I am still in the early learning phase of DCC so have many questions. The Digitrax Zephyr has 10 address possibilities and the DB 150 has 22. Is it possible to use both stations for a total of 32 address or must one use one or the other as master controller and the other as booster? Use of the latter would mean either 10 or 22 addresses and not the total of the two. Thanks, Schoolmaster
You can not add the two together, it would be either 10 or 22. One thing I want to point out is this is not the number of address possibilities, but the number of engines you can control at one time. You could have 100 engines, each with a unique address, but with the Zephyr you could only contorl 10 of them at a time, and it could be any 10, and the rest could still be on the layout. Both the Zephyr and the DB150 have 9983(1-9983) address possibilities.
That seems very random. I wonder if someone determined that the excluded four digit numbers looked like bad words when you flip the display upside down.
This is because current speed setting commands are sent to the locomotives continuously. The command station transmits several commands per second, interleaving speed commands with brake, direction, and light commands for all its different locos. Therefore it has to store a list of locos and their current states. The higher priced units have longer lists. The 10 loco limit on the Zephyr is the highest I've seen in a starter. My Zephyr manual says 1 - 9999.
If your manual is the same as mine, it does say 1-9999 near the bottom of page 18, but also says 1 - 9983 further up the page. I believe 9983 has been the upper limit for Digitrax ever since they went to 4 digit addresses.
Thank you to each who answered my question about the number of addresses. Each answer provided information and I now am clear about the use of the addresses. Thanks, again. Schoolmaster
I love it when people let you know they actually read your responses and thought about what you said! You're welcome Schoolmaster! (I used to be a teacher myself)
