Controller questions

depmuht · November 02, 2011, 12:25:05 AM

I have a DCC command controller and a walk around currently. Can I connect another DCC command controller to the track so my son can control his trains separately from mine? I have 6 train and he has 5. I know the walk around will only work the trains that are programed in to the command controller. I want to be able to control my engines at the same time as he is doing his on another part of the layout with a different controller. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Jerrys HO · November 02, 2011, 12:46:32 AM

depmuht,

If you have the walk around companion that is all you need. Check out this link it should help you. The walk around starts at 7:39, but you are limited to only 9 loco's with the EZ command and if you have 6 and your son has 5 someone has to give up 2 loco's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj-03Lrh3EU

Jerry

depmuht · November 02, 2011, 01:05:32 AM

That is the hang up I need to find some thing to fix this dilema.

Jerrys HO · November 02, 2011, 01:49:03 AM

Well if you plan on running 11 trains at one time yes it is a problem. I would suggest then up grading to a controller that allows more addresses.

NarrowMinded · November 02, 2011, 02:22:35 AM

I Agree an Upgrade is in order, 11 trains running on an ez command is unlikely to run smoothly if at all without a amp booster anyway.

If you just want to have all the trains stationed on the track but not "Running" you could add or isolate a couple sidings, spurs or sections of track with on/off switches you could alternate loco's with the same address, but then this sort of defeats the reason for having dcc I just mention it because I have heard of others doing this.

NM-Jeff

Doneldon · November 02, 2011, 02:28:21 AM

dep-

You will have trouble running 11 trains at a time unless you have a BIG booster, a very large layout and no locos with sound. Due to your questions, I doubt if all of these apply. Running more locos isn't your problem; it's system capacity. The only exception to that I can imagine is if you are double- or triple-heading your motive power but, if that were the case, you wouldn't need more addresses because you can run each lash-up under a single address.

Please try to give us a little more information. I predict we can help you but I think we need more information to do so.
-- D

Jim Banner · November 02, 2011, 05:08:15 PM

depmuht,
Are you actually trying to run 10 or 11 locomotives all at once? I am guessing you are not. Or do you have 10 locomotives on your layout but only run two or three of them at a time? I suspect the latter, but please confirm. To be able to choose which of the 10 locomotives you want to run, they normally need to have different addresses. In that case, there is no 11th address available for you son's locomotive.

If that is the problem, then the solution is easy. Select one of your locomotives that you would not normally run at the same time as your son is running his. Give your son's locomotive the same address. When your son is going to run his locomotive, simply park your locomotive on an isolated siding and switch off the power to that siding.

If you and/or your son want to leave his locomotive on the track all the time too, then you will need two isolated sidings, each of which can be turned on and off by its own switch. Storing locomotives on isolated sidings is not such a bad idea. I have done this with my roundhouse for years, ever since leaving one locomotive running very slowly inside the roundhouse. Because it was pushing against the back wall of the roundhouse, I never realized what was going on until some time later when I tried to run the locomotive back out. It wouldn't move, even as I advanced the throttle, until it suddenly jumped out of its stall. It had worn deep grooves into the rails and had trouble climbing out of them. The same can happen with any sidings if there is some sort of bumper to stop the locomotives from running off the end.

To make an isolated siding, simply remove one of the track joiners between two sections of track and replace it with an insulated joiner or a piece of plastic to keep the rail ends from touching. This creates a gap in the rail so that there is no way for the electricity to get to the siding to power it up. Next, add two wires to the gapped rail, one before and one after the gap. These can be soldered on or you can use two connector sections of track, using just one wire to each. Run these wires over to a toggle switch mounted in a convenient location. If you use two connector sections of track and the siding will not power up even when the toggle switch is turned on, reverse one of the wire connectors (pull it out, turn it over, put it back in.) If there is still no power on the siding, reverse the wire connector on the other connector section. If it still will not work, re-reverse the first connector.

The siding should look something like the diagram below where the rails are shown in black and the electrical wiring is shown in red. The toggle switch is shown symbolically as slanted bar at the left end of the wires - as shown, it is open. Reverse the slant, it is closed. The gap in one rail is between the vertical parts of the two wires.

________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________ ______________________
| |
| |
| |
. ___________________________| |
| |
. / |
. |___________________________________________|

This solution is a lot cheaper than replacing a perfectly good command station. As far as connecting another command station to the tracks, that is a no-no with DCC. Even just trying it can bring you a lot of grief.

Jim

jward · November 02, 2011, 05:38:41 PM

to expand on what jim said, i have done this on the radial tracks of my turntable. i am not sure how the bachmann one is set up, but on my atlas one you have to run seperate connections to each track. i used an atlas controller, which is a set of 3 on off slide switches in one housing. they can be ganged together to control however many tracks you have.

the big advantage of doing things this way is that you can also reduce the load on your dcc system by turning off those locomotives you are not using. on dcc, even a stopped locomotive on live track is drawing power, and the ez command is rated for a fraction of the power output of most other systems.

one other option is to pick two locomotives that you want to run together, and program both to the same address. that would get you down to 10 addresses in use.

Doneldon · November 03, 2011, 01:16:29 AM

dep-

I use a rotary switch for my roundhouse and garden tracks. I can
either turn all of them off or leave the one which just sent its loco
to service energized.
-- D

depmuht · November 06, 2011, 03:31:59 PM

Thank you for all of your input. I want a controller that I can control my engines from and one he can control his from. The problem I am having is all the engines are DCC and the layout is being set us with switches that are going to be DCC. MY son currently has two engines and has his eye on a couple more. He has alot of ideas he wants to do and they sound good, but the controller is the hang up. We are setting up with 4 main line engines 4 switcher engines to start with. There are a couple more engines I want to get too. With all the DCC addresses we will be needing there control system has quickly gotten to limited. The layout has quickly grown will be taking up two rooms upstairs roughly a 15 X 25 area. This is the problem.

jward · November 06, 2011, 04:25:44 PM

definitely sounds like you've outgrown the ez command. unfortunately, there is no upgrade path. you'll either have to live with its limitations, or invest in another system which can grow with your layout.

most other systems will allow you to use the numbers on the locomotives as addresses, and adjust their performance to suit your needs. for example, you can program your yard switchers to run slower than your road locomotives.

the best thing you can do at this point would be to comparison shop for a new system, and see which one meets your needs, and what it will cost.....

depmuht · November 06, 2011, 11:48:07 PM

Thanks thats what I have been trying to find out. If there is something I can do with the system I have, or if I have to upgrade to another system, and if I have to upgrade what system would be best for me to go to with the equipment I have? What would you recommend? Most of my locos are Bachmann, but I do have two Walthers units one is an F7A/B unit road name Milwaukee Road and the other is a train line GP9M with the same road name that I also want to switch to DCC. Any help would be great. Thank you.

jward · November 08, 2011, 11:46:32 PM

contact me offlist and i'll tell you what i am using and why i chose it.

depmuht · November 13, 2011, 02:25:56 PM

Thanks to all who have helped me with this topic. I have managed to get my hands on a new dynamis control for about $125, Hopefully this will solve my problems and limitations.

Ken G Price · November 13, 2011, 06:38:05 PM

Quote from: depmuht on November 13, 2011, 02:25:56 PM
Thanks to all who have helped me with this topic. I have managed to get my hands on a new dynamis control for about $125, Hopefully this will solve my problems and limitations.

The Dynamis is a good improvement over the EZ Command.
As you have most likely have read on line it has a lot of upgrade options.

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Controller questions

Jerrys HO

Jerrys HO