ronnie thommo

Thank you gentleman, it’s as I thought. ITG, by a dongle, I just meant a wireless connector instead of the usual lead. You have both quoted the DCC05. I must admit I never considered that, but that’s a cheaper way of doing it as you say Ron, thanks Cheers Ronnie

Hi Folks I have a Gaugemaster Prodigy 2 controller which I would like to make wireless Can I do this by just buying the dongle, or do I have to buy a wireless adapted handset as well ? I notice you can get an upgrade kit to make it wireless, which includes another handset, but they are quite expensive, just wondered if my original handset will work with the dongle Cheers Ronnie

Ok guys so this is where we’re at. I’ve contacted Hornby today regarding this issue. Quite helpful to start with :- Try resetting the decoders via CV 8 back to factory settings and reprogram. No difference Set the sound default from 4, to 3. No difference Change the decoders round. Set the powered unit first and change over into dummy unit. No difference Need to send the decoder back for investigation. Already did that. Kept it 3 weeks. No fault found they said. Then stroppy ! Where did you get it from, send it back to them. Can’t do that. Got them from Warley, nearly a month ago, and i’ve fitted them with replacement speakers Must be the loco’s. You need to send the loco’s back to us. No way, it will now be the end of January before I get them back ! I value all your advice, but I ignored everything I believed in when I bought these, that being you get what you pay for. Mr Leggomanbiffo wants £236 for sound decoders for the HST’s Olivias isn’t far behind, a couple of hundred quid. Then there’s the speakers on top, a tidy sum. I paid £59 for these. The observant amongst you will recall a similar thread I put on regarding a TTS Class 66 decoder fitted in which the loco runs poorly at crawling speed. Again, I never did get the loco running right. In conclusion, I’ve done with these decoders. They are cheap, and very unreliable in my opinion. Your replies in trying to fix this problem are greatly appreciated, and thank you, however the ‘big’ boys just aren’t interested I have replaced the decoders with normal Gaugemaster decoders and the loco’s run lovely. Until I can afford the £200 ish required by the above sound fitting boys, it can remain silent. Ronnie

Hi guys I have the Guagemaster Prodigy 2 as my controller. RAF96, good point, someone else pointed out it could be down to dirty wheels/ pickups, so I’ve given them the treatment so to speak and they are now spotless but the issue is still there, and yes, it’s always the dummy car, not the power car, it doesn’t follow through to that. When programming, I was told to program them together on the programming track with the same address. I’ve done that, also one at a time, tried that. Also swapped the decoders over. I’ve tried that. All to no avail. As there are no guidelines in the paperwork that comes with the decoders, I’m assuming it’s a simple fix. If there was a process to follow then surely they would have pointed this out ? Cheers Ronnie

Cheers Philou, I know the TTS chips have a No 8 on the bottom, but they all do I believe . What you have said makes perfect sense actually & you could well be on to something here. i think I will call Hornby tomorrow and ask them about that & see if they’ve seen the issue before. It’s going to be something simple I think, but what, is the million dollar question ? I will update the forum on what they tell me. Thanks again Ronnie

Evening folks I am almost certain this will have been covered but finding the issue on hundreds of threads is difficult. Apologies if this is so I have fitted two Hornby TTS sound decoders to my Scotrail HST power cars Both start up, the lights work fine, but when they move off, the dummy sound and lights go off after about 6 ft of travel Why is this happening please ? Thanks Ronnie

Hi again Guys, Seems pretty simple to me, i'll have a play around with it later today I think i'll set it up as you have Cravensdmufan Now then RonRonRon, you have won tonight's star prize. I wondered who would tell me to refer to the manual first In a sarcastic fashion. Not sure what the F stands for though, shouldn't it be RTTM ? I was struggling with a camera I bought once, so I RTTM'd I was even more bamboozled when I'd read it than I was before, hence my dislike for them But as can be seen above, several helpful comments above have simplified matters. Simples, as the meercat would say ! Anyway, back to the subject in hand. I'm contemplating putting these decoders into a recently purchased Hornby Scotrail HST . By my calculations, to do it the DC Kits way would be a costing of around the £260 mark with decent speakers, as appose to around the £100 mark with TTS Once again, I know the DC Kits sound will be awesome, but that's a hell of a saving Can't get away with it for my 68 though. They don't do one for a 68, however I'm being advised to use the Class 67 example Same engine by all accounts Cheers guys Ronnie

Never changed CV’s before though How do you go about it with a Gaugemaster Prodigy 2 please ? Don’t want to do any damage ! Cheers

