S2 E7 DC/DCC Controller Review 

Nice you're back James hoping health issues are settled. I'm standing at the cross roads to switch to dcc after sixty years tinkering around model railways since I was five. I will still have a loop or two of super four from Triang for those locos. Your film has encouraged me as these units are reasonably priced having been warned again Hornby Bachmann type dcc units. All the best thanks again

Hi James, really interesting to see a combined dc and dcc controller in one. A major flaw with this is you can select dcc by inadvertently selecting the wrong button when running a dc loco and according to the manual destroy the unit - there is a disclaimer in the manual. In my view ANE should have foreseen this and either put in suitable protection so that no harm befell their unit or (less preferable) made it extremely difficult to make inadvertent selections e.g. press two buttons at once to toggle dc to dcc and vice versa. I haven't the patience to dial in addresses or CV numbers that are far apart e.g. 3 to 8000 to 222 etc if using loco numbers (but that can be got around by starting at 1 and numbering sequentially! Other than that for the money and functionality it looks a good item. Stephen

Hi James, nice to see you back, another fantastic informative film , looking forward to more :-)

Welcome back James... great video, you do great work, good to see the progress.

Very glad to see you are back James

James. Great to have you back. Fascinating video. Pete.

Hi James, nice to see you back! Good video! Not seen this product before, which you explained very well! I’m looking at new controllers at the moment, so this one is definitely on my list to take a better look at! Thanks again, keith

thankyou for this video, as someone that rediscovered my passion for the hobby after a 30yr sabbatical (motorbikes/women/beer), i have watched and learnt a lot from wonderful people willing to share their wisdom and advice, i only really new dc when i started on my layout and i have always been aware of dcc and this is perfect. absoloutley brilliant !!!!!

Good to see you back James.

Good to see you back, James. Hope you're fully recovered. I guess that there is a very limited market for something that can control both DC and DCC, so well done this company for producing something that passes your quality control checks. ;) I noticed an American youtube channel dropping hints about a new ballasting system coming from England, and guessed that might be your vacuum system. Good to see what is a great solution to every railway modeller's bugbear getting traction around the world. Congratulations!

Good to see you back James. Look forward to some more interesting videos. Don't worry about running trains, building the layout is more interesting.

Merry Christmas James Cheers Greg from Australia

Hello James, it’s good to see you back uploading videos and I hope that, whatever the issue was, you’re now restored to full health. I started following your channel relatively recently, after seeing a shoutout from Paul Apps, and I have to say that I’ve been enjoying the videos very much. It has taken me 2 or 3 months to watch all the videos on the Bexhill West project, but just as I was getting up to date, I could see that there were no new videos being created and was concerned that, for some reason, you might be abandoning the project or your RU-vid channel. Thankfully, neither was the case. It’s been interesting to watch the extent to which the project has grown, but I have to admit that there were occasions when I was practically screaming at the screen, imploring you to stay focused and not to go off on yet another tangent and not to undo or redo what was previously considered to be finished. (As a former IT Project Manager, scope creep is anathema to every fibre of my being!) Still, so long as you’re enjoying the journey, it’s not for me to criticise the meandering path which you take. In fact, in some ways, it adds to the enjoyment. Please keep the videos coming and I promise I’ll try not to scream too much! Stay safe and well. Stephen

Hi James. Glad to see your still modeling. I never knew DC and DCC could be controlled using one piece of kit. Loved watching the locomotives running past your plateform which helps to bring your station alive. I'm already looking for to the next one. 🚂🚃🚃🚃

Hi James, Thanks for the video. It is a nice controller. Great to hear you found a way to ship the vacuum ballaster overseas! Regards, Rudolf from the Netherlands.

Hi James - enjoyable and interesting video as always. Glad to see your ballast vacuum system is picking up, sorry could not resist the pun, but well done you. You have improved it, that's interesting. Sorry I have not had a go on my layout yet but I will eventually. Regards Chris

Glad to have you back excellent stuff. The station is looking top drawer really really good. The controller is an excellent find and will suit me when I get to it. Currently all DC gaugemaster off eBay! Would be interested in your cover should I pick one up. Looking forward to the next vlog. Cheers Ade

Good evening gentleman. I take the adress of the retailer of this dual DCC/DC controller. I'm in for one, having a mixed fleet of DC and DCC engines in OO and HO (and not wishing to spend money on DCC decoders for my japanese and american locomotives too). For the price, it does more than a MRC/Gaugemaster Prodigy (accessory decoder for instance) for less money (this one is GBP 120 ready to use, the Prodigy is GPB 183, all retailer's prices). The only drawback I see for me is the lack of a numeric keypad to enter directly the adress of a specific locomotive or accessory... I am numbering my engines by their side number for UK ones, and type number for german and italian ones, it's the best way to not mess with the "callsigns" of my engines. Except the fact that I have to use abridged numbers for BR steam engines due to the limit at 4 figures instead of 5 dur to DCC norm limitation. Hence, for the locomotive 44215, I shorten the side number to 4215 for instance. It's not a great deal to spin the wheel to get the 74 of my DB BR 74 for instance, but it becomes a little annoying when you entering a 740 for my italian Gr. 740, and frankly more for my GWR 9425... But I think it's not something that can justify a no-go. If there is a memory on the controller to store engine numbers to recall them later (I have not read the entire manual yet), that would be a practical solution. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Hi James- Good to see you back and I hope you are fully recovered. I think this controller might work for me using it to run in trains on DC on a rolling road andn then testing and programming when putting in a DCC decoder . As I dont have a program track on the layout I can do this indoors using a small baseboard from Scale Model Scenery . Have a great Christmas Cheers Kev

Rail Pro work on either DC or DCC, its not fussy. 1 system - runs on both, no need to change anything on your trains, just how you power the layout when you want to grow in to a DCC system for added features.

