programming of the decoders ... getting way beyond the capabilities of the Lenz system, which could only handle 2-digit addresses and the basic few CVs.

My friend Doug had bought himself a Digitrax Zephyr system, but had no layout at the time, so I borrowed it to do some extra programming on my first sound-fitted locos. Doug told me to hang onto it for a while. The Zephyr was very good in some aspects, but I soon got tired of the rows of almost identical cylindrical rubber buttons that got stuck if you pressed them the wrong way, and having to wade through the almost incomprehensible manual whenever I needed to do some programming.

I looked around online and in the model railway press for reviews on other systems, and eventually zeroed in on the Power Cab as being both powerful and "user-friendly", as well as being much more ergonomic. I have never regretted that choice.

I personally like to have one controller for each track, although this is not necessary with DCC. If I swap tracks (through a crossover, for example), I can use another feature of the NCE system and send the locomotive and all of its settings to another cab, as long as I know the cab address. With that in mind, I label my cabs with their current address number.

The recall stack is useful too, so all trains on the one track can be stored ready to call up. I'm not sure how, or even if, this can be done with Digitrax. On the other hand, the Digitrax higher end controllers (DT400 series) have two controls in one. The term "swings and roundabouts" comes to mind!

Neither Digitrax nor NCE are perfect, but both are powerful and versatile entry systems that have no redundancy if you expand to the higher-end systems later (as Paul has already pointed out). I like the NCE better!

 

The Australian NCE agent needs to realise that beyond the year 2000 the world will gain massive access to the Military Communications system called the World Wide Web. No its not a thing that people with arachnophobia need to fear.
The World Wide Web or Interweb or Internet Thingy as we here at WWW central are calling it will be for everyone to use. It will revolutionize the way that people communicate, share information and also buy and sell goods and services in the future.
So a customer may purchase an item from an Online Shop such as EBAY (which is short for Expensive Buying Amazing Yields), and that 'online shop' may not even be in the same town, state or indeed country as they live in.
So if you are a shop owner or purveyor of fine goods then you had better get 'Online' as they say and start selling your goods and services to customers who don't care if you are the official importer of a product or not. They are only interested in how much they are going to have to pay and will not be interested in listening to you whinge.
In the future, thanks to China's cheap labour, everyone with access to the Interweb will be come an importer of goods and be able to sell them online for a profit.
So prepare yourselves for the future people.

 

And here's a good clip from the ABC's Consumer Affairs show The Checkout. Watch Series 4 Ep 1: Your Rights Online (Beyond 2000) in iview
://iview.abc.net.au/programs/checkout-stories/FR1602H002S00

 

paul_l wrote:

Paul it's ironic that this thread started because Kimbo and I were only talking about this very issue two nights ago as I struggled to get my NCE/ DCCconcepts Alpha Box / Alpha panel combination to work. It took several days and a few phone calls before I got an answer from the DCCconcepts about how to set it up properly as the limited information on the packaging and their website didn't have all the information required.
Anyway it's a good learning experience but certainly not a simple plug and play like the NCE products are.
So my advice in hindsight would be to stick with ALL NCE products and buy from whoever is going to give you the best price/ after sales service.

 

Yeah great series and with the boys from Chaser involved there is no fear in who they expose as be fraudulent.
The ones on vitamins companies were good too.

 

Ha ha. I do know where all of my manuals are, but I still find it easier to refer to the downloaded versions on my computer anyway!



There are a number of little dodges to make things easier for you once you get the initial learning curve out of the way.

Please feel free to ask if there is anything you don't understand, although, in my opinion, the NCE system is one of the easiest to come to grips with and get things going very quickly.

 

Thanks Gary ... I think!

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