How does DCC work?
- You use a throttle (cab) to tell the system what you want a train to do.
- The throttle sends the information to the command station.
- The command station makes a digital packet out of the information and sends it to the booster.
- The booster* adds power to the digital packet and sends it out through the rail.
- The decoders in all locomotives (even those that are not running) read all digital packets, and decipher them to get the address contained in the data packet.
- If the packet address matches the decoder address, the decoder uses the rest of the packet information.
- If the address does not match, the decoder continues doing whatever it was doing - whether it was running forward, backward, with or without lights, or nothing at all.
* In many cases, the booster and the command station are together in one product.
The Digitrax Difference is LocoNet network for model railroads, which joins your railroad together into a unified system.