From Digikeijs to... what...?

[Par for Newquay]

Hi Folks

 

I am building my dream layout, not very fast due to life-in-general, about 3 years in now and 15% complete.  Long enough anyhow for Digikeijs to have gone bankrupt after I trialled their stuff, learnt how to use it and selected them as my DCC kit supplier ;-)   Must have invested around £600 [1 x DR5000, 2 x DR5033 boosters, 3 x DR4018 switch units and 3 x DR5088RC, those fab 16+1 occupancy-with-Railcon miracle boxes that no one else seems to come close to at the same price point.  And happily - it has all been working just fine for me, on it's own and through iTrain.

 

But this is nowhere near enough kit for me finish the dream.  So now I will need to a) mix/match with other manufacturer's stuff b) find some impossible to find secondhand Digikeijs to top up with or c) recycle the lovely black boxes and start over.  I had an eye on what Yamorc were doing over the summer but looks like they have over-promised a bit supply-wise.  So:  what would you do next if you were me? 

 

Thanks in advance for any pearls

[WIMorrison]

Yet Another MOdel Railroad Company – Model Railroad Products FROM modelers FOR modelers (yamorc.de)

 

Everything that Digikeijs made, just much, much better and everything you have is 100% compatible, and check out the YD9401 upgrade for DR500

 

Have a good look at the FAQs for information about the company 😉

[Par for Newquay]

Thankyou Iain - swapping from black to dark blue as it were is definitely an option, but I saw at the weekend:  a few of the products I would need are marked "delayed" or "cancelled" right now which is a worry,  a few months ago they all said "expected in Q3"  I already felt there was a bit of a risk to dealing with a new player in the market (I know there is design continuity, I just mean - new commercial entity)  the delays and cancellations on the supply side are making me feel quite nervous.

[WIMorrison]

The challenges that YAMORC is having are due to the incredible demand that there has been for the products that have been announced with it being several times what was planned for. The success of the YD9401 has resulted in production lines running at full capacity for longer than anticipated to meet the current demand which shows no prospect of abating with all of the next few production runs already sold on preorders!

 

The other products have also proved significantly more popular than expected and they are shipping as fast as they can be assembled and tested. The issue with the announced, but not yet available products is an insufficient supply of components to establish the production runs that are going to be required based upon the demonstrated demand for the currently available product.

 

You can rest assured that it is not difficulties in completing designs, that is done, it is not difficulties in testing or acceptance - again they have been done - it is simply a supply issue whereby the supply has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic and securing supplies for model railways is challenging when there are are major multinationals securing all production of componentry.

 

All that doesn’t give you what you need, but hopefully it allays fears that YAMORC will suffer a similar fate to Digikeijs - rest assured that the demise of Digikeijs was happening for a long time and YAMORC is not its successor, nor was it involved in the demise. It is a completely different company, with different values and beliefs which will ensure its continued success for many, many years - meantime patience is the watchword.

[Andy_C]

DCC Train Automation are on it with supply and demand. They seem to b v honest regarding these aspects, and I’ve only had to wait a short while for 8116’s, for example. 
 

The 8116 is better built that the 4018 - especially the screw terminals. They just need to sort the firmware out re point control (I use MTB MP1’s) so you can leave the point as previously selected, rather than it deferring to ‘thrown’ or ‘red’. 
 

I’ve converted my DR5000 to the 9401/7001. That cured a number of glitches. The Wi-Fi use/issue with DigiTrainsPro May also be cured - I need to soak test that this afternoon.

 

Yamorc seem very prompt and personable with their communications, too. 

[Par for Newquay]

Thanks Iain, Andy - I appreciate your advice.  So:  I will try to be patient :-)))

[RobinofLoxley]

On 13/10/2023 at 12:50, Andy_C said:

DCC Train Automation are on it with supply and demand. They seem to b v honest regarding these aspects, and I’ve only had to wait a short while for 8116’s, for example. 
 

The 8116 is better built that the 4018 - especially the screw terminals. They just need to sort the firmware out re point control (I use MTB MP1’s) so you can leave the point as previously selected, rather than it deferring to ‘thrown’ or ‘red’. 
 

I’ve converted my DR5000 to the 9401/7001. That cured a number of glitches. The Wi-Fi use/issue with DigiTrainsPro May also be cured - I need to soak test that this afternoon.

 

Yamorc seem very prompt and personable with their communications, too. 

I havent posted about it before but i was going to ask here about turnout setting as there seem to be some issues. I have also had a few random turnout moves that seem to be associated with operating shorts.

[Andy_C]

7 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I havent posted about it before but i was going to ask here about turnout setting as there seem to be some issues. I have also had a few random turnout moves that seem to be associated with operating shorts.

