Earl, I bought a Lenz DCC set with an engine from SHS and am very happy with it. I have to admit that the SHS discount together with their having chosen it as their standard DCC offering was the deciding factor for me to go with the Lenz. I already had several box cars and reefers from SHS and was favorably impressed with their quality. Also, I was impressed with the quality of SHS's web site. So based on those impressions, I decided to take their advice, and the discount of course. It only took me a couple of minutes to set up the system and get started running my new engine. Set up involved connecting two power leads from the transformer to the command/booster, connecting another pair of wire between the command/booster unit and the track, plugging the LH100 throttle into the jack provided on the command/booster unit and plugging the transformer power cord into the wall outlet. At that point, the SHS F7 started to make very convincing prime mover idling noises, and the numberboard lights lit up. It took me a couple of minutes to actually get the engine to move, but that's because I read the book and it said that most mobile decoders are default set to address 0003 so I punched up address "3" and hit the forward button and the engine continued to purr, but did not budge. After a bit of head scratching, it turned out that the always thoughtful folks at SHS had pre-programmed the decoder in my F7 to the road number. As soon as I figured that out and entered that address, the engine responded beautifully. Lights, horn, bell, dynamic brakes, and automatic step ups in prime mover rpms to match throttle settings, together with precise motor control. Later in the same session, following the steps in the instruction manual, I learned how to access the PoM (programming on the main) mode and started to adjust the decoder settings to my liking. I had pretty much all the stuff I could possible do on a one DCC-equipped engine layout figured out in about and hour or two. I don't have a PhD in anything, but I have worked in electronics and computers for the last thirty years so I may have an edge in reading technical directions and the like. Someone else pointed out that just about any DCC set will run any decoder out there, and they are right. To me the main questions are how well you like the design of the throttles, 'cause that's what you get to work with on a constant basis, and can your starter set be expended and uppraded easily as and if your railroad and its power roster grows. I'm happy with the Lenz system on both counts. The LH100 "dispatcher's throttle" that comes with the SHS offered system is fully push button operated and has what I consider a very logical and easy to understand design. At first, I wished I had a nice big knob for speed control, like the LH90 "engineers throttle" and many other sets from other manufacturer have. That's because I wanted to be able to bring the engine's speed up and down slowly and smoothly and the idea of having to bump it up or down by a discrete step using a push button didn't seem like the best interface, particularly if I was going from stop to a fairly good clip (say 50 to 60 mph-scale speed). It turns out that the way you make the engine behave very smoothly is by setting the acceleration and deceleration CVs. Having lived with the LH100 for a while, I find that I like being able to quickly set the engine to a specific value quickly and let it ramp up (or down) smoothly to that speed based on the CV settings. As a benefit, operating this way with the prime mover RPM tracking the throttle settings, you get the effect of hearing the prime mover sound step up to the higher setting and then having the engine's speed over the track catch up to the throttle -- sort of like on the prototype, only lots smaller :). You might prefer a different system because they have a user interface (that's throttle, in model railroad terms) that you find easier to use, That's a personal choice and I'd encourage you to go with where you are comfortable. You're going to spend a lot of time with the throttle, and you need to be happy with its design and performance. I would point out that labeling of function buttons with their usual feature -- like Headlight for F0, horn (or whistle for F1, and Bell for F2 will pretty well exhaust the common mappings. What function code controls what decoder feature is pretty much a design variable that is not standard among manufactures past the three that I've listed, so there is really no good way to label the throttle buttons to match the functions of all your engines. But again, that's a question of personal choice that you'll need to decide for yourself. I'm just giving you my two cents because you asked us Lenz users to comment. To wind this up. I''m very happy with the Lenz system's design, ease of use, dependability and features. I plan to add a second jack and throttle to my system soon so that I can let guest engineers help me run the railroad -- not really an urgent need, considering how small the layout is, but it does seem like the friendly thing to do. I think the key strengths of Lenz are that it is in the vangard of innovation in DCC technology, has a solid rep. for quality and dependability, is easily expandable to just about any size that I'll ever need, and Lenz has made a commitment to providing upgrades to existing systems thought downloadable software updates so the system is not likely to be rendered suddenly obsolete because someone invents a new "must have" feature tomorrow or the next day. Hope this helps... Regards... Peter Gagnon
----- Original Message ---- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 11:22:16 AM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: DCC for beginners, advice please I have been reading the messages on this subject with interest. I am a little perplexed why there have not been any reports (testimonials) from users of the Lenz system. I have been expecting some reports since SHS has made the Lenz system components available in conjunction with their DCC equipped locos. They even have a specially priced starter set to include DCC loco and the basis Lenz components. What's the deal? Good or bad, I would like to hear some reports from users of the Lenz system, especially for operating the SHS locos. - Earl Henry, Nashville [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
