Finally made a choice

Eventually narrowed the choice down to a final two: the Prodigy Advance (for Prodigy's UK distributors, click here) and the NCE.

However, having received replies to my queries from NCE in America and from Gaugemaster over here in the UK, neither look as though they are likely to meet UK radio frequency compliance requirements - certainly not in the near future. [NCE said that it would cost somewhere in the region of $50,000 to pursue UK radio compliance].

Considered going infrared (Dynamis or possibly Digitrax) but I just imagine having the same problems as with the TV remote control. The other factor with Dynamis that might prove problematic at exhibitions is that there are only four identification settings - so if there are five layouts at one exhibition, all using Dynamis, you might find yourself controlling somebody else's layout or worse still - somebady else controlling yours!

Oh - and I have never dreamt of using a DCC cab / controller to make a telephone call so why should anybody think that I might be tempted to ... (use Lenz).

It all leads me to believe that DCC has not quite come of age yet in the UK, largely due to our Government.

An ex colleague at Brunel University and British Region NMRA member, Tom Watson, uses NCE and said very good things about it. So - I opted for NCE; great all-round control features, nice cabs, radio is great should it ever be allowed in the UK and it is compatible with Railroad & Co. software crucially for me - (the Prodigy wasn't). I got the entry level NCE system that will perform as a fully functioning Power Cab Pro should I decide to purchase the full version.

If I decide not to go ahead and purchase the full version, we'll use it on my son's layout. He got the hang of it very quickly and he's just turned six.

Depending on whether or not I end up with an ECoS system (should they ever get around to developing some of the developments they keep promising), I can always use it with the ECoS through a 'sniffer' which lets you plug other DCC systems into theirs. So nothing lost really.

I'll be setting it up this month and will let you know how it develops. I also purchased some accessory decoders including the CML DAC10 which looks to be very exciting.