DCC startup/setup for 10 year old son!

[spinecho]

Hi, as Christmas approaches, my 10 year old son is wanting to branch into DCC!
He's already got TrakMat R8217: https://www.hornby.com/shop/track/extension-packs/r8217-hornby-trakmat/ with all the Track Extension Packs to complete the layout, three trains

(which are DCC ready, but not fitted with decoders) and of course an analogue controller. This setup is OK, but does not provide any real control over the trains. For this reason he's asking for DCC stuff!!!

So, the question. I'm a real noobie at this

stuff and our local Hornby supplier is not the most tolerant of learners like me, so I've come here for help. What would everyone recommend as a start-up into DCC?
With the layout I aready have, what do I need for DCC? The controller (DCC Select), obviously

and decoders for the trains. But is there anything else? Would it make more sense to buy a set (e.g.https://www.hornby.com/shop/sets/digital-train-sets/r1125-somerset-belle-digital-train-set/)

Also, would any analogue (non-DCC) trains still be backward-compatible

with this?

Many thanks for your help!

[stevecamden]

spinecho said:

Hi, as Christmas approaches, my 10 year old son is wanting to branch into DCC!
He's already got TrakMat R8217: https://www.hornby.com/shop/track/extension-packs/r8217-hornby-trakmat/ with all the Track Extension Packs to

complete the layout, three trains (which are DCC ready, but not fitted with decoders) and of course an analogue controller. This setup is OK, but does not provide any real control over the trains. For this reason he's asking for DCC stuff!!!

So, the

question. I'm a real noobie at this stuff and our local Hornby supplier is not the most tolerant of learners like me, so I've come here for help. What would everyone recommend as a start-up into DCC?
With the layout I aready have, what do I need for DCC?

The controller (DCC Select), obviously and decoders for the trains. But is there anything else? Would it make more sense to buy a set (e.g.https://www.hornby.com/shop/sets/digital-train-sets/r1125-somerset-belle-digital-train-set/)

Also, would any analogue

(non-DCC) trains still be backward-compatible with this?

Many thanks for your help!

[stevecamden]

If he has already got some loco's that are DCC ready and they are to be chipped then I would pay a bit more and get the elite as there are two dials and you can always add more selects later if needed. He might want to get Railmaster in the future which

would get him more involved in the PC side - for that he would need the elite.
As for Analogue trains - I wouldn't recommend running them on a DCC layout - they will just burn out eventually.
Steve

[spinecho]

Thanks for the prompt reply.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of the Elite over the select?
I've been advised that I would need to fit Hornby point clips to all of the points for DCC; is this correct?
And, crucially, as he's only

10 (and I'm none to bright electrically!!) how easy is it to fit the decoders?

[stevecamden]

The Elite is Hornby's main DCC controller - it is compliant with the standards for DCC and gives you much more control and expansion - I assume that the interest in DCC is going to be something he adds to in the future ( well the next couple of years)

and then come back to when he is in his 40's ( only kidding). If you want to control points etc or just get into PC control ( which would be a good learning thing) then you need the Elite not the select. However, the Select will do and control a few loco's

and you can always turn that into a slave unit to the Elite at a later date. Perhaps, a set is a reasonable idea ( but not the mixed freight one). I don't know what your budget is - perhaps its best to get a nice set with the select and a loco and carriages

- something to get going straigt away.

You need some point clips to make the whole layout DCC live - Just fit them in the points. As for chipping loco's ( it is easy) but most good model shops will do it for you if you don't want to get the screwdriver

out.
So I guess I have contradicted myself now and suggested a select set - at least its a nice box to open on Christmas morning!! But if he wants to expand he will need an Elite in the future. Oh what fun...

Steve

[poliss]

The hardest thing about fitting a decoder into a DCC ready loco is taking the bodyshell off. Once the bodyshell is removed, it's simply a matter of removing the DCC blanking plug and replacing it with a decoder. Some steam locos have a speedometer cable

that needs to be removed with a 2.5mm nut driver.
I would recommend buying the Elite and fitting decoders to the DCC ready locos. You can do many more things with the Elite than you can do with the Select. There's a controller comparison on the Hornby Website

here. https://www.hornby.com/hornby-dcc/controllers/
I would also recommend viewing the videos on Hornby's Youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/hornbyhobbiesltd?blend=2&ob=4

[spinecho]

Dear All,

Thanks you so much for your helpful replies and advice.

