The DCCWiki Community is a place to share knowledge about DCC and anything related to it - including articles on various scale sizes.
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Presented is a complete homebrew DCC (Digital Command Control) system which is compatible with the standards set by the NMRA. The system has been tested with commercially available components from Digitrax and integrates well with these.
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A starting place for those learning about DCC, interested in DIY DCC or developing DCC projects. A great overall resource. Topics include DCC DIY, DCC Articles and Projects, DCC Manufacturer Inforomation.
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A Short Overview of Digital Command Control
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The infamous Wiring for DCC page. If you haven't been there, do yourself a favor and bookmark it now. One of the best sources of DCC info on the net. Power wiring, turout wiring, dcc friendly turnouts.
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Various decoder programming interfaces including USB and Serial.
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Useful electronic info, also has a layout section.
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From the man who brought you the ndcc yahoo group, this is his DCC page.
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A starting place for those learning about DCC, interested in DIY DCC or developing DCC projects
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Continuous Brightness Lighting tries to overcome the prevalent problem of lighting in model locomotives. The problem is that when the train starts to move the locomotive (headlight) is completely unlit, and as the train speeds up (i.e. higher voltages applied) the light gets brighter. The worst part is, even at top speed the light is usually nothing more than a dull orange glow from the outside.
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Calculator to help you pick the correct resistor for wiring LEDs. Brought to you by MetkiMods (computer hardware modding site)
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Some decoder output drive designs cause a buzzing noise in motors. Generally, buzzing is most pronounced at slow switching speeds and gradually disappears as the train gets rolling along. Vibration of the motor and/or chassis might be magnified by the body shell resonance. Although buzzing and vibration is no worse than using pulse power on a conventional power pack, a circuit that will reduce buzzing to inaudible levels is shown here.
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Join model railroader Nick DeTomaso as he takes the mystery out of digital command control. You'll learn the easy way to get DCC up and running on your layout in this informative one-hour video. Nick is a twenty year filmmaker whose love for model railroading and model trains has brought him down this track to help you get the very most out of your model railroad.
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This and the subtending pages are being prepared to assist the Club with this transition from pure DC to a combined DC/DCC environment, and finally to a pure DCC environment. As such it is a continuously evolving set of pages, as new material is added based on our experience, and from information published in the various DCC-related Internet mailing lists, DCC system and decoder manuals, and other sources. We hope it will prove useful beyond the North Raleigh Model Railroad Club.
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An introduction to DCC brought to you by the fine folks of Silicon Valley Lines.
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For those who have a medium to large size layout, and wish to use a tested recommendation for new wiring. From the folks at Gateway NMRA
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Presentation in PDF format that cover; DCC Basics, DCC Decoder Software, DCC Decoder Hardware, DCC Wiring, And DCC Operations.
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There is one point of order concerning DCC that many people keep forgetting. You have to do your own homework. It is easy to ask questions on the various lists and forums found on the internet, but it is difficult to determine fact from opinion. The best starting place to learn about DCC is to read what is provided by the various DCC manufacturers. Read everything available when possible. Most of the major DCC manufacturers provide manuals of their products online for the downloading. This gives the modeler a chance to do research about a product before purchasing and give the modeler a point of reference.
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There are a number of people using PC's for DCC functions. Mike Brandt's DCC-MB controller web site (The DCC-MB Home Page) gives a number of good reasons for using a PC as a DCC controller. There's no reason why a PC can't be used for other DCC related applications.
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DCPro offers owners of DC models many of the running benefits of DCC while maintaining full compatibility. DCPro includes digital throttle control, detection, signalling and automatic and semi-automatic running in the one design. DCPro's automation is accomplished without the need for a PC or complicated setup of systems such as JMRI. DCPro was developed in response to the needs of the Fremantle & Districts Model Railway Association in Western Australia. FDMRA has many older members with hundreds of locos making the installation of DCC prohibitive and needed full automation without the need for a PC for exhibitions. DCPro provides all of this and more. Please see the website for updates on commercial availability.
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A great place to find reasonably priced electrical and electronic supplies for wiring your layout or whatever. Ask for Ray if you need advice or help.
