Bachmann, NCE, Digitrax

[tankist]

went to the local train show yesterday and looked in person at systems discussed (as i said i'm with MRC system and thinking about jumping ship).
from the picture it seemed like digitrax has ugly controls. i wanted to like it since it seems it has the best integration potential via JMRI . i really wanted to...
but in person it turned out even more hideous that on pictures! what on earth?! 2009 is almost over, yet for some reason they keep the 80's "glittery boombox tape player" design. feel of the buttons reminds me the same era, and ergonomics, well, it seems they didn't even hear of the concept. upsetting

 

[LotoQuestions]

JMRI Interface

re: Digitrax

i wanted to like it since it seems it has the best integration potential via JMRI . i really wanted to...
but in person it turned out even more hideous that on pictures

Is JMRI really any better with Digitrax than most other command stations?

The Zepher and all other Digitrax systems require an MS100? or a Locobuffer to use JMRI just as the other systems require an appropriate interface.

,,, ken

 

[MikeL]

in person it turned out even more hideous that on pictures! what on earth?! 2009 is almost over, yet for some reason they keep the 80's "glittery boombox tape player" design. feel of the buttons reminds me the same era, and ergonomics, well, it seems they didn't even hear of the concept. upsetting

Having looked at the options, I have to agree about 1980's design. Surprising in a system which ought to be able to capture attention, and how streamlined/up to date the other systems look.

I thought NCE offered a good JMRI option?

 

[UP2CSX]

Both Digitrax and NCE require an interface between the controller and the computer to work with JMRI. I agree that the Zephyr is very old school in looks but I find the controls work well and it's well made. NCE makes a different style of controller which is more like a hand throttle. You can, of course, also add a hand throttle to a Zephyr. Really, you can't go wrong with either system, but seeing and touching them will either sell you or make you hate it. To each his own.

 

[CBCNSfan]

Oh well time for another Glitch!
I knew there was something bugging me while following the discussion. (trying to learn something)
So I took down the Power Cab from the top shelf where it resides for now.
OK yes the output is rated for a maximum of 2 amps. However the wall wart power supply shipped with it is rated only for 1.11 amps output. Now since I plan to get a Smart Booster that in itself is not of much concern to me. However someone purchasing a Power Cab and expecting a 2 amp output will be in for a surprise. The weird thing about all this is they rate the max power input at 3 amps, go figure.
I also noted tonight that both the smart booster and the DB3 are temporarily discontinued. I'm going to make a wild guess at this, that when they reappear the short cct shutdown will be less sensitive and they will work ok with the reversing circuits.

Cheers
Willis

 

[MikeL]

Just a note to say I bought the Digitrax Zephyr today. Got my already programmed loco's working right away, and also the non-DCC Thomas the Train for my son (we won't be using that much now that we also have the Shrek Holiday Train.... and I was smart enough to switch the cover of the Shrek for the innards of one of the 2 DCC loco's that came with the set I bought, so I now have a DCC Shrek loco...)

Now I'll be up all night trying to figure out how I program the (already) 11 and growing Bachmann DCC turnouts.

The look and feel is much better than the pictures of the Zephyr, and setting it up was easy (maybe because I've already gotten used to some of the basic DCC with the Bachmann EZ-Command we got with the first set (Oh, do I wish I could take that back and start again with just the basic components I want...)

The manuals are pretty clear, the keyboard is easy to navigate so far - no complaints. Strangely, they do not cover programming turnouts in the manual (unless I'm even stupider than I previously thought which is entirely possible and likely).

Now back to playing with it, and working later to decide which loco to add to my set that has the most DCC features on it .

Thanks for everyone's opinions and help on this - I printed all 17 pages and re-read today to make sure I was getting what I wanted, so everyone's input really helped me out.