VERY INFORMATIVE!!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍🏾

Keep in mind smoke units take almost an amp by themselves though. I started with the NCE, with 4 locos it was ok.. until the second I tried to turn on a single smoke unit. Then the locos would cut out. So I added the 5 amp smart booster and haven't had a problem since. I have it switched to 13.8 volts ✌️

I would like to thank you for all of your awesome and helpful videos. I’ve spent the last month watching all your videos and I’m finally caught up! It is amazing how much has changed in the 30 plus years I’ve been away from the hobby and am excited to get back into it.

So... One train with back-to-back locos and maybe a switcher in the yard... 1.5 amps. Thank you, sir, you just saved me a good chuck of money! :-)

May the Lord God bless ye, son! This is just what I needed to know. I'm extremely grateful. Who needs a booster? Not me! (I hope.) Seriously, this puts most of my concerns to rest. I was probably about to "overboost". Thanks so much, Larry.

Thank you Larry, what a good concise Analysis of DCC Command and Booster Units. You always make it so easy to understand, Thanks.

Hi Larry, another useful summary. Just for info I use an NCE Powercab plus a MERG booster (similar to Tam valley). Gives 5amps to two throttles driving 6 gauge 0 locos.

Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed.

Very fine explanations! Thanks!

Thank you for the intro to SPROG. I was looking for a better way than the Digitrax PR4 to create a programming only track for JMRI.

Brilliant Larry,thank you

This was an interesting one, Larry. I usually turn on the CCs in case I miss a word or so when you speak. This time when I turned the CC on, it was in Dutch. Yes, Dutch. I went to the settings and had it translated into English and the result was gibberish. So now we know when a computer translates from English into Dutch and back into English. the result will be nothing but gibberish. Just thought you might like to know. Fortunately, I still hear well enough not to rely on CCs.

Great video as I am new to the hobby and I have gotten a lot of information from your videos

Awesome! I use NCE for my DCC system. I have the SB5 for the booster/command. I may purchase a generic booster in the near future. Do you guys remember the "Loys Toy's" booster? That was one of the best units out there. Too bad they had to shut down years ago.

Good video Larry. If you could post the links you mention at the end of this, that would be even better! Power Districts wiring and Power Management is something Im keen to learn more about. EDIT, Oh my mistake, I see they're at top right of the screen!

Replaced all my Digitrax equipment with Digikeijs equipment this year. Couldn't be more pleased with the DR5000.

Thanks Larry!.

Hi Larry, Duncan at Tam Valley has Stage IV lung cancer. They also had another long time Tam employee pass away. They still have the boosters and frog juicers, but they have no parts for the rest of their products due to the world-wide electronics shortage and have discontinued many products. Looks like they currently have juicers and the boosters. I had settled on the octo for my turnouts, so sad to see that gone. Prayers for Duncan and the family.

Question, what about DCC-EX that would also be a command station

Great DCC Command Station/Booster primer, thanks for sharing! To clarify, command stations and booster use is based on amperage, not length of bus around layout?

The CC is in Dutch! So funny. I have my volume way up because I am 80 % deaf. (My wife will be hollering at me soon! LOL) Great video in spite of the language! As usual!

I love your work and your knowledge for DCC which brings me to a question. Will it work putting a AR1 to operate on a turn table? Or is there a better way for a turn table that isn’t DCC. Thanks

Larry, not sure why, but the captions for this video only are in Dutch ;-) Great video, it turned out I did not need the captions. Whew!!

Question, I have a double decker 16X 26 layout, n Scale the bottom level will have signals. I plan to use on the bottom 2 PM 42's, 2 BDL 168's and 1 SC8C. I have a db150 will that be enough to power the lower level? The Upper level has DCS 200 and a dc200+ booster 1 runs half the upper and the booster runs the other. I used 14 gage wire. Would I be better getting a new Booster like the DB 210? The lower level is in the planning stage and no wires ran yet. Thanks for sharing!