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This site offers a truly unique sound system for model railroad layouts. This is not locomotive sound systems to install in the locos, it is a background sound system that can be tailored for specific scenes on the layout. While there, be sure to click on the link to the "Old Free Site". This site has some very interesting tips and ideas for model railroaders to ponder.
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This site contains DIY circuits which can make operating your DCC layout even more enjoyable. Finding the parts is easy...they're mostly available from your neighborhood Radio Shack and others -- except possibly for the DCC uncoupler (RS part nos. are in parentheses after each component). I hope that you'll try several of them.
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Brief introduction to soldering.
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Very basic guide to help people unfamiliar with circuits get their LEDs up and running without blowing them out and wasting all their money. IT IS VERY BASIC!! Current is hardly ever mentioned, not because it's not important, but because we've found it makes things confusing when trying to teach people about this sort of thing. Brought to you my The LED Light.com
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A 101 on LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).
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DC, AC, Semi-conductors, Digital, Reference, Experiments. All lessons available for HTML or PDF download.
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Do you have an old XT or AT class IBM PC or clone sitting in the back of your closet, in your basement, or holding a door open? Are you a model railroader? Are you into Digital Command and Control (DCC)? By special arrangement with Digitrax® I have written several programs that allow you to use an old PC to control your DCC system. No Windows, No GUI, No 386/486/P5/P6. Just plain old DOS.
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The MERG DCC system has been largely developed by Mike Bolton with help from other members including Gordon Hopkins and John Eato. The system follows the NMRA standard and is designed to be easier to use than most commercial systems for those used to more conventional Model Railway controls. It is also reasonably easy to build, in fact we have successfully assembled decoders on our demonstration stand at exhibitions.
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Although commercial DCC systems are readily available, some consider these as expensive and over-complex for the needs of the British enthusiast. Most systems (Lenz and ZTC excepted) are of US origin and all really cater for the American or Continental modeller. As a result, DCC has not really taken off in the UK in the same way. Also, as MERG is a grouping of electronics enthusiasts who may prefer to build their own systems even if they could buy what they wanted ready made, it was suggested that we might try to develop a DIY system. A trawl of members views produced the inevitable result. An easy to make, easy to use cheap system that did everything the most expensive commercial systems did! As I had a simple system up and running I made a token gesture to the ‘idealists’ and merely improved what I had for starters. Then it just grew and grew!
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The MiniStation© has been improved considerably but still uses the same PCB. The new 16F628 with twice the memory offers a pin for pin drop-in replacement for the orginal 16F84A. Now you can add 128 speed step, F1-F4 function control, auto-repeat keystroke and up to 123 step of combined route/turnout sequencing just by replacing the chip. Assembly code for the new chip is available free. A pre-programmed 16F628 is also available. Best of all, there is no price increase for the new chip! See the menu below for details on how to build your own.
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An international, UK based group promoting interest in the application of electronics (including computers) to all aspects of railway modelling. Founded in the early 1960s, the Group’s aim is to actively promote and advance the use of electronic and computer technology for model railway operation. Railway modelling, one of the world’s most popular hobbies is ideally suited to take advantage of these technologies, and the application of electronics and computers can be used to good effect to add enhanced features and realism to model railway operation .
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Since a few years I am working on a Modeltrain Control System for my own modeltrain. I made my first system a lot of years ago. The system was an interface system between my Apple II computer and the modeltrain. This system was able to control the train by controling switches and lights. It also had a feedback for train arrival. Since computers are getting quicker and quicker all the time, my system got old and the idea raise to build a better one. This Website is all about that new system and it is ment to let you build your own.
