tts decoder I took a punt and got burnt.

[Esmedune]

I picked up a Hornby TTS chip for the Black 5, which claimed that it worked, but had no sound. So I took a punt for £15.

It turns out it was much worse than claimed. While it does indeed work, you cannot programme it. It is stuck on 3 and I cannot do a factory reset, as there is no writing to it. 

Do I stick it in the bin, or can I hit it on the corner and it will begin working? ;-)

 

[kev]

Give Hornby a ring see if they can help always found them helpful

[Sir TophamHatt]

And if not, pop it in the post to me and I'll see what I can do.

Have you tried writing to it?  How?

Did you try it in something like Decoder Pro?  Could it read values fine?

[Esmedune]

1 hour ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

And if not, pop it in the post to me and I'll see what I can do.

Have you tried writing to it?  How?

Did you try it in something like Decoder Pro?  Could it read values fine?

Thank you Sir TH,

I am unable to read from it either, it just comes back with no response. I have tried writing to factory reset it, but that did nothing either. It just listens to commands on channel 3, so it works, but no sound and no programming.

Yes, I use DCC++ and Decoder Pro 

[Sir TophamHatt]

16 hours ago, Esmedune said:

Thank you Sir TH,

I am unable to read from it either, it just comes back with no response. I have tried writing to factory reset it, but that did nothing either. It just listens to commands on channel 3, so it works, but no sound and no programming.

Yes, I use DCC++ and Decoder Pro 

Hmm, Hornby might be the only answer then.

The one and only time I spoke to their support department, the guy was quite friendly and provided a solution for my query.

[Phil Bullock]

15 minutes ago, Richard Croft said:

From my experience with decoders, once they have failed there’s not really anything you can do to repair them, I’d probably just write it off as a mistake and only buy working ones next time.

 

Richard

Totally agree with principle but have always had great support from ESU on the rare occasion we have had to replace a failed chip 

[pauliebanger]

ZIMO decoders are covered by a three year 'free replacement or repair' warranty. It's described plainly enough on the ZIMO website for anyone who is inclined to read it, and on the packaging of every ZIMO decoder.

 

If the decoders have been damaged by user error (like not bothering to protect against ESD damage) or physical misuse, or if it's outside the warranty period*, the UK distributer,RAIL  EXCLUSIVE, has negotiated a fixed repair charge of £18. Some dealers charge extra for 'processing' the return and postage but not all. Chose your supplier wisely.

 

*I sent a 12 year old decoder for repair by ZIMO for the fixed charge and it was returned with the latest software loaded so it is now better than when new. Try that with other brands and see how far you get.

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

 

 

[pauliebanger]

12 hours ago, Richard Croft said:

 ...you can choose...

 

 

 

Subtle. Lol.

[Railsnail]

@esmedune, you say you use DCC++ and DecoderPro... In my experience using the latest revision of DCC++ Ex (the project that has arisen out of the original DCC++ system) with DecoderPro and TTS decoders, you have to open up the DCC ACK thresholds. Else you get the dreaded error code 308 (no ack from loco). So are you using DCC++ or DCC++ Ex? I may be able to provide a bit more info.

[Esmedune]

23 minutes ago, Railsnail said:

@esmedune, you say you use DCC++ and DecoderPro... In my experience using the latest revision of DCC++ Ex (the project that has arisen out of the original DCC++ system) with DecoderPro and TTS decoders, you have to open up the DCC ACK thresholds. Else you get the dreaded error code 308 (no ack from loco). So are you using DCC++ or DCC++ Ex? I may be able to provide a bit more info.

Thanks Railsnail, that was just shorthand, I do run EX. I will have a look at your fix and report back.  Thanks

[Railsnail]

On 05/08/2021 at 11:21, Esmedune said:

Thanks Railsnail, that was just shorthand, I do run EX. I will have a look at your fix and report back.  Thanks

 

I have three different TTS modules that all presented no ack when trying to read CVs on the programming track.  Certainly with the latest revision of DCC++Ex you can alter the ACK parameters (MIN, MAX and LIMIT) via the USB port. I really widened these three and now I can read/write CVs without the no ack problem. The commands and values I used are:-

 

<D ACK MIN 2000>

<D ACK MAX 8750>

<D ACK LIMIT 20>

 

You can also switch ACK diagnostics on with the <D ACK ON> command. (It's all documented in the command reference).

 

These values, (or whatever you arrive at if you experiment a bit further than me), can be made permanent, so that they survive a power-down.

 

Load your sketch up in Arduino IDE. Create a new tab named mySetup.h then paste the following into that tab (maybe change values if you arrive at something different). Then compile and upload to your Mega. Now these values will be reloaded on startup. (This is also in the documentation).

 

SETUP("<D ACK MIN 2000>");
SETUP("<D ACK MAX 8750>");
SETUP("<D ACK LIMIT 20>");

 

Of course the decoder may be faulty above and beyond no sound as others have said, but this may be worth a try. Also, as I mentioned, I had to widen these parameters anyway for my TTS decoders plus a Laisdcc that didn't want to play ball! Good luck. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Railsnail
Correct MIN for MAX

[Esmedune]

Thanks Railsnail, that was genius! We are now just down to it having no sound, which I can investigate mechanically.  But it now programs and reads faultlessly. You star!

[Railsnail]

Excellent! Good luck with the sound, although you may be out of luck with that if something like the chips sound output stage is kaput.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Railsnail

[Esmedune]

On 09/08/2021 at 16:34, Railsnail said:

Excellent! Good luck with the sound, although you may be out of luck with that if something like the chips sound output stage is kaput.

It does appear to be that way, but hey, £15 for a non sound DCC is not bad.

[Railsnail]

At least the seller was upfront about the sound issue and as you say, you have a working DCC Decoder.