Recommendations for suitable Next 18 Decoders for N Gauge locomotives

[Marke]

Over the last 3 or so years N gauge locomotives have evolved from having 6 pin decoder sockets to Next-18 sockets allowing a greater range DCC functionality and supporting sound decoders for those interested in ‘sound’.

 

Personally I am not a sound fan (in part due to the considerable additional expense) and my go-to decoder of choice has been the Zimo MX618N which I have found to be great value (they were selling for £20), to offer fine motor control and to support a good range of lighting functions.  
 

However Zimo decoders (and in particular their non sound Next 18s) are now as rare as hens teeth. Likewise the Bachman 36-567 Next 18 decoder, which I understand is made by Zimo and is the same as the MX618N, is showing ‘out of stock’ or ‘on order with the supplier’ at all main model railway retailers.

 

I would be interested to hear other modellers recommendations for Next 18 decoders from other suppers in light of the current lack of availability of Zimo / Bachman decoders. 

[Steven B]

I've used Rails of Sheffield's Next18 decoders in my Dapol class 142 - bought when they've been on sale at 6 for the price of five. They're rebadged DCC Concepts decoders. Whilst the motor control isn't as fine as a Zimo they've got decent control over lighting functions.

 

 

Steven B.

[Kaput]

The Train-o-matic ones seem decent but suffering from availablity issues as well.

[Nigelcliffe]

Wait for the Zimo to reappear.   Or buy twice, once for the alternative, then spend again to replace it.  

 

Zimo's website news for Jan 12th this year,  says the new "MN" series non-sound decoders will begin to appear from February 2023, with the Next18 being the first on the list.    

[rogerzilla]

Although more expensive, the Bachmann 36-567a was still around a couple of months ago.  I gave up waiting for the Zimo on back order.

[Steven B]

On 13/01/2023 at 17:44, Nigelcliffe said:

Wait for the Zimo to reappear.   Or buy twice, once for the alternative, then spend again to replace it.      

Don't disagreements but getting a couple of alternatives could mean the difference between new models getting used or just sitting in a box for a couple of months. The poorer decoders can then be cascaded down to function only duties when the new Zimo decoders arrive.

 

Steven B

[RexAshton]

I've found the DCC Concepts Next18 to be good on Dapol locos but for some reason the 6 pin equivalent is not great on Graham Farish Bo-Bos. I can't get them to creep on speed step 1

[mkrob]

Got a  Bachmann 36-567A Next 18 decoder (Zimo MX618N) from Derails. It's a bit expensive ,but there's a chip shortage & I'm sure when things get back to something like normal, decoders will be about this price unfortunately. 

     https://derails.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2476                                                    

[Marke]

Thank you, good to know the Bachmann 36-567A’s are now available even if pricey….I fear the days of high quality £20 chips are long gone though. 

[Michael Hodgson]

That's practically doubled in a few years.  OK, if you adjust for inflation and exchange rate movements, it's not quite as bad, but even so there is a significant upward pressure from the excess of demand over supply in a period when nobody has been able to ramp up production because of Covid.  When market conditions get back to normal globally, I would expect to see pricing being less unreasonable.  Throughout my working life computer technology and electronics generally has both advanced technically by orders of magnitude and come down gradually in price (in real terms).  I see no reason why that should not continue although there may well be more nasty price spikes on the way.

 

Part of the problem is concentration of initially of production but increasingly now also of expertise in the far east, and I think recent world events are slowly forcing the West to recognise that we cannot afford to be in a geopolitical situation which makes us unduly dependent on potentially hostile countries for essentials, whether that is energy, food, high tech electronics, or indeed advanced armaments.  I can see both Uncle Sam and the EU bringing home a great deal more advanced technology manufacturing over the next few years, and whilst the latest Accurascale loco is not exactly essential to Nato's defence, I think we will in the near to mid term future see (relatively) domestic production of the chips for our decoders.  Production isn't heavy on manpower if it's made by machines, so the cost of production isn't  very dependent on how little pay foreigners can get away with, and in any case many Asians can now expect a much higher standard of living than their parents, so the wage disparity should have decreased.

[jpendle]

17 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Part of the problem is concentration of initially of production but increasingly now also of expertise in the far east

Chips are made all over the world, and Zimo already manufacture in Austria.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[jamesed]

It seems that we won't have long to wait now for the new Zimo MN180N18 decoder.  Their press release dated 20th January states that they should start shipping this month (February). Read about it HERE.