The part that I haven't been able to figure out is what kind of bus system the command station uses. I'm familiar with the Ethernet protocol (either CD or CA) as well as various packet switching networks but I don't know what each manufacturer uses. My suspicion is that different manufacturers use different protocols and, that means there are pros and cons to each manufacturers bus system. Also, I don't know enough about the protocol on the DCC system. With it being "one way", I understand what is going on but what I don't know is how signals are repeated and how often. So if you issue a throttle change and you turn off the power to that section of track, then adjust the throttle, then turn the power on, does the engine remember the first speed or is the second speed repeated at some interval? And, does the NMRA standards dictate this or is this based upon what the manufacturer wants to do?

Super video😍😉🇨🇿👍🍻🚂

Ok.... about boosters. Does the signal from the command center go through the booster to the track and therefore be boosted or does the command and booster parallel to the track?

Hi Larry (The DCC Guy). I'm a fairly recent subscriber to your KZfaq channel, and I find your videos interesting and valuable. I download pretty much all of them for future reference. I need some DCC assistance or advice. I model in "Finescale S," meaning 1:64 model railroading, but no American Flyer and no "high-rail" either. I, and other S scalers such as myself, use the latest NASG-NMRA track and wheel standards, with prototypically-scaled rail. and near prototypically-scaled dimensions for wheel width and flanges. I use code 100 rail for my main lines, mostly code 83 for sidings and code 70 for my limited narrow gauge and dual gauge sidings. My layout is under construction, and is modular or sectional so that I can take it to train shows and display and promote "Finescale S," as I did this past weekend, up in Farmington, Utah, at the "Intermountain Train Expo." My layout as it presently stands does not have curved sections yet, but has 40' of straight sections, with some interesting trackwork. There is a local American Flyer club that also always displays at these shows (Golden Spike American Flyer Club), and while they are friendly enough, our equipment is not mutually compatible. We might as well be N scale and O scale. Many years ago one of the prominent S scale dealers had a plug on the web site for DCC, and in particular, Lenz DCC. Having zero experience at that point with DCC, I bought a Lenz starter set from them at the time. I had also purchased from them a really nice A-B set of DCC-equipped F-3s, and I also converted a couple of brass steamers with Tsunami decoders. My new Lenz DCC system was working just fine at that time, though I didn't get too deeply involved in the more sophisticated aspects of DCC or the capabilities of my Lenz system. But my DCC-equipped locos at the time worked well on my Lenz-powered DCC system, and I was happy with it. I also routinely adjusted my decoder CVs, to optimize operation. All that worked fine. But circumstances being what they have been, I haven't used my DCC system or even operated trains for a considerable period of time since then, though I have continued to build, acquire, or otherwise work on my S scale equipment. But this past weel at the NMRA Intermountain Train Expo, I couldn't get my DCC system to work at all, so I just ran my yet unconverted locos using DC. Formerly, I used the AC leads on my 60-year-old MRC power pack as a power source for my DCC system, which worked fine. However this past summer my 60-year-old MRC power pack finally died, so I bought a "new" (used) MRC power pack off of Ebay. It had a more modernized plastic case, but it seemed to be otherwise the same as what my old (copper colored) MRC power pack had, as far as features and electrical feeds, etc. At any rate the new MRC power pack runs my DC locos just fine. But I don't know if the DCC failure to operate is somehow the fault of the "new" MRC power pack or not. When I hook up the DCC system, and turn the power pack on, the readout on the controller seems normal, and I can call up a loco number etc, but I can't get any movement or sounds from the locomotive I'm trying to control. The "E" on the read out is blinking, which it doesn't do during normal operations, and I cannot find where in my instruction manual what the blinking "E" is supposed to mean. Also on the command station, the little red LED is blinking, which I know is indicating something not right. According to the manual, this blinking red LED indicates either a short in the track work, or else insufficient power from the power source. But the manual also says that pretty much any power source is sufficient to at least test the system or run one loco. To try to rule out a short, I took a length of flex track not connected to anything else, and connected this to the DCC track output, and tried to make the loco go. Same result, no effect, so that seemed to rule out a short in the track work on my modules. So that is where I stand, and I don't know if the problem is very, very minor, or a broken Lenz DCC system. I also can't find anywhere on line where I can talk about and hopefully troubleshoot Lenz DCC systems. I did find up there at the train show that NO ONE new anything about Lenz, to help me troubleshoot, but that most of the operators there knew all about, and used, Digitrax. You probably don't know too much about the Lenz system (forgive me if I am wrong on that), but you do know a lot about Digitrax. Most of the other model railroaders I spoke with at the show do Digitrax, though some of them say that others that they know love their NCE systems. But at any rate, it would be nice to know others who operate on the same system as I do. I could find no useful videos on KZfaq about the Lenz system, so all I can figure to do is to continue to study the Lenz operating manuals, and putter around with my system, to perhaps where it will finally work. I don't know. As far as operational requirements, let me say this: If I am successful in completing (more or less) my eventual sectional layout master plan, I will have two standard guage parallel mainlines, one narrow gauge line, and a couple of locations for yard or other switching activities. Eventually I hope to run simultaneously an A-B-B-A lashup on one mainline, and perhaps a large steam double header on the other mainline, for example, along with a narrow gauge steamer, and perhaps some other locomotive activities on the layout, so I guess eventually I hope to be able to run up to 8-10 locos at the same time. S locos pull more current than an HO loco, but not a lot more. To accomplish this, I expect I'll need from 3-5 controllers, which I hope to be wireless. My corded Lenz controller was fine with only three 6' layout sections, but I've already outgrown that now. So I know that even if I do keep my Lenz system, the capabilities will have to be expended when my ultimate layout may approach completion. But I'm not sure if I want to stay with Lenz. So you see I am considering replacing the Lenz System even if I do get it to work. But I don't want to spend money or effort needlessly. I thank you if you have waded through all this, but I'm curious to see what you would recommend to me, and what ultimate DCC system you might suggest that would handle the operating requirements described above. Thank you so much for your KZfaq channel, and the wonderful information you impart. Please keep up the good work!

