How close to a 66 is a 67

[Paul-H]

Hi all

 

Hornby have announced that they are introducing a class 66 tts sound decoder, but I notice some dealers list their current class 67 decoder as 66/67, so I was wondering how close the 67 is to a 66.

 

Was looking to get one now and not have to wait till October when their propper 66 hits the shops.

 

Is the 67 close enough to pass as a 66

 

Thanks

 

Paul

Edited March 20, 2018 by Paul-H

[mezzoman253]

Hi all

 

Hornby have announced that they are introducing a class 66 tts sound decoder, but I notice some dealers list their current class 67 decoder as 66/67, so I was wondering how close the 67 is to a 66.

 

Was looking to get one now and not have to wait till October when their propper 66 hits the shops.

 

Is the 67 close enough to pass as a 66

 

Thanks

 

Paul

The previous tranche of Hornby diesel TTS decoders, slated for October 2017, actually arrived in February 2018.

 

Something to bear in mind.

 

As for the sound similarities, I've no idea.

 

Rob

Edited March 20, 2018 by mezzoman253

[Revolution Mike]

The traction motors and alternators are either the same or very similar.

[Revolution Mike B]

66s and 67s both use the same prime mover (as far as I'm aware), but with two less traction motors, so in theory, should sound the same

Edited March 20, 2018 by scoobyra

[Joseph_Pestell]

66s and 67s both use the same prime mover (as far as I'm aware), but with two less traction motors, so in theory, should sound the same

I have some doubts on this.

 

The trains operated would be very different, although the chip might allow for that. But (IIRC) the exhaust silencers are rather different and that would surely impact on the sound.

[Revolution Mike B]

I have some doubts on this.

 

The trains operated would be very different, although the chip might allow for that. But (IIRC) the exhaust silencers are rather different and that would surely impact on the sound.

 

To be fair, you have a point......but they're quite hard to tell apart when stood next to them. 

[Paul-H]

Thanks guys

 

I have ordered the 67 so will find out soon if it's close to the 66, if not I can always change it when the 66 comes out,

 

Paul

[MGR Hooper!]

They sound very much similar infact almost identical. So if you're not too fussed it will work fine.

[charliepetty]

They sound very much similar infact almost identical. So if you're not too fussed it will work fine.

The Hornby 67 does not have the range of sounds that a real 67 has, when running on passenger trains the Class 67 sound totally different to a Class 66, saying that the Hornby 67 sounds, if you aint bothered are Ok. PPs They are cheap!!

 

Charlie

[MGR Hooper!]

The Hornby 67 does not have the range of sounds that a real 67 has, when running on passenger trains the Class 67 sound totally different to a Class 66, saying that the Hornby 67 sounds, if you aint bothered are Ok. PPs They are cheap!!

 

Charlie

For an introduction into the world of DCC Sound the Hornby TTS decoders are a marvel IMHO. I'd probably never look elsewhere no matter how good other DCC sound chips are because Hornby TTS Sound chips are at the perfect price point.

[Paul-H]

If the the diesel decoders turn out to be as good as people say, I can see me replacing all my expensive Zimo decoders in my Diesel models, which would free up quite a few Zimo's to have reblown for steam models which it said TTS is not so good at. Given that a reblow is only around £10.

 

My the class 67 arrived yesterday and initial testing on my decoder tester gives a good result, just awaiting delivery of the 8 to 21 pin adaptor to fully test in the actual loco.

 

Got quite a few speakers to test as well as there is quite a lot of room in the 66.

 

Paul

[Hroth]

I got a Cairn Gorm when Rails were selling them cheap at an amazingly low price last year.

 

I must say that the TTS chip makes the engine sound as if its had bags of rusty nails tipped into the cylinders but that aside, TTS works well for diesels.  I may get a 67 chip for my 66....

[tarifa]

The 66 and 67 diesels are the same, the alternators and traction motors are the same family with variations.  I would hazard a guess and say they are almost the same but not quite.  I have recordings of both classes running light and the 67 is the quietest but I would fit the Hornby 66 decoder in the 67.

