Saying that DCC is more advantageous for a walk-around layout makes a bit of sense. Most club layouts are big enough that you have to walk around, whether the layout is really designed for that or not. On most club layouts you want to have lots of throttles, and DCC is the easiest way to accomplish that on a large layout. Saying (as Tony did) that DCC 'isn't useful' unless the layout is 'walk-around' doesn't make any sense to me. What makes the most sense for club layouts, in my opinion, is having both DC and DCC available so that modelers of varying preferences and financial resources can all join.
Digitrax decoders also do this with F6. I think the locomotive itself also has a lot to do with slow speed running as well as the decoder. Dad was showing me last night how his Bachmann GP7 with it's supposedly not so good factory equipped decoder was taking 25 minutes to get round a 4'x3' oval of track. As for evangelizing it's most often the 'I don't use DCC, never have, and never will' people who shout the loudest from the soapbox.
I'm jumping in pretty late here, and it looks like there's been some drama, so I'm going to admit right now that I didn't read the entire thread, and apologize if I'm repeating anything that's already been said. I've got no experience relevant to your first question, and sounds like you've got the answer to your second, so I'll focus on your third. Is your "well known" bay area store in Concord by any chance? If so, I know that they only carry NCE because that's what the owner prefers. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but somewhat limiting. Basically, which system you use comes down to personal preference. If you go with any of the major manufacturers, it will give you all of the standard DCC functionality, and if you just want the basics, really one is about as good as the other. My usual recommendation for choosing a DCC system is threefold. First, what functionality do you want out of the system? Do you want just basic DCC? Do you want to do signalling? Do you want the system to drive your turnouts? Do you want the system to be able to accept input from hardware (buttons, detectors, etc) on the layout? Make sure that the systems that you're looking at can support whatever functions you want to implement. If you're into some of the more advanced functionality, I know that there is third-party hardware available for Digitrax's system that vastly expands its capabilities. I know there is also third-party hardware available for some of the other systems, I'm just not as familiar with them. Second, what's comfortable for you to use? Try the different controllers available for the different systems, as in hold them in your hands and simulate using them. (Or even better, try them in operation on other layouts, if you can.) Personally, I think that Digitrax's UT4 is one of the easiest to use, but that just my opinion. Finally, what do your friends use? I know we were all taught to avoid peer pressure, but when it comes to DCC, this is an important consideration. If you go to their layout, or they come to yours, it's handy to be able to bring your own throttle. When I built my layout, I knew that I wanted to do detection, signalling, and computer control. Given those desires, DCC seemed like a natural choice. I took the plunge with Digitrax and haven't looked back. In my particular situation, DCC was the best way to go, and I've been very happy with it.
You know we all have the right to speak out say what's on our heart. I respect that. If something bothers you, you need to say something. We did have some fun with it...didn't we? Grin! I will try to tame it down but gosh how? I mean WOW! Once you see what DCC can do for you, well I guess it's safe to say that once converted you want to shout it out to the whole world...right? When it comes to Analog DC or DCC it's YOUR CHOICE! You can have one or the other or do like I've done and have both. After all "It's your model railroad and you make the rules" quoting Jim157.
Joe, Decoders are pretty much the same for the general use settings. Where they differ is in the advanced settings or features. Others have addressed the marketing speak, so I will let that go and focus on your question by way of examples. What they all have in common, is that to really have the locomotive move the way you want it to, you need to use the speed tables. They are not all that intimidating if you use JMRI's DecoderPro, a free download, or any other similar product. How you make it work depends on what DCC system you get. I run a mixed bag of decoders in my fleet based on how I want to locomotive to run. I use the concept of the best tool for the job at hand, rather than have 100% alliance to any one brand. For example, all mainline locomotives will usually have a Digitrax decoder in them because of the ease in which I can speed match the locomotives for consists. For steam locomotives, I prefer the Lenz Silver or Gold Mini. The reason here is that I like the way they instituted the algorythm for the BEMF and for Braking. It just seems smoother running to me using the Lenz on steamers especially at low speeds. For small switching locomotives, I use TCS because of the Dither feature. I find that feature makes the slow movement of yard switchers run a little smoother. Again just my impression/observation here not any sort of verifiable fact. This does not mean that they all are setup this way. I have Kato NW2's with both TCS and Digitrax decoders and I find the TCS wins out, but not by much. In fact it isn't even enough of a differece to entertain the idea of changing them. The same goes with several mainline locomotives that have either TCS or Digitrax. I even have some of my first DCC units with Lenz Silver Minis and they are fine too. No need to contemplate change. The point here is that it is the sublte nuances that are the differences between the manufacturers. Digitrax is the only major vendor that supports TRIM, while TCS has the best lighting control. Availability is usually the reason for choices though. When I made the conversion to DCC, only Digitrax made decoders for the bulk of the Kato locomotive releases. Now, almost 10 years later, NCE and TCS are making decoders for Kato locomotives too. So it is a mix of things that end up making the decision for you. The only gotchas between the decoders and the command stations is sometimes the programming track power levels are not sufficient to power the decoder for programming. One case that comes to mind is some Lenz decoders have issues with Digitrax programming tracks, but the easy fix is a resistor across the rails. An even easier fix is if you plan to program sound, then Soudntraxx and other make a device to supply more power to the programming track to charge up the capacitors on the sound decoder faster. If you have any of these devices on your programming track, you will never have any issues with decoders and command stations. In hope this helps! It is really a good time now to start using DCC.
