John Clitsome

That's comforting information. It was something I read when I started adding sound to my fleet about 6 yrs ago. It didn't affect me personally as I sourced everything from John Gymer at Youchoos and knew from him that I could safely do it as the sound was protected from the rewrite. I did say 'check with supplier' - I wasn't guaranteeing anything, good or bad.

Kapton tape is perfectly safe to put round decoders. I've used it on numerous sound decoders and associated components and never had any problem with overheating.

Careful with the CV8=8 if you have sound decoders. That process has been known to wipe sound files so if that is the case check with the supplier first.

Yep- mine's hooked up on a cable tie. Should have been provided with pre-drilled hole.

As the points on the girder bridge are for the purpose of getting access to all the storage yard tracks, as this involves some wrong road running you may want to consider the alternative of hiding it. However if that's impractical or impinges heavily elsewhere then you just apply Rule 1!

Def lay on cork. It will help reduce noise through board and enable you to create an edge to ballast against. Re the track- use the pin vice to make holes for track pins although if your going to glue and ballast the track at least in the scenic sections then pinning won't be necessary, you'll just weight the track down while the glue dries. Ballasting will be done after that providing further stability. If you haven't seen already I strongly recommend you look at Charlie Bishops YouTube site Chadwick Model Railway. Apart from Charlies wonderful presenting skills you'll find a wealth of helpful tutorials on building a layout- I wish it had been available when I started my layout! You'll find he has a link to various suppliers, one of which is a firm in Aylesbury supplying large rolls of cork sheet at good pricing. I've read through your thread today, and although both era and scale is different to my interest, I've found it a thoroughly interesting read and look forward to following the build.

I built mine some yrs ago in 4mm and even in that scale the ladder and loops were challenging. Wouldn't like to attempt in n!

Look v similar to Gaugemaster Dcc30 ACC Decoders. Have a look at the instruction sheet online - it might give a clue.

I'm going back a looooong way - early '70's. I think it was named South Brent and I remember it because I based my first layout on its simple trackplan. Happy days!

I did this with an old Hornby Princess and found it best to hardwire as previously advised.

Yes, I've had that with mine. Could be caused by the pl10 moving slightly and the activating pin being out of line. I secure mine with some adhesive to the two sides of the motor. I agree it seems strange the motor will move them but not by hand then, but assume it's because too much pressure is being applied at distance from the top of pin and pulling it further out of alignment - if that makes sense!

Just a thanks TMC. Faulty decoder sent in on Monday- replacement arrived Sat. Ex service .

I've had this problem over several yrs. If a cap (stay alive) is fitted the Prodigy won't read back but if I disabled the cap ( a right faff) all was well. Gave up in the end and bought a Sprog and separate software from John at YouChoos. No problems now.

Ooooo, Matron!

Thanks for this Dave. It won't be compatible with my Prodigy system & will only use it for programming so will get a sprog2 with it. Good to know your happy with it.

I'm interested in the Youchoose Tweak&Drive system. I will only be using it for programming purposes and wonder if anybody has any comments that may help me decide. All my sound stuff has come from John Gymer with Zimos. Thanks folks

Something I've always meant to ask. If you ground onto track should locos be removed? Would they suffer any damage, particularly DCC/sound.

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/daylight-floor-table-led-magnificent-lamp/591281-1000?query=magnifying-lamp I use one of these which I share with wifey who does cross-stitching. This model can be used as floor standing or desk top. Re the fitting issue I would always ensure the components & wiring are secured & I strongly recommend Black Tac for that. Incidentally what's the purpose of the sellotape? I don't know a simple answer to dealing with all the fiddly parts. If possible try to secure the chassis down so that it won't move about - a few lumps of the Black Tac will do it. That leaves both hands free to manipulate the top back on and line up the various bits using tweezers etc. Hope some of this waffle helps!

Given the mess I get in when using sealants I'd suggest Black Tac. A fillet of card in the structures corners and a dab of BT would do it.

Had my jab today. Used the Tizer one as they said is was best against Corona. Feel fine but now I have a small growth in middle of forehead. Doc says I'm part of elite group who can join Starship Enterprise as I have a left ear a right ear and now a final front ear

So here's the outcome! 1. The MRC (Gaugemaster) DCC05 is not faulty. 2. Steve Todd the Engine Driver Software developer has tweaked the programme as follows (which I have successfully used in his BETA programme): "There is a timeout where the app stops waiting for a server to connect. The logic I used to decide it was "connected" apparently didn't work properly with some MRC devices some of the time. So I changed that logic to a more reliable check." I would add here that Steve is very quick to respond to any queries. 3. Gaugemaster give a 12month Warranty on the product - MRC (in America) only give 6 mnths (which I find odd), and had I needed to return it to them meant I would have been 2 days out of warranty (which they pointed out!). I didn't say anything about this before in case I did need warranty work here in the UK. I would add that once I'd made contact with Gaugemaster Kevin & the team there have been most helpful and responsive. I've had dealings with them on several occassions over the years with both DCC & DC systems and they've never let me down. A happy outcome!

Nothing as dramatic I'm afraid, no 'secrets' - just don't want to jeapordise what is happening with my system. Its not likely to affect anyone else.

A slight update. Having tried to get connection through two android phones and a tablet with no success I'm rather more convinced that the problem lies with the module. Have been able to contact Gaugemaster in UK and am sending it back to them (via Retailer due to it being within 12mnth warranty). Will let you know how things pan out. I did get a response from MRC in USA - I'll keep that story back til all is resolved! John

Had a reply from Steve Todd who acknowledges a problem which several MRC users have reported. His full response was: "I've recently had several MRC users report problems that sound similar to yours. SteveB sent me some logs and I made a change to the connect timing of EngineDriver that might help. That change will be in the next EngineDriver Beta. I'll let you know when it's available so you can give it a try. Do you have "AutoConnect to First WiThrottle Server?" enabled? If so, disable it and see if that helps. How "new" is your MRC wifi? I cannot duplicate this issue on my MRC Wifi, but I have one of the first units. I wonder if something has changed." In light of the last paragraph I've emailed MRC 'over the pond' and am awaiting their response. Given that ED has been downloaded over 10k times there must be a significant number of people getting problems even though a number will be using through JMRI instead. I'll keep you posted. J