# Newbie wants some guidance ...please



## dave2657 (Feb 25, 2008)

Hello fellow railroaders.I would like to hear your comments on the following : I am trying to sort-out what type of control I should have for my Gauge 1 Garden railway over here in the U.K. I am torn between three versions of control

a) Radio-controlled mains to dc controller (i.e. Bridgewerks or similar).
b) Radio-controlled locos with continuous track power.
c) Radio-controlled locos with on-board batteries.

 I have various hurdles that the selected system should overcome, they are.
1) all of my locos are USA Trains models (lots of Amps).
2) track is brass, layed outdoors.
3) I want Phoenix or QSI Titan Sound in the locos.
4) the system radio frequency must not be in the 900MHz range which is "illegal" in the U.K.
5) it should be easy to install.
6) I do not have an inexhaustable supply of funds.
7) The system must be a well-accepted one that will not "vanish" overnight.

I would appreciate any ideas that you might have to help me select the "best" system for my garden.

Regards
dave2657


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

How about a budget, the total number of locos, and how many will run at the same time? 

That will help you decide the economics... after about 4 locos, it comes down to the per-loco price. 

Right off the bat I would probably say go DCC, and run your system from a small computer running JMRI (free)... then you can control your trains from an iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android tablet, Android phone... all over wifi... 

Greg


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## dave2657 (Feb 25, 2008)

Hi Greg. 
I should say approx $2000-3000 budget. Total of 10 locos. Maximum of three PA's running in consist. 

Hope that helps. 
Regards 
David


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Brass track in my experience is perfectly fine for DCC outdoors. Stainless is probably better, but brass is fine. I actually notice little difference between the two. Other people report a much bigger difference. 

Do you run multiple trains at once? if not, straight DC is a good option. I like DCC--its fun to tweak and once you have a DCC system in place, it's easy and relatively cheap to drop a decoder in. 

I use the NCE 10 amp radio system, but I believe it operates in the 900 MHz range 

If I were you, and being budget conscious (As I am) I'd look at Merg (http://www.merg.org.uk/index.php) It's the cheapest way to do DCC. Since you're in the UK I'd also look at some of the systems which are less available/more expensive over here, like ESU or Roco or zimo. ESU and Zimo make excellent large scale sound and motor decoders. I may switch to ESU from QSI, partly because ESU's decoders are so much easier to deal with.


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

For 10 locos and if you want to run multiple trains at the same time without having to segment your layout into DC power districts, I would also think DCC is the best way to go. 
Meets all your requirements - 
1) all of my locos are USA Trains models (lots of Amps). 
2) track is brass, layed outdoors. 
3) I want Phoenix or QSI Titan Sound in the locos. 
4) the system radio frequency must not be in the 900MHz range which is "illegal" in the U.K. 
5) it should be easy to install. 
6) I do not have an inexhaustable supply of funds. 
7) The system must be a well-accepted one that will not "vanish" overnight. 

...and will be the cheapest in the long run except for DC with no individual loco control. 

Knut


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