DCC Wannabe

[Tedshere]

   Just looking thru my December 2011 copy of Model Railroader Mag. On page 74 there's a picture of DCC equipment. It includes a power supply, but no booster..
    On page 75 there is a diagram showing what I assume is a complete DCC setup with what they have captioned "Booster and Power Supply".
    Now, are the booster and power supply one single piece of equipment or are they two separate pieces?
    Also, Once I get the Cab, Command Station, Booster and Power Supply, and a DCC equipped locomotive, is there anything else I need? Like additions to my existing track that I have been running DC, or other equipment?
    Thanks in advance,
    Ted

[Jerrys HO]

Ted

I will shed a little light for you. The power supply is separate of the booster. The power supply voltage varies upon which manufacturer you choose. Let's say you went with the EZ Command, The system is basic with low voltage output. So if you were building a large layout with this system and running 4-5 trains maybe have sound in a few then it would be suggeted that you purchase a booster.( most are 5amp). The more loco's and sound pull's more voltage from the track robbing everything running off of the basic low voltage and can cause irregularities in the loco's performance. If you do a search under my name you will see I have a moderate size layout 12x14 in a U shape and the EZ Command power's all of it including running 4 loco's at once and one has sound. I am looking to upgrade to a better control system in the near future, but the EZ Command is handleing everything just fine for now.

You may not need a booster depending on the system you choose. Everything else you mentioned is needed.

I never ran DC so all I can offer is what I read and heard and that is turn all your block's on hook up DCC and go. Just make sure if you have any reversing loop's they need to be insulated and a reversing module wired in.

Hope this helps

Jerry

[Jim Banner]

The power supply may be separate from the booster.  Or it may be built into the booster.  Or it may be combined with a command station, booster, and throttle ("CAB") all in one box.  There are advantages and disadvantages of all the various ways of combining the four elements of a DCC system, both for the consumer and the manufacturer.

If you are already running on dc, then I assume you have some way of controlling your reversing loops.  You can continue to use these controls if you want to but using reversing modules as Jerry suggests makes life much more pleasant.  with the automatic reversing modules, you will soon forget that you even have reversing loops beyond the fact that you can use them to turn trains around.

Jim

[jward]

it should be pointed out that the autoreverse modules only work with dcc. you can't use them with dc. other than that, if you can wire a layout for dc you can wire it for dcc.

[Tedshere]

    Thanks a lot Jerry, Jim and Jeff,
    Ya, all I have is an 8 X 12 oval with two dead end spurs. So I don't have any blocks, reversing loops or any thing insulated.
    Actually it amounts to this, I'm building a little town, and I have a train that runs around it. 
    This is all for practice and I expect to expand once I have a better idea of what's available. DCC will be the way to go, but I want to get some hands-on in order to make better decisions later. At the same time, I don't want to buy a bunch of expensive stuff that won't be usable later.
    Thanks again,
    Ted