I am in the process of converting to DCC. I have a Radio Super Chief, which I don't have in operation, yet. A friend, who has radio-controlled cars & planes, told me that the 4 fluorescent lights, I have above my lay-out will probably interfere with the radio controller. He also said that televisions, motors, computers will interfere, too. Is anyone having problems with interference or is there no merit to his claim?
While I did NOT sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, I can tell you, you have nothing to worry about. My layout has 5 fluorescent lights, a T.V., a two wireless phones operating on different frequencies, and gaaaaaawd knows what else. I have 0 problems with interference. Not only that.... I know of one large club locally that operates a Digitrax radio system w/ fluorescent lights all over the place..... no problem. Unless you have a very unique and RARE problem of some device w/ a renegade frequency conflicting w/ your Chief.. I would not give this issue another thought. Set your system up ... run it... and if by some small chance a problem exists... you should be able to deal with it then. Otherwise, this is a non-issue.
Digitrax's wireless throttle uses 900mHz... It should not interfere with computer wireless networking (usually 2.4gHz for 802.11b/g). Fluorescent lights, TVs, motors should not have much effect on 900mHz RF devices. The only other thing I might have some concern with would be 900mHz cordless phones, which might cause some interference since it uses the same range of radio frequency as the throttle. If you don't have 900mHz cordless phones, you should be good to go.
Thanks for the good news, guys. My friend was starting to get me worried. I've had interference problems with other electronic devices and it was sometimes a real pain to remedy the problem. This puts me back on the right track (pun intended).
I have not seen any interference from lights, etc., with my Radio Super Chief... even on public show layouts! Harold
Many R/C systems use 27 MHz (AM) which is particularly prone to the type of interference described. As stated earlier, the Digitrax radio system operates at 900 MHz (where there is little such interference) and uses a transmission technique that is less susceptable to boot. You should have no problem.
