new to dcc tips on good wireless starter kits

[rrmchone]

I am new to this Dcc thing  it seems a bit complex with all the decoder wireing  and  seting up the controls and what not    so i am curious is there a decent wireless controler   that will have all the bells and whistles

[fieromike]

If you want a wireless DCC controller, NCE and Digitrax are the two big dogs in town.  Bachmann has their Dynamis which is an infrared controller similar in function to your tv remote.  Go to the respective mfgr's web sites and download the user manuals.  Read and see if you understand most of what you see there.
Going wireless will do nothing for you as far as wiring/installing decoders.

[Bucksco]

Bachmann recommends Dynamis. Product number 36505
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?searchStr=36505&act=viewCat

Those looking for an easier entry into DCC should check out the E-Z Command Digital Control System which is product number 44902
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?searchStr=44902&act=viewCat

[Doneldon]

rr-

Radio and infrared wireless controllers offer the same features so your decision needs to be predicated on two other factors: cost and range. IR tends to be a little less expensive but radio has longer range and doesn't require line of sight between the throttles and receiver. Neither has any effect on wiring decoders or your track. You can buy entry-level systems from several manufacturers. With Bachmann, I'd suggest the Dynamis as it is more powerful and it makes much more use of DCC features that you will probably want in the future.
                                                                                                               -- D

[uncbob]

After reading reviews on several I decided on the NCE Power cab  which had the most favorable review
I only run 2 engines at a time and am more than satisfied

[Jim Banner]

Nobody has asked the obvious question - are you contemplating using wireless DCC outdoors or only indoors?  Indoors, infrared is fine.  Outdoors, it cannot compete with that big IR emitter in the sky.  If you want to use wireless DCC outdoors other than at night, radio is the only way to go.  I use Digitrax radio outdoors, radio and infrared indoors.  Actually, the infrared link is built into all of Digitrax's current throttles except the Zephyr.  And the radio receiver comes with an infrared receiver in it as well.

What all this means to me is that I can use the same throttles to operate my garden layout and my indoor layout.  And I can use them at friends' houses, even if their receiver is infrared only.  Those same friends can also operate my indoor layout using their Digitrax radio throttles if they have them and their infrared throttles if they don't.

If it were not for the outdoor railway, I could have avoided the extra expense of radio throttles.  Indoors, infrared can work just fine.  Let me illustrate with a story.  A while back, a group of us were operating a friend's layout using infrared.  He has a good sized train room, about 16' x 24', with his railway running along all four walls and on a large peninsula in the middle.  At that time, he had a single infrared receiver mounted on the ceiling at the center of the room.  A couple of fellows with radio/IR throttles were complaining about having to point their throttles over their shoulder when they were operating along the walls because the receiver was behind them.  The next time we met at his house, one of the fellows brought along his radio receiver to avoid the over-the-shoulder routine.  At the end of the evening, those of us with radio throttles were talking about how much better radio worked.  As least we were until the radio receiver's owner went to pack it up to take it home.  Turned out he had brought the radio receiver alright but none of us had bothered to connect it up.  We had been operating only on infrared all evening and it had worked faultlessly even when pointed away from the receiver.

Update:  By private communication, I have been questioned how it was possible to operate trains with the infrared transmitter pointed away from the infrared receiver when as we all know, infrared control is strictly line-of-sight.  The answer, in one word, is "reflection."  Never one to be satisfied with one word when 329 words will do, let me explain with a very simple experiment.  In a dark room, stand facing one wall and shine a powerful flashlight over your shoulder at the wall behind you.  Unless the walls are pure black, some of the light hitting the wall behind you will reflect and hit the wall in front of you.  This is an example of reflection of visible light.  Infrared is simply light with too long a wavelength to be seen by human eyes.  It too will reflect off walls.  Some, though certainly not all, TV remote controls will demonstrate this.  If your remote control puts out a strong enough beam of infrared and the infrared detector in your TV is sensitive enough, you can turn your TV on and off, change channels, etc. even when pointing the remote control back over your shoulder.  I have one such TV/remote control combination that can operate from the next room even though the doorway between rooms is in the same wall that the TV backs against.  Between the remote and the TV the wall is solid - there is no line-of-sight.  But pointing the remote at the doorway, the infrared light travels through the doorway to the far wall of the TV room, then enough reflects back again to operate the TV's infrared receiver.  Total path length from remote control to reflecting wall and back to the TV is over 30 feet.  Path length in my friend's train room was about 4 feet to the wall and 12 feet from wall to receiver, about 16 feet total.  So much for line-of-sight.

Thinking more about this, my worst remote control setup is the one that works with one of our DVD players.  If your aim is just right and the batteries are fresh, the remote might operate the player from as far away as 10 feet.  I have not tested many brands of infrared DCC throttles but I can guess that just because our Digitrax ones work that well does not mean that they all will.
   
Jim    

[NarrowMinded]

An easy way to see what the IR is doing in your room is to use a cell phone camera or digital camera they SEE the IR and change it to White light that you can see in the viewing screen of the devise.

NM

[OldTimer]

There are IR repeaters available.  They transmit the content of the IR signal by radio, then reconstitute the signal and illuminate the device being controlled.  Mine works fine over a distance of about 40' and through a couple of walls.  The only time I have problems with it is when one of the cats climbs on the hutch and knocks the transmitter out of alignment with the satellite receiver.    As far as I know, the repeaters will work with any IR device, because they don't have to "understand" the content of the signal, just pass it along.  You can find them at electronics stores.  I think I paid about 20 or 30 bucks at newegg.com several years ago.
OldTimer

[Doneldon]

OT-

I'll bet you could use flat or parabolic mirrors to
send the IR signals very long distances, without
the need for a repeater.
                                                    -- D