Hornby 2023 - Bluetooth decoders and control system

[Jenny Emily]

I tried one on 12V DC from a Gaugemaster model D during the course of filming my video. It worked fine with full access to sounds. 
 

Overall, I’m very impressed. There are a few niggles, but nothing that can’t be overcome. The sound suites are far better than the TTS decoders were. I was very impressed with the ones I’ve tried (A1, 4F, 31, 56) and am already planning the powering of my O gauge garden railway via bluetooth decoders and the Hornby 15V supply. 

[Johan DC]

9 hours ago, Legend said:

euvirail on HM7000. A well considered appraisal . Noted he used it on DC but using a Bachmann controller , as well as on DCC using both app and controller . First YouTube feedback I’ve seen . Promising 

Very interresting, after the class 87 diesels, there are now the class 73 steam engines.

Apart from that, looks promising indeed! Can't wait for mine to arrive, and the app to be released of course.

Or I might borrow the wife's Iphone. 

[Bob83a]

On 22/03/2023 at 13:45, RAF96 said:

The sound profile guides are in the same place as all the other manuals and guides on the Hornby site.

consisting - have a read of the decoder manual for CV19 info. As each decoder has its own unique and unchangeable ID (HM7000-xxxx) consisting is handled differently. The decoder DCC address is only used by a DCC controller  thus  giving two decoders the same address only works under that control system.

Are the guides you are talking about the Sound Profiles Function Maps, because those are basically just a list of the functions.

 

Hornby have made a mistake by putting all the HM DCC documents in the Additional Manuals section of their web site and not a section on its own like the HM DC section. I guess that this miss filing may be difficult to fix now.

[HExpressD]

11 hours ago, Legend said:

euvirail on HM7000. A well considered appraisal . Noted he used it on DC but using a Bachmann controller , as well as on DCC using both app and controller . First YouTube feedback I’ve seen . Promising 

I tend to find Euvirail one of the more balanced and considered reviewers out there, it baffles me that he has relatively few subscribers, and seems to gain more at a snails pace. Considering the complexity of the system and the issues that could have arisen, I'd say this is pretty high praise. 

[spamcan61]

1 minute ago, HExpressD said:

I tend to find Euvirail one of the more balanced and considered reviewers out there, it baffles me that he has relatively few subscribers, and seems to gain more at a snails pace. Considering the complexity of the system and the issues that could have arisen, I'd say this is pretty high praise. 

Depressingly, but not surprisingly, I suspect "balanced and considered reviewer" isn't necessarily what generates clicks.

[HExpressD]

Just now, spamcan61 said:

Depressingly, but not surprisingly, I suspect "balanced and considered reviewer" isn't necessarily what generates clicks.

Maybe the title 'Is this the WORST or BEST Hornby product EVER!!!' may have been better for long term growth?

[Edge]

Well it worked for me - based mostly off of the review above I’ve got myself a 8 pin decoder for my W1, a 21 pin decoder for one of my four Bachmann locos (yet to decide amongst a ‘city’, tornado, LBSCR Atlantic or a ‘Dukedog’), two power banks and a cheap iPod touch so that I don’t have to use my phone all the time.

 

in for a penny, in for a pound. Or £240 as it turned out…

[Legend]

7 hours ago, Jenny Emily said:

I tried one on 12V DC from a Gaugemaster model D during the course of filming my video. It worked fine with full access to sounds. 
 

Overall, I’m very impressed. There are a few niggles, but nothing that can’t be overcome. The sound suites are far better than the TTS decoders were. I was very impressed with the ones I’ve tried (A1, 4F, 31, 56) and am already planning the powering of my O gauge garden railway via bluetooth decoders and the Hornby 15V supply. 

 

Thanks Jenny . I was hoping you would take up the gauntlet and run one on DC.  Gaugemaster too !  Excellent . Will we see this on your video .

[E100]

7 hours ago, Jenny Emily said:

I tried one on 12V DC from a Gaugemaster model D during the course of filming my video. It worked fine with full access to sounds. 
 

Overall, I’m very impressed. There are a few niggles, but nothing that can’t be overcome. The sound suites are far better than the TTS decoders were. I was very impressed with the ones I’ve tried (A1, 4F, 31, 56) and am already planning the powering of my O gauge garden railway via bluetooth decoders and the Hornby 15V supply. 

 

This prompted me to think of what the max A for the motor do these decoders allow. I've scanned through the manual but couldn't see anything.

[spamcan61]

2 hours ago, Johan DC said:

Very interresting, after the class 87 diesels, there are now the class 73 steam engines.

Apart from that, looks promising indeed! Can't wait for mine to arrive, and the app to be released of course.

Or I might borrow the wife's Iphone. 

Having watched the informative video in question then one major 'take away' is that using one's 'daily driver' phone for this is a risky proposition.

 

I'll be waiting for the Android version anyway as I have half a dozen or more functional Android phones laying around so it would be easy to dedicate one as a toy train controller, assuming they're not too old to download the app when the time comes. Seems unlikely my iPod Touch 2nd. gen (only Apple device I own)  will cut the mustard with the Hornby app; its battery life is crap these days unsuprisingly.

Edited March 24, 2023 by spamcan61

[Edge]

9 minutes ago, spamcan61 said:

Having watched the informative video in question then one major 'take away' is that using one's 'daily driver' phone for this is a risky proposition.