Just bought one Nov 2022 and when tested it didn't work. Took the liberty to open the power section not the mains power pack and found a broken wire on what looks to be a added piggy back hard wired output chip with 8 wires soldered to various points on the main board and not very well at that. The wire concerned was soldered to the pad of a (not installed) resistor however the pads are not designed to support heavy loose wires which can / will move when handling or when in transit so in my case the pad was snapped off the board and was still attached to the soldered end of the wire. It was easy to see where the pad lifted however was almost impossible to trace its feed on the lacquered board however I managed to trace it with a multi meter and re soldered the wire to a alternative stronger point. I also felt the hand controller was too light for my liking making it feel cheap so I added some weight to the inner case and base plate so now it feels of value compared to its overall nice appearance and finish. The other issue I have relates to how much output current it can provide as this does not appear to be mentioned anywhere on the box or enclosed instructions. The power brick is rated at 15v x 60w which equates to 4 amps but I'd seriously doubt if the controller could actually supply this to the track as the added output chip has no heat sink and would no doubt cook. Generally speaking the overall presentation and appearance is very nice but the internal construction of the power unit leaves much to be desired. It looks like its output stage has been upgraded with the stuck on piggy back I.C. and its associated poor wiring. The other potential problem is that if one were to drop the hand controller on a hard floor the plastic case may crack something I'd rather not evaluate. To conclude, its probably ok if you just want to run one not too heavy loco / train but for more than that possibly not really worth the money. I'm ok with it though as I just bought it as a controller to bench test both DC & DCC loco repairs, decoder installations etc and not for operating in conjunction with my layout.

Hello James Great to see another informative and very interesting vlog. In my opinion I find that a lot of RTR models are very noisy and unresponsive until you have engaged the throttle up to and over one third of its operating capacity before any movement is seen. I also find that a good kit built locomotive is a far better all round performer than most RTR models. In fact I would argue that a good built kit locomotive with Romford wheels and bearings, high level gear box and chassis and a good motor would be hard for any RTR model to emulate. Of course practice makes perfect and my first kit was far from it but as I watched Tony Wright build his kit built locomotives then most of my questions were answered and my models improved vastly. My point being though that a well built kit locomotive will perform very admirably with most controllers. Stay safe, keep sharing and model on. Regards Lee

Sorry James, but I must correct you. At 20:40 you made a comment about the loco having assistance from the "hand of God" when, in fact, it was an 0-5-0 that came to the stricken locos help!😏 Anyway, good to see yet another one of your informative and well presented videos👍

Hello James That's interesting, I never knew such a piece of kit existed. Could I just ask, is it still your intention to produce your ballasting system in N gauge?

~20:00 really nice looking coachs, fine details - spoted some of the windows are open (must be summer then) and door handels only on one of both done yet, is it prototypical that the footboard looks slippery? "probable next week" may exchange that phrase with "when it works as planned, as soon as the video about it is ready" in future Controller: Not seen before. Plug only BS 1363 (Type G) the one for UK? Controlling three things with the same rotary knob - with more locomotives running at the same time ... - with as it appears one hand contoller (or can you add a second, third, ...? / there would be a USB socket on the command station)? Something generally: DCC always gives the full voltage and ampère -> good low speed shunting. With DC you regulate by the voltage, locomotives of some manufacturers do not deal well with low voltage, that´s why the manual of the controller says 20. Bus wiring - yes you are just testing I know- see "Boomer Dioramas" "How To Wire The Scratch Built Turnout | River Road - Vlog #19" secound minute that is a bus Till hopefully soon edit: Nearly forgotten to mention the nicely done flat car - what did it deliver? ;)

Hey James, That station building is looking absolutely fabulous. I posted already on another video of yours about your ballasting tool, but you may get too many messages. I'm living in New Zealand and wanted to order your ballast vacuum systems but had to learn you are not shipping to New Zealand. Is there nay way to overcome this slight issue? Cheers, Klaus

I often wonder if I need a new controller, my n gauge layout runs off a basic Hornby DC controller, never have any issues but I don't have anything to compare it with. All the best Anthony.

1 big important point you left out NO POWER LEAD TO TRACK WITH PLUGS ON THE GREEN ONES YOU HAVE where did you get them from i got my controller today cant use it its usless with out the lead

Interesting, isn't it, how operating models are an order of magnitude more complex than static models?

Hi James I recently purchased a ballast vacuum set from make it miniature which I received, I do have a question for you. The collector has a 10.02mm connection for a 10.00mm ID Pipe, whereas the separator cap on the inlet size has a connection size of 12.04mm. The outlet side of the separator cap is also 12.02mm. This means that with a 10mm ID pipe I cannot connect to the separator cap with out having a step down connector between the pipes. Would you like me to return the parts to you for your appraisal or can you please send me a replacement separator cap with 10.00mm bosses.

11:30 DC PWM into a three pole motor, it´s better with a five pole.