Dear All,
I have always fancied one of these
Lever Frames. linked to DCC decoders to operate the points and signals behind the frame. Although, you can have a wire-in-tube system and be almost completely prototypical in operation and much cheaper. Then this lever frame is the signal box and the DCC controller is the driver. On the other hand, I have so many old PCs knocking around, it would just be easier to build a control panel using JMRI and PanelPro. Then, I don't have to order a new frame every time I change the layout.
I think we often confuse these 2 major roles (driver and signaller) in DCC without even thinking about it. Even if you are a one-person operational team, the roles ought to be divided, in my way of thinking and not combined into one. In a club situation, there is even more reason to have these roles separated with perhaps a 3rd role of a dispatcher (district controller?) for running the fiddle yard and deciding on the make-up and route of the next train (or you run to a pre-determined timetable). I really don't see the point (ho, ho) of pushing lots of butons just to change a point or signal, and perhaps losing control of the loco while you are doing it. Some DCC controllers support this dual role better than others, but should we be combining them at all?
If you accept this division of roles, then you need 2 different control systems which suit the different requirements. Get the best DCC controller for operating locos, probably a wireless (radio or infra-red for large layouts), or a hand-held throttle type on a long cord (for smaller set-ups), with a slider or rotary knob. Then you need to decide separately on the best system for the points and signals, which might be a mimic board, lever frame, control panel on a screen, just like the real signal box.
I come from an IT background and I was always taught that you should build the user-interface (UI) to suit the task to be performed and not try to build one UI for all possible tasks. That's always more difficult can easily end up as a compromise between the best UI for each task.
Sorry for the long email which digresses from the original question, but this difference in thinking about our actual role, when we step-up to the model railway, may be why we get some people who really like these Viessman style panels versus some who are quite happy with a Hornby Select, and everything in between. Some people want to be a driver and some want be in the signal box. Probably most of us want to be both, as we are a one-person team at home, but not necessarily with the same control interface.