 

I'll be waiting for the Android version anyway as I have half a dozen or more functional Android phones laying around so it would be easy to dedicate one as a toy train controller, assuming they're not too old to download the app when the time comes. Seems unlikely my iPod Touch 2nd. gen (only Apple device I own)  will cut the mustard with the Hornby app; its battery life is crap these days unsuprisingly.

I actually bought an iPod touch this morning for this exact purpose. Needs to be 6th gen minimum to run the app and iOS11 is needed. 
 

it seems that the app was designed to be as backwards compatible as possible, as you don’t often get them stretching that far back (I’m on iOS16-something on my phone)

Edited March 24, 2023 by Edge

[spamcan61]

38 minutes ago, E100 said:

 

This prompted me to think of what the max A for the motor do these decoders allow. I've scanned through the manual but couldn't see anything.

See the Hornby page for the decoder:-

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/hm7000-8txs-ble-decoder-8-pin-txs-sound-r7336?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhu7o9aH0_QIVTe3tCh3enQceEAAYASAAEgL-g_D_BwE

 

The phrase 'designed to' rings alarm bells in my day job, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

[Legend]

hmmm . Another review and just as enthusiastic as the previous one . Could be a game changer !  Only point on this one I  particularly picked up on , because I want to try it on DC was that on this occasion the sound did not work properly using a Gaugemaster controller turned to full . Not sure which controller was used , but does seem to vary . He simply used a separate PSU in the end .  
 

interesting that the box does actually say under Tri-Mode functions with DC Controllers . No dubiety there . I guess we will have to test it and see .

Edited March 24, 2023 by Legend

[ColinB]

1 hour ago, spamcan61 said:

See the Hornby page for the decoder:-

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/hm7000-8txs-ble-decoder-8-pin-txs-sound-r7336?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhu7o9aH0_QIVTe3tCh3enQceEAAYASAAEgL-g_D_BwE

 

The phrase 'designed to' rings alarm bells in my day job, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

Yes, I spent quite a while looking for it. Looking at the circuit board it does seem high, but who knows. We will have to wait and see. On the old TTS, heat dissipation seemed to be an issue especially when heat shrinked. I used to avoid running those locos on hot days after my HST died on a very hot day.

[Jenny Emily]

I take a comprehensive look at the system: 

 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pvIrSxo3Izc&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

Edited March 24, 2023 by Jenny Emily

[Legend]

A very thorough review Jenny . Well done . Thanks also for looking at the DC aspect . I think a lot of people are concentrating on the advance to DCC oblivious to the fact that this could be a very easy introduction to running an occasional DCC sound loco on an otherwise DC layout . To me this is a huge advance !  But the system looks very good with lots of options . I am a bit of a Luddite . I’m into model railways not electronics . Talk of changing CVs just leaves me cold - I get far too much technology at work, I don’t need it in my hobby . But this system as you show looks very intuitive . I’m now thinking can I get a decoder and try it in my Hornby HST . Something I’d never thought I’d do .  Well done to you , but a very well done to Hornby . I think this could be the biggest thing since DCC sound , and actually unusual for innovations , makes things simpler rather than more complex . 

[RedgateModels]

One thing that I did not really think about before having a first play is how easy it is to change the DCC address of a HM7000 decoder when using the app. Hopefully they will be a bit more immune to resetting to 3 after a short unlike their earlier cousins, but if not, correcting this could be done almost on the fly at an exhibition for example.

[RedgateModels]

One question though, if the decoders have serial numbers HM7000_XXXX, where XXXX is a 4 digit hexadecimal number, what happens if they sell more than 65535 decoders????

[PeterStiles]

10 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:

if they sell more than 65535 decoders

Maybe *then* they will go to five digits... You never know,

.

[spamcan61]

13 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:

One question though, if the decoders have serial numbers HM7000_XXXX, where XXXX is a 4 digit hexadecimal number, what happens if they sell more than 65535 decoders????

Would it be matter anyway? The chances of the same HM7000 system trying to link to two chips with the same MAC address equivalent would be tiny I would think?

Edited March 24, 2023 by spamcan61

[acg5324]

We had a Hornby Class 66 loaded with A3 sounds blaring out Scotland the brave on the shops test track yesterday, very surreal.

[Mike Buckner]

Might be a time to buy Hornby shares.

[Marcoblanco]

Maybe loksound and others will have to heavily discount to keep up..

[MikeParkin65]

1 hour ago, Marcoblanco said:

Maybe loksound and others will have to heavily discount to keep up..

Clips of TT A4’s fitted with these appear to show that the chuff rate still has scant relationship to the motion. If this is the case and if there is no ability to alter the chuff rate neither Loksound nor Zimo have anything to worry about certainly for the steam side of the market. 

[ColinB]

3 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Clips of TT A4’s fitted with these appear to show that the chuff rate still has scant relationship to the motion. If this is the case and if there is no ability to alter the chuff rate neither Loksound nor Zimo have anything to worry about certainly for the steam side of the market. 

I keep saying it, in a lot of locos the device is too large. For many locos it is just not going to fit. Then on 21 pin version there is that connector that prevents the decoder lying flat. On many Hornby locos I have had to take a Zimo 6 pin decoder because it is so tiny and rewire it to an 8 pin socket. I don't know if the new class 87 has been reengineered  but on the current offering there is very little room even for the Hornby decoder, which is a lot smaller than this one. If Zimo or Loksound sell you one, it will probably fit as they make a range of sizes. I have just bought one from Road and Rails for my class 143, it was tiny which it had to be, to fit the slot in the underside of the loco.