So, I have a Digitrax Zepher unit that I bought many moons ago but have yet to use. Looks pretty straight forward to hook up. Leads for a separate program track, leads for the main layout, and then leads for something called Jump 1, Jump 2, and Ground? Any tips, hints, suggestions, do's or dont's for getting this unit set up for use?
Hook up the leads to the main track, plug in, and enjoy! Jump 1 and Jump 2 are ways to create extra tethered throttles. I tried, many moons ago, and they worked just fine, but didn't really add anything to the experience. As you get deeper into DCC, highly recommend getting a LocoBuffer-II USB, which allows you to attach your PC to the LocoNet. Then you can use JMRI for programming the decoders in your locos. Much easier and user intuitive; and you can save a profile for each loco, allowing you to quickly reprogram as necessary.
Thanks Rick! JMRI looks interesting from what I have seen but is still maybe going to be a bit before I get to that DCC level.
So pretty much plug and play for the base station is good. Next challenge will be learning to program decoders. I'm seeing mention of some older systems needing a booster for the program track. What can you guys tell me about boosters?
To be very honest, to learn to program decoders without having to memorize all the different brand's manuals, invest in the LocoBuffer and use JMRI. DecoderPro (part of JMRI) presents all the programming in "readable language" and knows which CVs (and how to change them) need to be changed. Direct programming from the Zephyr, honestly, should be limited to changing the loco's address, and maybe setting up the 3-point speed curves. (Those are NMRA standard CVs, there are a few others; everything else is up to the individual company) Boosters: some older decoders (early QSI, Paragon, SoundTraxx, etc) needed boosters. Most do not. (I do have one, haven't used since I got rid of my last Tsunami-1 decoder) Sure, programming any decoder can be done manually with most systems' throttles. But, do you really want to do a "set CV31=1; set CV32=2; set CV246=19" (with - oh, they must be done, in order, and nothing else can interrupt) for more advanced decoders? And, what does that mean? Isn't it nicer to go to the "lighting effects" page for your loco and click the box which says "Mars Light" ? (note, I made up the numbers)
Rick is spot on with this. Part of embracing the DCC age is the ability to quickly get your motive power to run the way you want. And while you are at it, invest in an AccuTrak Speedometer. It will make speedmatching go so much faster so you can run multi-unit lashups. Those two reasonable investments, the Locobuffer USB and the Accutrak speedometer are all that are need to master motive power performance and programming. The two combined are about the cost of a new locomotive, but will save you untold hours of head scratching and frustration. DCC was never designed correctly for widespread use, but that is easily overcome with the JRMI and the speedometer!