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MRBus (short for Model Railroad Bus) is my proposed open solution to simply and easily implementing flexible, low wire-count model railroad peripheral control networks for items such as signalling, remote turnout control, occupancy indications, and a whole host of other imaginative uses that haven't even been thought up yet. It consists of a shared, packetized bus of microcontroller-equipped nodes, each powerful enough to collect data and broadcast that to the bus and/or receive data from the bus and process it accordingly. Each node is as flexible as the designer chooses, ranging from all functions needed for a CTC-controlled siding to a computer interface to a simple digital I/O card. The nodes are tied together with a modified RS485 network and a set of power cables. This allows a layout of small-to-medium size to be wired with a minimum only four wires (excluding short feeder runs, because the nodes are near what they serve), and the potential to operate without the need of a computer. This overcomes the problems of previous control systems which either required massive amounts of wiring and/or a centralized control node (such as a computer), but with the downside of additional complexity
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DIY DCC system. So far I have a DCC controller, a project board that will convert the signals from a Digitrax DS44 or NCE SwitchIt to a pulsed signal with enough strength to switch a Kato switch or crossover and another board that will amplifiy the pulse from a Digitrax DS54 to a signal level that will switch a Kato single switch or crossover. The link to the first accessory decoder addon project (Acc1) is down at the bottom of this page. I have the other board built and working, I just don't have it very well documented yet and on the web page yet.
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If you are going to install new switch machine or convert old machine to DCC there are many decisions to make. Which decoders matches up with the switch machine, is extra power needed. How can a short circuit on the rails be prevented from cutting off the power to the stationary decoder. How do you number switches and address the decoder. Hopefully this guide will answer most of those questions.
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The decoder can build with DOD (device on device) technique without PCB (size: 11 x 6 x 3 mm, cost: ca. 5-10$). All pieces are SMD and can be soldered in distance (H-bridge on motor etc.).
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Online custom PCB's with components. Pad2Pad is the remarkable new way to get the custom boards you need. Download our free software, design your board, and click to order - it's that easy! Your board will be manufactured, assembled and delivered. Even better, your cost is low due to the Internet and free software.
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Internet supplier of prototype printed circuit boards.
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Railnet Solutions, LLC designs and manufactures a family of ready-to-use electronic Digital Command Control (DCC) products that create more realistic operation of model railroad layouts, and enhance the modeler’s hobby experience.
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Excellent wiring standards for any type of layout. The aim of these new standards is to allow for the running of DCC on NTRAK modules.
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Specializing in Affordable Electronics for Model Railroads.
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Sierra Proto Express is an ISO-9002 and MilSpec MIL-P-55110 certified Silicon Valley based high technology printed circuit board manufacturer specializing in quick turn prototypes and medium production.
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This is an HO layout site (perish the thought!) but it has a bunch of great DCC and electronics information.
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DCC-MB is a set of plans for using an MS-DOS computer as a DCC command station. This particular project is aimed at using an old low-end computer, such as an XT, as a four-throttle controller on a small-to-medium sized layout. However, the logic board, which converts the output from the computer's parallel port into a DCC signal, could be the basis for a larger system, with appropriate software and higher-tech throttles.
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Thoughts on using DCC for the first time user. Brought to you by OZARKS MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION. (OMRA)
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This is a great site! Complete plans and etching diagrams to build your own DCC system. Includes plans for many other related projects.
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The TMWDCC project is a NMRA compatible Entry Level Command Station, that was written to fit the needs for a simple DCC system at Skövde Model RR club The Westergötland Nerikes Jernvägar in Sweden. It is based on the DCC-MB project and do run on both TMWDCC hardware and DCC-MB hardware. A big thank you to Michael Brandt for his fine project. Without it, this project would never have been born. A big thank you also to Andreas. Without his programming talent, this could never be done. TMWDCC was originally written as an application to run on the DCC-MB driver, but with Michael Brandts permission, features have now been added to the driver.
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The purpose of this site is to share and exchange information about Lenz Digital Command Control & Model Railways in general. I will be updating this site on a regular basis.
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Various tips on how to really make the most out of DCC.
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by Edward Loizeaux - The recent blitz of command control articles has left some of us ordinary folks overwhelmed by new concepts and terms such as digital packets, time-division multiplexing, bits, stretched bits, single-chip microcontrollers, and bi-polar digital control signals. This article will attempt to clarify the issues surrounding the rapidly growing digital command control (DCC) movement.
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tttrains has provided this basic DCC FAQ to help you gather basic information about what NMRA DCC is. We will grow this FAQ considerably over the next few months.
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This site contains current short line rosters of locomotives in the western states and provinces. It includes the ownership history of each loco and its current disposition.
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