DCC, how to do it and other questions?

[Clueless]

I am wondering I currently have 3 trains that are all Analogue but I am toying with idea of going digital but dont trust myself with a soldering iron. Are there any shops that will fit Decoders for the right price and would it be covered by Hornbys warranty

or would i send it to hornby to get it done?

The trains I have are:
Smokey Jow (0-4-0)
Thomas the Tank Engine (0-6-0)
Toy Story 3 western Train

And my father has a vast arrangement of trains he has promised to give me that I will come

back to when I get them.

Which decoders would I use for the trains I currently have and what would the cost be roughly?

I am wondering is Digital the way forward?

Would I need new track or would a digiatal contoller be sufficient to

run the engines?

If I do have a controller programme it then turn it off at the mains would it reset to factory settings?

any help please guys as I am totally confused

[poliss]

DCC is the way forward. See Hornby's videos on YouTube, such as this one for the Elite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3lOLM9bDFs

This website explains how DCC works. http://www.awrr.com/dccintro1.html
If you turn your controller off at the

mains the settings are saved in the controller and the decoder in the loco.
The locos you have are harder to convert than most as they don't have a DCC socket. You would need to get an estimate from a model shop that does conversions for how much it would

cost.
Hornby do not do conversions.

[stevecamden]

Actually its worth stating that you don't have to get the dreaded soldering iron out unless you want /need to do really fancy stuff.

DCC is the 'way forward' for now - its far from perfect - a bit geeky with all this cv nonsense, but most of the

time pretty straightforward.

As long as you don't mind track and wheel cleaning you'll get on fine with it. The sound decoders are really something though...

Steve

[Clueless]

Many Thanks Poliss

Trak and wheel cleaning doesnt really phase me as I see this ands general upkeep of the models and equipment.

All I would like is the abiliy to 'show off' and have one train doing one things whilst a shunter does another.

Can you turn a DCC train manual?

[poliss]

What do you mean by manual? DCC is mostly not an automated control system. You still control the locos from the controller knob.
You can do some automatic actions either by setting certain decoders to do it, or by using a computer programee, but most

people don't do it that way.

[Clueless]

ahh right I get what it is I just hear alot of people having trains doing other things. and thought it was all automated.

Do you need special tr5ack for it? or is it all the normal track. does this make isolation trck obsolete?

[poliss]

If you use power clips or a power track then you need the DCC versions without capacitors. You no longer need isolating tracks except if you have a reverse loop. That's track that turns back on itself.
See the DCC sections on Brian Lambert's website.

http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/

[Gregd99]

a suggestion...

although the locos that you mention can be converted it might be worth buying a dcc-ready loco as a way into the world of dcc.

this way you have a loco that you know works with dcc and you don't have to worry about the conversion

process.

do be aware that some older locos require some thought and care to convert as well as more powerful decoders. there is lots of help from experts (not me) on the forum on how to do conversions.