Hi,

 

Apologies if you know the following already.

 

The 8116 is basically a signal controller, that can also control non-servo point motors like the MTB series (I use MP1's). This is despite it showing that you can select points in the software used to configure the 8116.

 

Because it's primarily a signal controller, if there is a reset of track/accessory bus power, the 8116 defaults to 'red' or 'thrown' in the case of the Digitrax controller I use.

 

I have made Karst of Yamorc aware of this, and it will be the subject of a future firmware fix.

 

My temp workaround is to wire my point motors up accordingly so they default to where I want them to, in the case of a short or when engaging track/accessory power.

 

FWIW I prefer the 8116 to the DJ 4018, as you can update it's firmware and options much more easily. If i have any 4018's fail (i have about 4 of them), I will replace with the 8116.

 

Regards,

 

Andy.

[Barry Ten]

I bought and used quite a lot of the Digikeijs DCC controlled carriage lighting units, which are undertstandably now very hard to come by. Yamorc don't seem to offer a similar product, so can anyone advise on an equivalent? The Viessmann ones also seem to be hard to track down. I know there are lots of DIY lighting kits out there using LED strips, but the nice thing with the Digikeijs ones was that they came with pickups and were easy to install in European models.

[RobinofLoxley]

2 hours ago, Andy_C said:

Hi,

 

Apologies if you know the following already.

 

The 8116 is basically a signal controller, that can also control non-servo point motors like the MTB series (I use MP1's). This is despite it showing that you can select points in the software used to configure the 8116.

 

Because it's primarily a signal controller, if there is a reset of track/accessory bus power, the 8116 defaults to 'red' or 'thrown' in the case of the Digitrax controller I use.

 

I have made Karst of Yamorc aware of this, and it will be the subject of a future firmware fix.

 

My temp workaround is to wire my point motors up accordingly so they default to where I want them to, in the case of a short or when engaging track/accessory power.

 

FWIW I prefer the 8116 to the DJ 4018, as you can update it's firmware and options much more easily. If i have any 4018's fail (i have about 4 of them), I will replace with the 8116.

 

Regards,

 

Andy.

No thats very useful; obvious or not I have MP1's as well, plus a number of DR4018's.

 

Are you saying that there is a 'Priority' output on the 8116 corresponding to signal set at red? This would be the odd number output I would guess?

[Andy_C]

9 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Are you saying that there is a 'Priority' output on the 8116 corresponding to signal set at red? This would be the odd number output I would guess?

What I did was configure the feed from the 8116 to the MP1 so the point was in the physically default position (closed) on accessory bus engagement. It shows ‘thrown’ on the Digitrax controller I use  - frustrating. 
 

Once Yamorc enable the option for points not to end up in the ‘thrown’ position as default, I’ll reconfigure accordingly.
 

I use a Digitrax controller (as well as DTPro app on iPad), and on that display it shows closed or thrown for points. 
 

I wired each point motor in as per the supplied instructions, including frog power. 
 

Hope this makes sense…

Edited October 16, 2023 by Andy_C

[RobinofLoxley]

I have a z21 and use the app so I suppose i can do something similar then. 

[Andy_C]

1 minute ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I have a z21 and use the app so I suppose i can do something similar then. 

Yes, you can. 
 

Once Yamorc issue the firmware update, I’ll reconfigure my points wiring accordingly. I want a point that is ‘closed’ or ‘thrown’ to read as such on an app or controller I use. 
 

I’m fortunate in that my layout’s points are in zones, so I’ve been able to group said points into 8116’s accordingly. It’s not too difficult to remember which is which when running trains. 
 

I'm just about to start adding my points to DTPro, as I do like the look of the route menu in the app. 

[5BarVT]

1 hour ago, Andy_C said:

I use a Digitrax controller (as well as DTPro app on iPad), and on that display it shows closed or thrown for points. I

Looked on App Store under DTPro and nothing railway related comes up.  Is that it’s full name?

Paul.

[Andy_C]

59 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Looked on App Store under DTPro and nothing railway related comes up.  Is that it’s full name?

Paul.

 

Sorry - I use the DigiTrainsPro (DTPro) app on my iPad. It works via wi-fi with the Yamorc 7401. You select the Yamorc as a wifi option in settings on the iPad, and then get DTPro to talk to it. It looks like the image attached. I'm only just getting into it now it talks properly to the 7401, but it has potential.

 

 

[5BarVT]

Found it, thank you.

I use a Digitrax LNWI which I connect to using WiThrottle.  I’m hoping JMRI might be an interface that works as it’s based on Loconet.

Paul.