I am fairly new at this. I am looking at using the MRC Prodigy DCC as my first DCC system. I would appreciate hearing about any benefits or pitfalls with this system. Many thanks.

-- Terry Scheel (TerryMaverick@AOL.com), March 19, 2002

Answers

Dear Terry,

Why have you chosen the MRC Prodigy? I am not suggesting that anything is wrong with the system but may I suggest that you take the MRC Prodigy and compare it to the other DCC systems on the market to further evaluate its capabilities versus the competition. Tony's Train Exchange has an excellent web site and you will also find that he has some comparison tables on DCC systems. The bottomline is what can you spend for a DCC system and what features do you require to run your railroad. From what I have read the MRC Prodigy has some programming limitations and requires an additional throttle device to handle consists.

-- David F. Butts (davidbutts@sprintmail.com), March 19, 2002.

I am not a MRC basher,but I have the command 2000 and I'm not all that happy with it. I have read severaL Comments by other people and I wonder if MRC is THE way to go in DCC. I agre with the first answer that you should investigate other manufacturers before spending your money. In my opinion, MRC has some very fine products, but I wonder about their DCC products.

-- Andy yodis (chiefsplicer@hotmail.com), March 24, 2002.

Obviously, the best advice is to compare systems and determine whats best for you. I started out with a radio Digitrax big boy (A Major investment in both money and time). Not being either electrical or computer minded, I was in way over my head. I then bought an Atlas Commander. It proved to be simple to set up and use, but was a bit less than I wanted (and needed). Finally, tried the MRC Prodigy. It also is easy to set up and use. There are some limitations (maximum of 31 addressed locomotives plus one regular DC loco). Addressing is to the numbers up to 32 you can't use the road number unless it happens to coincide with (1-32). I haven't yet figured out how to build a consist but it can be done so I am told by the techies at MRC.

The techies at MRC are only a phone call away if you need help. There are lots of web sites with info on DCC, search, read the FAQ pages. Tony's train exchange and Loys Toys pages are among the better ones. Of course they would like to sell you something, but both have been gracious and helpful to me.

Hope this info helps not just further confuses your situation.

-- Paul Boucher (pdsboucher@cs.com), March 30, 2002.

I like you are new to DCC ....I've looked all over the net trying to find all the info I could. then I hit tony's train exchange ,the dcc starter set comparison really put the starter sets side by side. in the end i picked up the digitrax super empire builder. it does more

-- gravity train (kash4@msn.com), September 19, 2002.

I, too, have been doing research on buying a DCC system. At first I was turned off by the high price of some of the systems, and the MRC Prodigy, having the lowest price, was very appealing. And it's supposed ease of use was also an attractive feature. After doing more researching, and downloading the product manuals for the Prodigy and other systems, I've decided that (a) it is limited, (b) isn't really that much easier to use than other systems, and (c) has a lousy owners manual. Currently I'm leaning towards a Lens System 90. When you look at the big picture, it isn't all that much more money for a much more capable system.

-- Bob Lafleur (bob_lafleur@technologist.com), October 21, 2003.

I know the MRC Prodigy DCC is limited and I expect I will outgrow it at some point. However, it was easy to install, I don't remember seeing the manual but I didn't need one, the instructions on the back of the controller was enough to get me started. For a novice, the system works as advertised, MRC is very helpful and quick to respond to email questions.

-- Bill Affleck (sierra2128@comcast.net), February 19, 2004.