DCC, what is it?

DCC is a method to control lots of different trains, their functions and other accessories. DCC stands for Digtal Command Control. It uses carefully timed pauses to send messages to the locomotive that is to be controlled. The other trains just ignore this as it is not for them. DCC just uses two wires, a controller and a decoder. I will explain what controllers and decoders are a bit later. First though, why is this so good and why should you get it? That is a good question and has three very good reasons.
1) The realism of the whole layout is improved as trains move at different speeds, giving a much more realistic view.
2) It is much easier to set this up than an old analogue system that controlled two trains. No longer is there a huge wiring loom to set up! Just take two wires from the central control station and put one to either rail and you done! Simple as that!
3) Ease of use, when using DCC, extra accessories such as turn points, level crossings and even turntables can all be controlled from one point, which means no running about switching tracks.

Controllers

A DCC controller is where it all happens. There is usually a keypad and some sort of throttle control. The keypad allows for the addressing of one single locomotive or accessory while the throttle control offers a very precise control of speed. Along with giving speed and direction to a locomotive, it can also provide other cool functions, such as lights, steam and sound. All these can be turned on and off from the central control station. The input made by you is transferred into a set of pulses that the decoder at the end can understand. Basically, the functions you enter into the station are coded, sent to the tracks, meet with the locomotives decoder and get decoded by the decoder, telling the locomotive to do a wide array of stuff. Seeing as each decoder attached to a locomotive can be uniquely addressed, you can have many trains on at one point, the only limit is the amps required. Yet that too can be over come with a DCC signal booster for bigger tracks.

As you can see, there is a vast array of controllers. A quick google search will come up with lots. I cannot say which one is best because of two reasons. 1) I don't have them all. 2) It's your personal taste that will dictate whether you like it or not. I cannot tell you. To find the best for you go online and compare them yourself. Lots of these controllers are very expensive. Be careful before buying! My personal taste is in computer controlled layouts. I will talk about them in a later post.

Decoders

A decoder is the second part of a DCC system. It receives commands(in the form of pulses) and power from the rails. The decoder can understand the pulses that are sent through the rails. It has a programmed address so that it will only respond to a message to that address. Having received the signals from the rails, it then powers its functions(lights, motors, etc.). The address system means that no stray commands are carried out by the decoder. When no command is sent by he main station, the previous command is carried out in a loop or an idle message is sent out. This means that the power will still go to the tracks, providing power to the track and it's accessories

So that's the basic DCC setup and components, I will be back with more on accessories soon. Till then, goodbye and please feel free to subscribe!