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DCC Guide – Digital is a doddle
Introduction
DCC Digital control can help to bring more realistic operation to a layout. With digital you drive the trains – not the track. The principle is very straight forwards; the track is powered all of the time and the Digital command station sends all of its information down just two wires to the track. All of the decoders will receive the information but will only act on instructions that are addressed specifically to them. On conventional layouts every locomotive that you wish to drive at the same time needs an independent controller and an isolated section to run on – the end result is a lot of wiring and a layout that is fixed and difficult to modify if you want to change how it is operated. Every point and signal needs its own dedicated switch which is also fixed and difficult to modify at a later date.
The idea of these pages is to give a quick guide for beginners and to include some more advanced DCC information that may be useful as you progress - The usual disclaimer applies - this a guide only.
Figure 1.1 shows a comparison between conventional 12v DC operation and DCC Digital operation.
The major advantage of digital is that the power supply to the track is constant so functions like light and sound remain on even though the locomotive has stopped. Digital also has the advantage that locomotive speed remains constant even though loads may be changing as the train climbs hill and descends gradients. See the section about locomotive decoders.
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