Is USB the best option for connecting JMRI to NCE Powercab? - Model Railroader Magazine

 Not sure what you are getting at? The PH Pro command station is essentially unchanged since the earliest days of DCC< hence an actual serial port and not a USB. Thje problem with FTDI cheapo cables is that the cheapo ones are usually counterfeit FTDI chips which FTDI has made an issue of by having their drivers brick the chip. They caught some legitimate FTDI chips too, which natually angered many end users, who complained to the cable or device manufacturer, and the backlash on FTDI was pretty epic. But that was a couple of years ago. A GENUINE FTDI chip is generally fine. 

 The NCE USB interface is a completely differnet thing. It's meant for the PowerCab systemn, and has a USB one one end to go to the computer, and talks via the cab bus on the other end. Everythign the PowerCab can do, can be accessed via commands set over the cab bus. This is not true of the PH Pro. The serial port has more access to the system side of things than you cna get through the cab bus, so for full functionality you need to connect via the serial port. Be that an actual serial port or through a serial to USB adapter.

                                     --Randy