Crosland

So we are where we were in the 70s/80s with multiple incompatible systems. Hornby were in that mix with Zero-1. DCC, as we know it today, developed, but it took time and NMRA standardisation. Perhaps, one day, there will be an industry standard DCC over Bluetooth system with interoperability between manufacturers.

I'm 99.9% certain the four-in-a-row resistors are the current sense for the DCC output and you have suffered a catastrophic overload, and let the magic smoke out. It looks like it was in a real hurry to escape one of the resistors. It's mechanical damage only in the sense that the overheating destroyed them. They will not be hard to replace if you can still read the value on one of them, but you need to identify and fix the cause first. After that you may find the output MOSFETs are also blown, even if there's no obvious damage. They are the block of 4-components just above the resistors. They will be much easier to remove with a hot-air de-soldering tool.

I had to tweak the SPROG firmware to enable it to handle large Zimo decoders (specifically an MX695, which looks similar). It was specific to the way the SPROG senses the current at start up and then discriminates the programming acknowledge pulses. I doubt the prodigy advance works the same way as the SPROG but it could well be something related to these decoders and the Prodigy. Having said that, the fact that you don't get the usual motor pulsing is odd. Is it a particularly efficient coreless motor in the loco? It might not be drawing enough current for the Prodigy to see the acknowledge pulse. The classic bodge in this case is a resistor across the programming track. Choose something that, for the Prodigy programming track voltage, gives a standing current of, say, 50mA, and experiment from there. Andrew Crosland

I hate to see disappointed customers. There are instructions on our download page about getting an old SPROG II (not a IIv3 or IIv4) with newer versions of Windows. We decided it wasn't worth the money to sign the drivers and then Microsoft tightened up the rules. Since Win 8 you need to disable driver signature enforcement when installing the drivers. Alternatively you can order an upgrade, which requires the SPROG to be returned to us. This will make the old SPROG work with the latest signed drivers from FTDI so you don't have to jump through hoops. look for the SPROG II signed driver upgrade on our website. It should work fine with an XP computer. I would try and remove any drivers and then try installing the drivers again. It's a two step process, once for the basic USB serial drivers and again for the SPROG itself. Windows will prompt you to accept the unsigned drivers. Andrew Crosland www.sprog-dcc.co.uk

Did you try the internet archive? I don't have the link, nor do I have Digikeijs, so haven't tried it myself.

With my pedants hat on, they are functions. See NMRA standard S-9.2.2 where the forward and reverse headlight functions can be mapped to various output wires.

So what does this mean https://us13.campaign-archive.com/?u=9687385558a1289cf97083ac7&id=5cedcc1305 ? It would seem Hornby have decided to go against established standards, no surprise there, then.

It's the rubber breaking down. An old fashioned pencil eraser is good for cleaning the PCB, but, as you say, the problem will recur in time.

Pedantically, functions are selected on a cab and are internal to a decoder. A decoder can support many more functions than it has outputs (i.e. wire connections), that's what function mapping is for. You could, if you wanted, map F28 on your cab to some lighting effect. It doesn't mean the decoder has to have 28 physical outputs. Having said that, it would be unusual for a decoder to only support four functions, so I think Dapol (or whoever) are just mislabelling the number of wires as well as calling them functions. "function outputs" would be better.

I refuse to buy anything that is GSP. I once let GSP be set as default for sales and buyers complained about the cost of shipping. I cancelled the sales and re-listed without the GSP option.

Ahh, that makes sense. I did wonder if it was "print on demand" as I ordered a US published book at the same time which came in exactly the same format and "printed by Amazon". I had expected it to be US stock but they both took a couple of days, rather than the usual next day prime delivery.

Any decent e-commerce system will keep track of stock for you, once you set it up, and show stock levels and allow pre-orders or give an indication of lead times. OpenCart is free and does this (although there can be niggles).

As I understand there will be small UPS available for vulnerable people but they do not have a very long run time.

Interestingly, it's printed by Amazon, at least if you order from Amazon.

Not sure if this should be in Computer Control or DCC forum but, question as per the title, or thinking of using?

A lot of Squires electronic stuff is sourced from Rapid, or used to be. You could tell by the fact that the order codes were identical.

Switch mode supplies that do not have an earth connection (e.g. a two pin mains connector or a 13A plug with plastic earth pin) can also be treated as floating, but DO NOT simply use a plastic earth pin with a PSU that is designed to be earthed.

If you are just referring to the wiring to the buttons then it should be fine. I don't know the design, but there should be no appreciable current through them.

The SPROG has a very fast cutout, so you need a DCO with an even faster trip. Reports from other users say that Tam Valley products will work, if you can get them. The breaker doesn't have to be sub 1 Amp since a short will always be higher than this.

If the capacitors are rated high enough then you get more bang for your buck by increasing the voltage.

If VAT was paid at time of purchase, there is no liability for UK VAT. It sounds like the sender, or UPS, have screwed up the paperwork.

A thread for small traders to recount how some customers can be "different" or "difficult" would probably run to a few pages. Happily, I've not had too many. I remember one who described JMRI (open source software for DCC systems) as "hippy groupware" and tried to complain to one of the MR magazines. This is NOT a dig at anyone posting in this thread.

First point of call in situations like this should always be the Wayback Machine, or Internet Archive. Try here https://web.archive.org/web/20210618002929/http://www.bromsgrovemodels.co.uk/ at least some of the links work.

This may be a good thing (see below) The issue is that every phone in the building that has WiFi turned on (how may people turn it off when they leave the house?) will be trying to connect to the internet through the router. Yes, but it's the WiFi connection that is the issue, and it is an issue. Having a stand-alone router of a good pedigree (I've no idea what is supplied with the Z21, hence my "may be" comment) might help in that it will cope better with all the connection requests. An MR company's own designed WiFi access point may not be quite so robust and could suffer badly. Agreed.

Can't help, other than to say https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/ doesn't know about them.