I'm just off to sit in a darkened room now and wait for my head to stop spinning!!!

[poliss]

It's not that hard. :-) I bought a DCC controller and a DCC fitted loco. Put the loco on the track, plugged the controller in, and was up and running in less than 5 minutes.

[DigitAL]

Hi, I'm a noobie to it all and just done track mat with all trackpack additions and turned a DCC ready train to Digital, had a few problems, top tip if youve got front car and back car with lights then fit a decoder to everything, make the whole track

live with track clips, like little staples, best advice was from you tube you see what you're meant to do.....good luck, if I can do it anyone can

[spinecho]

Hi all! Hope you all had a great Xmas, and Happy New Year to you all and Thanks for all the help you've supplied.

Wel, I bought my son this set for christmas: https://www.hornby.com/shop/sets/digital-train-sets/r1125-somerset-belle-digital-train-set/

(and some point clips!) and he loves it!! The novelty of being able to control more than one train and have them run in seperate directions won't I'm sure wear off for a long time!!!

A couple of questions though:
As I might have previously stated

I've set up a track using this TrakMat (R8217)http://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk/Hornby-R8217-TrakMat/. Now the DCC trains run OK on this setup, but at the point (excuse the pun!) where the four points meet (just after the level crossing) the trains seem

to lose power for a moment. This is not too much of a problem if the trains are going at full pelt(!) but if my son runs the trains slowly, they stop or judder when going over the level crossing/points. I've checked all the connections and they seem sound.

Any ideas guys?

Also, I got his Flying Scotsman (DCC ready) converted at my local "friendly" shop, which works fine on it's own. However, when he puts the tender on, the Select flashes "11" and then resets. Take the tender off and all OK again?! Again,

any ideas?

Cheers!

[wiggy25]

If you built the layout using set track then the cross-over along with the sidings is prone for dead spots when running slow.

The Set track points have what is called insulfrog points(look at where the tracks diverge)there is a plastic part where

the wheels go over, because this is plastic the wheels don't get power, so running over this part slowly can cause stalling, more noticeable with short wheel base locos.

I've mananged to use the silver conductive paint you can buy and brushed it on

to the plastic frog part to make this conductive, but you have to be careful you don't over do it to cause a short circuit.
I also used lots of wire droppers each side of all the points so I didn't need to rely on just the points switching over for power.

I

would guess there is a short in the wheels in the Flying Scotsman somewhere, which is causing the system to shut down, might be worth double checking all wheels and inside the tender for stray wires.

I have also built the full trackMat layout only in

N-gauge.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m280/wiggy25/IansThomas7FriendsN-gaugelayout.jpg

That photo shows the two Selects at the front which are both connected to the Elite which is connected to a PC running RailMaster.
I also used different

accessory decoders(for the points) so I could use push buttons as well, which I made up a mimic panel shown between the two Selects.

Cheers

Ian

[poliss]

You should take the loco back to your friendly shop and ask him to investigate the problem.
On the locos that stall over the points. It could be that some of the power pick-ups aren't making proper contact with the wheels. Turn them upside down and

look for copper coloured strips of metal.

[spinecho]

Thanks again for the help.
I worked out what was wrong with Flying Scotsman & tender. I didn't have tender connected when I originally set up, so I guess select didn't recognise it!!! I just reprogrammed with tender attached and now it works ok.

Re:

track problem... I removed the level crossing and replaced with track. Works better, but still a bit jolty over points. When I get a spare moment (or several hours!!!) I'll take all track apart, clean and replace the fish plates. Hopefully that should work.

[poliss]

The Select only knows about the decoder. It knows nothing about whether a tender is connected or not.

[stevecamden]

Wheels and track get very dirty very quickly - particularly over points where there are dead bits as well. A track rubber is a must to clean over the track and keep the wheels clean on the loco's (lots of ways of doing this on Youtube if you search)

Some

Iso-propyl alcohol is also very good at getting dirty deposits but this needs to be handled with care - ventilated room - don't get it on your hands etc I wouldn't let my 10 year old use it.

Steve