Want to go digital.

[Daniel.Welsh]

Hey guys, my layout is currently analogue with two ovals that join up and a few side rails. I want to add point motors and realised I need a digital layout. I also am using two controllers and would like to go down to one to run the two main lines without

 

causing a short circuit. What things do I need and how much will it cost to go digital?

Dan

[malang66]

first you will need a dcc controller and you would need to chip up all your trains to work dcc.. the best controller is the elite gives you good scope... i've only just started out so you prob get better info off some of the others soon.. but this will

 

give you some thing to start looking up..

[Fishmanoz]

For a start, you need to add DCC Point Clips to each of your points so the whole layout is live all of the time.

 

Then you need a DCC controller and Hornby has 3. Take a look at my post at https://www.hornby.com/forums/hornby-forums/hornby-digital/5298/

 

thread for a description of each. And note eLink is still very new and from the RM forum, there are teething problems. I believe they will be fixed soon though and the model you buy now will be Ok with a firmware update fixing the problems.

 

And then

 

you need to fit a decoder to each of your locos.

[Fishmanoz]

And take a look at http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/DCC.htm to learn more about DCC.

[Daniel.Welsh]

2 of my 3 loco's are 15-17 years old (dug out of the loft) can these still be converted? I have a Thomas loco and an inter city 225. I also have the southern star from the set I bought last week.

Dan

[ModelerXYZ]

It will cost a lot of money. I did it, the anolouge railways work better, there is less that can go wrong. To convert, you need a digital controller, the Elite is more powerful, but a Select will manage 2 or 3 locos fine, digital point clips, (though you

 

can run it without them), and decoders fitted in all of your trains. Decoders are pests, they don't always work. I have released the smoke from a lot of them. Any train can be converted if you have the patience/money to do it. The worst are the 0-4-0s. There

 

is just no room in them. You also need some spare track to use a a programming track.

[58001]

I converted to DCC a couple of years ago. As others have suggested the biggest investment is the controller. You could buy the Hornby Select (or equivalent) but it is very limited in functionality. The Elite is probably the best of the commercially available

 

and is worth the investment. If you buy a select you will probably want to upgrade to an Elite in a matter of months anyway!

Converting your locos is easy if you know how to handle a soldering iron. I have converted the IC225 and small steam locos similar

 

to your Thomas. Hornby provide instructions on this site for their generic motors, just look for one that is similar. A word of warning with the IC225, the whole of the motor casing is connected to one of the motor poles, you have to isolate it first. Again,

 

there are lots of internet sites showing how to do this.

For the track, DCC sends the control signals on top of a common power supply so both of your ovals will need to be powered from the same source. This can be done either by connecting both ovals to

 

the common output of the DCC controller (respecting the polarity of the rails) or by using the Hornby point clips (as mentioned above).

[poliss]

You don't actually need to go DCC to run your set up. I'm assuming you have two ovals? All that's needed are insulated rail joiners between the two sets of points where they cross between each other.

If you do decide to go DCC I would suggest either

 

the Hornby Elite or eLink if you have a Tablet device or laptop and are comfortable using touch screens. Don't forget that we are only allowed to talk about Hornby products on this forum.

I have had no problems at all with my DCC set up. The decoders have

 

always behaved as they are supposed to. I have not found it more expensive either, as I buy second hand mostly.

As for there not being enough room in locos, I've seen Z Gauge locos fitted with decoders and they are far, far smaller than 00 Gauge locos.

[Fishmanoz]

ModelerXYZ said:

It will cost a lot of money. I did it, the anolouge railways work better, there is less that can go wrong. To convert, you need a digital controller, the Elite is more powerful, but a Select will manage 2 or 3 locos fine,

digital point clips, (though you can run it without them), and decoders fitted in all of your trains. Decoders are pests, they don't always work. I have released the smoke from a lot of them. Any train can be converted if you have the patience/money to do

it. The worst are the 0-4-0s. There is just no room in them. You also need some spare track to use a a programming track.

I don't believe your experience is typical. For a start, all modern locos are simple to convert, as long as you know which

end of a soldering iron is which. And 0-4-0s are dead easy including room to fit the decoder. With older locos, you must make sure that the decoder has enough power to run the motor and that there is no connection between chassis and the motor contacts.

If

you are frying decoders, you are doing something quite wrong. You must either be getting serious short circuits, have one or more of the older loco problems mentioned above, or you are having trouble doing correct installations.

If you have some specific

questions, ask them here and someone will know the answers.