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Hornby HM 2000 controller pure DC or PWM?


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Does anyone know if the current Hornby HM 2000 contoller is a pure DC controller or a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controller please? A Bachmann class 66 is slightly noisier with the HM 2000 in comparison to an elderly but perfectly serviceable and safe variable transformer HM PowerMaster.

 

Many thanks

 

Damian M.

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  • 5 years later...

According to this test of controllers it's a pulsed controller: http://www.scottpages.net/ReviewOfControllers.html

I'm very interested in more information about HM 2000 myself. I wish to be able to do realistic slow/smooth starts and stops. At the moment I'm using a Gaugemaster (HH) feedback controller which is mentioned in that test (The UF version).

For some locos it makes it possible to do very slow and realistic start/stops and slow shunting. But for some strange reason the locos which are DCC ready, two Bachmann and a Hornby one, surges/stutters sometimes.

A DCC ready loco should act excatly as a pure DC loco I believe since there is no decoder installed. Perhaps just a coincidence that those locos behave a bit strange with the feedback controller.

In the test of controllers it's claimed that the HM 2000 works very similarly as the Gaugemaster controller but with less or no feedback. That's why I'm interested in it.

Damian, you seem to have tested the HM 2000. Can you make real slow smooth start/stops and running with it?

 

Cheers from Sweden, Anders

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The HM 2000 does give slow starts and stops. It also seems to power coreless motors such as the RG4 without heating them in my very limited testing. However, it seems to reach maximum power at around two thirds way round the dial, then further turning up slows a train down a bit before speeding it up again at maximum. This was discussed here and appears not to be a one-off occurrence: http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=45946. Not really satisfactory. I have to say my favourite DC controller is the long obsolete HM Powermaster - made in several different forms but always a variable transformer type. I did have some Gaugemaster controllers but found them underpowered for models that consume more current than most modern efficient locomotives.

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Thanks for the info. I'll also have a look at the Morley Vector controller. Since Morley claims that it has very good low speed properties I assume it must be a pulsed controller too, but I can find no info about that.

I'll have to mail them and ask how it works.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I tried using a hm2000 for controlling tortoise point motors and they all buzzed like mad. Being new to tortoises I wasn't clear if this was normal until tried an alternative dc power source and are virtually silent. Is this something to do with the PWM of the hm2000?

M

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