Running MTS/DCC loco on analog track

Mobi

Mobi

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When an MTS/DCC loco is run on analog DC track power (using stock LGB analog controller)

1. Will the loco run with directional light feature enabled?
2. How the horn will be activated?
3. Is it possible to the loco to stand still with lights on?
4. Will the speed of loco be same if were run using MTS/DCC?

So, in brief, what DCC feature will be missed by running in analog mode?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe DCC is AC where as analog is DC.

How can a Buhler motor (which runs on DC) work on AC? Do the DCC locos have internal circuit for AC to DC conversion? Does it auto detect when input is DC rather than AC?
 
Firstly, DCC is not AC per se, but it is a variable voltage, actually a frequency modulated signal.

Modern LGB locos have electronics inside that can enable it to run on either DCC or Analogue (DC).

The lights will operate once the power is on. The horn might sound when the loco moves off if it is factory fitted with a LGB decoder, or it may have a track magnet activated horn depending on the model.

You may be able to get the lights on if they are set so the come on before there is enough DC voltage to start the motor. I used to do this with my Aristo Train Engineer.

The speed will be similar....
 
One thing to note (as you are new to this) is that DCC is not the same as sound!

You can have analogue (DC, track-powered) loco's with sound in.. They 'chuff' (roughly) at the right rate as speed increases, and may have reed switches under them (mostly hidden inside) so they can sound the whistle(horn if diesel), or bell, as they pass over a magnet between the rails.

You can also have a DCC loco which does NOT have sound.


Sorry to make it seem complicated, but would not want you to buy a first loco, and not get what you were expecting.
 
Oh, and if you are running either on DC, then the only way to sound the whistle / bell is with a magnet and reed switch. - Though as Gizzy says, sometimes a DCC loco sounds a 'starting signal' whistle as it moves off.
 
Mobi said:
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe DCC is AC where as analog is DC.

How can a Buhler motor (which runs on DC) work on AC? Do the DCC locos have internal circuit for AC to DC conversion? Does it auto detect when input is DC rather than AC?
Click to expand...

The output from a decoder to the motor is DC. As Gizzy said above,the feed from the base station to the track is a frequency modulated signal which is basically AC, but not quite because it is being messed about with to enable the control signals to be sent. So the decoder receives a messed about AC but outputs DC. Under analogue control, the decoder detects the DC current.
 
When you turn up the DC voltage to the track, the decoder in the loco typically needs around 6-7V before the electronics in the decoder can "wake up", at which point the programming looks for a DCC signal in the track. If there's no DCC signal the decoder will interpret the track voltage as DC and will power lights and motor *unless* that ability has been deliberately turned of in the decoder configuration.

Under DC the DCC fitted loco won't stand still with its lights on, unless you can find a narrow point on the control knob where there is enough voltage in the track for the decoder to be alive but before the motor moves (as Gizzy said).


So, what will you be missing when you run a DCC loco on analogue DC? No control over lights and smoke, no control over sounds (if fitted with sound). No ability to control the loco speed and direction independently of others on the same track (which of course is a big plus of DCC). It should behave pretty much just like any DC-only loco, although it will need the control knob turning up higher before it moves off. Top speed may be slightly lower due to voltage drop in the electronics.
 
The DCC loco runs bit slower because some voltage is eaten up by decoder.

Also the intensity of light is same at any speed unlike analog loco where intensity varies with voltage.
 
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