Great stuff. Thanks for that

Thank You both for your advice. Just to reiterate JST what Paul has said, the speaker is an 8ohm example, thanks for the good advice ! The loco the decoder is in is a Bachmann 66 ( 779 ) At this time it sits in a loose bit of heat shrink to keep it away from the circuit boards, but I’ll take your advice Paul and use your tape example. Just as a matter of interest, the loco judders quite a bit at crawling pace. It’s ok when you notch up a bit, but that is quite annoying. Have you found that issue at all ? What is your opinion of these Hornby TTS decoders guys ? Do you like them ? I must admit I think they’re pretty good for £40 Cheers Ronnie

Hi Guys, First of all apologies if these queries have been addressed previously, but there are loads of pages aren’t there on the subject ? Last week, I took the plunge, and purchased a Hornby R8121 Class 66 TTS Sound decoder. I figured, that for £40, it was worth the risk. If it was no good, it’s not the end of the world ! Having done some homework on these, I ditched the speaker which comes with it, and purchased a Rail Exclusive Big Boomer speaker. Now for the paranoia ! I read a report from someone somewhere, that these decoders get warm. ‘Now I’m not in the habit of feeling the tops of my loco’s, however having done so on this occasion, I’ve noticed the top is warm, not alarmingly, but warm non the less having been run for a couple of minutes, and stood stationary for 5ish minutes. Is this normal behaviour for sound decoders, I can’t say I’ve ever noticed this before. I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised by this decoder. I think it sounds really good, especially with the speaker change, and Hornby have captured the distinctive Class 66 sound very well. I think they need to be congratulated on bringing sound to modellers that can’t afford the £118 decoder that DC Kits produce as an example ( I’m not knocking the Leggomanbiffo examples, they are awesome ) For the record, I have ordered one of the new Bachmann 66’s from Hattons with sound that has been captured again by DC Kits, for a measly £261 !! I’m now wondering if the extra £111 for added sound is a bit extravagant when in my opinion, the Hornby sound equivalents have cost me £52 including the speaker change. I am well aware, the DC Kits decoder will be far superior to the Hornby example, but there is a £49 saving here. Can anyone advise on the heat issue, and I would be very interested to hear of your own opinions on these decoders Thanks guys Ronnie

On E Bay this week there is a 746 and a 779 that has been painted up. Mind you, looking closely, they don't look like they've been done very well, ( just my opinion ) Talking to the Bachmann rep at the DEMU last weekend, he didn't rule anything out, as they have new printing technology that they use nowadays, which makes easy work out of reproducing the more awkward liveries like the ones we are talking about. This though, is also one of the reasons they have hacked up their prices, but I saw the TfL examples there and they really are top draw. I have purchased 66434 recently, and I know it could be my imagination, but I think the standard of the finish and decal printing is getting higher and higher, probably due to the new technology stated above. I dilly dallied about getting that one as it is a bit of a drab colour scheme from DRS that one, but when you look at it close up, it another great shed ! The only thing for me though, is that these loco's are retailing around the £125 mark, and then there is the decoder price on top, so you are looking around £150 approx. for one loco now. It's getting very expensive. Any overtime going boss ???

Didn't know that LT were keeping some back, so that's tempting I must say, however I'm having to wash enough pots as it is as iv'e ordered some Dapol 68's which are imminent, but that's another story. You're right Big Jim everything I want is coming at once, The 68's as above, 57305 in Northern Belle, 66434 on the boat I'm led to believe, the EWS 66's, all ordered. wow I can't keep up Gonna cost me a bomb in flowers this lot !!!!!

This has surely got to be in the pipeline for Bachmann hasn't it ? Having superbly recreated 66718 & 66721 in the 2 TFL liveries, surely 66779 is next. The real thing is fantastic having seen it at York, and surely Bachmann will turn this one out don't you think. ? Love them or hate them, Class 66's carry differing liveries well, even the EWS versions which get the thumbs up from me as I can actually see the numbers in the real world !. ( You'll be my age one day !! ) Do you think you buy models from time to time based on the livery ? I don't have GbRF loco's on my layout as I am either EWS, Colas or DRS, but I would buy 779 because it would surely look great on any layout Iv'e missed the boat on the TFL ones, but the same applies, yes ? There is one exception though. The awful sickly pinky red of DB Schenker Yuk ! DRS' new livery about to appear on 66434 ? A bit plain Jane DRS ? You're favourite liveries folks ?? So, come on Bachmann, I'm waiting !