Another thing to consider with boosters is unrelated to the actual power consumption: the number of stations on the layout. Whenever someone fouls a switch or a derailment causes a short, the power goes out in the entire booster district. Even if it comes back on automatically, it's pretty confusing, especially if the person causing the short is far away from you. It can be frustrating when that happens. Sometimes you just don't know if the booster cut power due to a short or your engine has simply stalled on a dirty section of track. That's why we try to set up one booster per station on our modular layouts. When something goes wrong it's usually in a station and it's a lot easier to quickly figure out what's going on when everyone in your booster district is right next to you.

I am starting a new layout using Atlas true track. What videos do you have to show me how to wire for dcc?

Another good, clear video - thanks for taking them time to do these. A tangential question, since you mentioned the scale switch on the Digitrax command stations: what would happen if it were accidentally set to the wrong scale, e.g. if you have a visiting grandchildren who likes to flick every switch they come across. Presumably if you had an O scale layout and it got switched to N, that wouldn't be a problem - it'd just be a bit underpowered? But vice versa?

Would the Tam Valley booster work with a Power Cab or is an SB5 better?

will a 210 work with a ut4 though a up5

Ok, I've heard numerous anecdotal stories from people with large layouts running heavy current loads due to numerous trains at once (say 8 or more rains with MUed locomotives, including long passenger trains with lighted coaches - lets say 10 lighted coaches per passenger train) that many problems are resolved when the command station is simply used as a command station, The general storyline is that as the command station approaches is current limit errors become more prevalent so the Rail A and Rail B connections are removed so the only contact the command station has with the layout is through the Loconet terminals and the programming track output. All layout rail power is then provided by the boosters only and the layout becomes much more reliable with very few errors, no shutdowns etc.. Would you care to offer commentary on this, either way?

NCE makes a 5 amp command /booster station

To many shorts killed my db 150

👍🏻

The DCC Concepts 5 amp Booster works PERFECT with the NCE Power Cab. Why would I Pay $200 for the NCE Booster when the Super High Quality DCC Concepts is $100? Higher Quality in my humble opinion as well.

@10.15 mins - Way out of date Larry. Lenz haven’t produced a separate stand alone Command Station for 15 years or more. They combined the LV100 Command Station with its matching Booster, into the LZV100 in the early mid 00’s. However, NCE still make a stand alone Command Station (without a built-in booster).