 

Mike

[Paul-H]

you can get a small bass reflex inside a class 66 which makes the most of the sound decoder without any difficult installation work, like the one here: http://roads-and-rails.co.uk/store/p63/Compact_Bass_Reflex_Speaker_49x16x8.html

 

Make sure you use 8 ohm speakers if changing it, not 4 ohm like Loksound and Zimo use

 

Richard

Thanks for the tip Richard

 

Just ordered a couple of those speakers from your website

 

Paul

[russ p]

you can get a small bass reflex inside a class 66 which makes the most of the sound decoder without any difficult installation work, like the one here: http://roads-and-rails.co.uk/store/p63/Compact_Bass_Reflex_Speaker_49x16x8.html

 

Make sure you use 8 ohm speakers if changing it, not 4 ohm like Loksound and Zimo use

 

Richard

I bought a couple of these last week they really do transform the sound from the TTS chips

[Paul-H]

Whilst awaiting my new speakers I installed the tts decoder with its supplied speaker just to test it's running qualities, I used a 21pin to 8pin adaptor. Decoder and speaker went in Nice and easy and it has a good sound, which is comparable yo my other sound fitted 66 which has a Bachmann supplied sound system installed, there are differences to the sound but nothing major.

 

The only issue I have is with the lights, with lights off the rear head and front red are on, when I switch the lights on the front head and rear red come on, meaning all lights front and back are on.

 

Anyone got any thoughts as to why?

 

Thanks

 

Paul

[Paul-H]

Just tested the class 66 with a standard non sound decoder and a ESU v3.5 sound decoder from another Bachmann class 66 and the lights work fine with those decoders.  I don't have any models with lights that take a 8 pin decoder so can't check the Hornby one in another loco but will try it in my decoder tester.  I suppose the other option is a fault in the 21 to 8 pin adaptor, the ones I have are LaisDCC so have ordered a Bachmann one to test that out as well.

 

Will post back when I have some updates.

 

Paul

[Paul-H]

Tested the Hornby Decoder in my ESU Decoder tester and sure enough the decoder is faulty so its gone back to Hattons for a replacement, hope its not a batch fault think I will stick with Zimo from now on.

 

Paul

[25901]

The 66 and 67 diesels are the same, the alternators and traction motors are the same family with variations.  I would hazard a guess and say they are almost the same but not quite.  I have recordings of both classes running light and the 67 is the quietest but I would fit the Hornby 66 decoder in the 67.

 

Mike

 

Yup, 66's have axle hung motors while the 67's are frame mounted but as you say main items are family based

[rab]

How close is a 66 to a 67?

 

Depends where the drivers leave them.

 

(Hat, coat, running as fast as

my little legs will carry me).

[Paul-H]

The other thing I noticed and I hope this is part of the fault is just how hot the decoder got, I used a bit of un-shrunk heat shrink as insulation and when I took it out after only a few minutes running the heat shrink had shrunk

 

I was still using the supplied speaker as I was still awaiting my delivery from Richard, which turned up after I posted the faulty decoder back to Hattons, just in case anyone thought it might be his speaker doing damage, it wasn't

 

Paul

[newbryford]

Under load, the 67s seem to be a bit louder than a 66. Probably due to having a different (smaller?) silencer arrangement.

 

As an aside, the later low emission 66s (five door variant) seem different to the earlier locos.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[MR PJ]

I'm not a fan of either loco type, but as touched upon in an earlier post the Spanish built 67s don't sound the same as the North American 66 as the 67's silencers had to be modified due to issues with balancing the weight of the loco over a bo-bo chassis. 66's are so heavily silenced they produce little noise at all on full bore, 67's are less heavily silenced, but sound similar when idling. Ironically 66's have been subject of a lot of complaints from drivers over the years due to the the noise and vibration within the cabs.

[Revolution Mike B]

I've just got Bif's updated 67 project and it sounds a lot different to my 66s so I'll retract my earlier statement that they should sound the same!

[Paul-H]

Replacement decoder back from Hattons and a very quick turnaround from them.

 

Decoder tested in the Decoder tester and all working well, so installed in the class 66, I followed a tip from someone on the Hornby forum and inserted a 1kohm resister in the blue wire and the lights work fine now.

 

Apparently the 5 LED's that need to be on are drawing quite close to the decoders 100mA limit for functions and the resistor is needed to limit current flow, apparently its mentioned in the instructions (But who reads them) I wonder if the Hornby Class 67 for which this decoder is made has less LED's than the class 66 and wonder what Hornby will do with their Class 66 TTS decoder when its available, supply it with the resistor installed or risk their customers blowing more decoders, or they don't fit all the LED's to their 66, perhaps they use light pipes to save on the LED's like most N-Gauge makers do?

 

Paul