RailCom, the bidirectional communication

For 25 years, digital technology in the model railway world was a one-way street: a dense stream of information flowed from the command station to the decoders, and nothing came back in return.

This changed with the development of RailCom^® by Lenz Elektronik.

Renowned manufacturers from the DCC world then came together to ensure that model railway enthusiasts would no longer be deprived of the possibilities of modern information technology. By coordinating efforts, duplications and incompatibilities were avoided.

The efficient transfer of information from the decoders to the command station through "RailCom" (also known as "bidirectional communication") is the perfect addition to the DCC standard, the world's leading data protocol for model railways.

All current Digital plus locomotive decoders and the LZV200 command station are RailCom-enabled and preconfigured for RailCom operation.

Using RailCom with Digital plus

All Digital plus locomotive decoders (and the decoders in Lenz 0 locomotives) have RailCom "on board." They use both the so-called "local" and "global" RailCom.

Local RailCom:

Here, the locomotive decoder continuously sends its own address on "Channel 1" to RailCom detectors after each data packet in the track voltage. Such a detector for global RailCom is our address display LRC120. This display shows the address of the locomotive located in the monitored track section.

Global RailCom:

Here, the locomotive decoder only sends data when the data packet on the track is addressed to it. The decoder uses "Channel 2" and transmits various data back to the global RailCom detector in the LZV200. For instance, during operation, CV contents can be read and displayed on the LH101 handheld controller.

Models that have the status "sold out ex works" or no longer appear in this list may still be available from specialist dealers.