Excellent endorsement of blueraildcc. That being said, I have some questions/concerns:
@3RaylFan posted:The drawback for me is that you are committing to a system (railpro). Its not the sort of train control system you can dip your feet into.
But isn't blueraildcc a proprietary control system as well? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
I'm a 3-railer. I got the new BlueRailDCC and I like it. The first loco I chose to put it in is less than 2 amps, so I bought the $95 board.
A similar spec railpro board would cost less than $50 without sound and under $100 with fully customizable sound.
So basically, I liked the way I could spend a little money, "try it out" and then move up when I was comfortable. Rail Pro is tempting, but it has that $400 starter barrier (starter kit plus 1 decoder) which I haven't been able to commit to.
While it is true that the railpro starter kit is $400, to achieve the same results could be had like this:
1. $30-40 railpro computer interface that allows you to do everything the railpro controller can do for 10% of the cost.
2. $50-100 railpro decoder.
3. Wireless computer to phone interface/casting device to mirror the computer screen onto a phone. Easy wireless control.
The BlueRailDCC decoders (2-amp) cost $15 more than the RailPro decoders. The Rail-Pro starter kit is $320. You can get an iPhone 6splus for $50 on ebay (to control the BRDCC). I'm glad options like these are becoming available for O gaugers.
The main benefit of newer railpro decoders is that they can run on DCC tracks. And since DCC is not going to be completely scrapped anytime soon, there will be forward compatibility. Even if railpro vanished from the face of the earth right now, one would not be high and dry without a way to operate your railpro trains. Will blueraildcc do that?
