mikeg

Hi, I,ve now got an Ipad mini 2, and the difference to the android phone was very obvious once I had spent 3 hours getting through the apple security! the Z21 app is much simpler to use and has a better on screen format. I have been able to get my three aspect signal to work and all other points worked once set up. I have one problem in that following a short, my fault for wrong setup, point 13! has stopped working, will have to investigate the wiring it may be the wrong way round, had this problem with another point with the android system. Overall I am pleased with my investment in the Ipad the trains now run the right way and I can easily program any loco with ease. regards mike g

Ian, its mainly the point control, can be a bit intermitant, also the direction of locos can vary and if you do not want to change CV29 cannot be changed in to loco settings although it says you can. Generally the locos seem to go in the direction of the photo but some are in reverse for forward on other systems and as I use the prodigy and e-link on other layouts it can be a bit alarming when they go opposite to what you expect. There was a layout using a Z21 at the East of England show last weekend and I asked if they had any problems and the answer was not since we changed to apple from android! regards mike g

Ian, I use a Vodafone smart mini £32 from Sainsbury's with my Z21 and it works but there are some problems with android, so I am going to get an ipad if I can find a cheap one. regards mike g

I have used the sheet ring method but used two rings with no gaps, I tried the support rail and spindle but kept getting loss of power. I have put the sheet as a square on the bottom of the deck and used two plunger pick-ups in holes in the deck, power is feed to the pick-ups trough a twin ducer feed from the approach track. I also tried the rings with gaps but found that I could not stop shorts and with wide gaps loss of power caused problems with some chips. regards mike g

Hi, thanks DM for the link, I now have a good copy on my com so will print it out. regards mike g

I do not have a right click on my touch screen and no mouse, so a downloadable copy would be most useful, plus the picture I have is very fuzzy and not readable using the snipping tool! regards mike g

Hi, is it possible to post a copy that can be down loaded, complete with the English titles, as this would be very useful to most users of the Z21. regards mike g

I have decoders that are mounted directly to the motor casing and you can't get a chip closer that that to a magnet and I have not had any adverse effects with the operation of the locos. regards mike g

Thanks for that Simond, very helpful site. All I have to do now is find a cheap drive unit as I don't think I have the skill to build and programme one. regards mike g

Hi, I am thinking of using a stepper motor that cam from a printer but it has 6 wires not the usual 4 can anybody tell me what the wires are likely to be for? regards mike g

Hi all, just an update and another question, I have now got all my points and locos working after having to reset the points (cobalts) using the set button and reprogramming the locos with numbers between 99 & 127. The question is: is it possible to change the loco direction of the Z21 for all locos as all mine go the wrong way to the original programming which is right for our club layout and if using the prodigy unit, I know I can change CV 29 but as I have got all the locos set as I wanted them I don't really want to change the locos. In the loco settings on the Z21 there is a direction change 'switch' but it does not seem to work, any ideas! regards mike g

I have now got all my loco's except one working, the loco is No 107 and has a coreless motor, works OK with the prodigy but no response to the Z21 anybody any Ideas, I did not have to change any CV's before, it's got a TCS T1 in it. regards mike g

Thanks Paul, I think that the rogue Wifi my be the cause as I have 6 sources that come up on the phone and I have had several 'hacks' of my broadband during the last year. I am in mid Hertfordshire near WGC but do not now of many DCC users in the area let alone Z21, the system was bought from Hattons so not really able to help. I did not know about the A&H site so will have a look over the weekend. I have watched the youtube videio's on the Roco site but did not find them very useful, although that's what decided me to buy the system plus this topic forum. It would not be practical for anybody to look at the system as it's in the loft and the floor is only able to support me, had a visitor many years ago when first built the layout and all the bedroom ceilings cracked so SHMBO said no more visitors! I added additional strength when I put the flooring in but the ceilings are fibre board not plasterboard so the joints opened up with the extra weight! even though I worked in the construction industry and trained as a structural draughtsman. regards mike g

Paul, thanks for the reply. All my CV29 settings are as the decoder manuals and as I have several parts switched on are nearly all between 35 & 37 depending on direction, I have been checking today with the programming track and I found that the locos that were not responding had reset to 3, a quick reprogram and they are now all working, all so I upgraded the Z21 as I had not the controls shown in the pictures I found last night of the screens on the roco site, now seem OK. I have also found that when I put a new loco on the track with one running the system seems to auto reset to 3. The pictures do not work as per your video but I have found that I can delete the ones in loco list so have been able to change the wrong/poor image ones. Following the upgrade I have started to try and set up the track controls but seem to be doing something wrong as I can't get them to react to the original programme numbers, ie point 7 worked by 10, 9 worked by 12 and 10 worked by 13 but 7 stopped working when I deleted 7 on the Z21 so I stopped and shut down the system, any idea what I have done wrong? Whilst I think about it I have signals controlled by a digital servo unit set up as 1 to 4 I have not yet tried to set this up as there are no semaphores on the Z21 can I use a colour light red/green for these servo units? I very much appreciate your help and time answering my questions. regards mike g

Paul, thanks for the reply. All my loco both steam and diesel went the correct way with the gauge master as I wired them to go the way they should. I thought that you had to deduct 1 in CV29 to change the direction, as most of my locos have values in the upper 30's so as to work on DC as well as DCC for club use. I do not have a picture library, but I tried to edit as you suggest but got no response from the phone. The phone does not appear to save the photos just puts them straight into the loco library! I may be doing something wrong as it's the first time I have used a mobile, it's not got a sim card installed would that be causing a problem with the pictures, I know the sim is not required to use the Z21. I have no leading 0's that I am aware of but I did have a loco with a Zimo chip that decided that it wanted to be 0000 and I could not read it I sent it back and had it reset to the correct No, I have no idea as to how it got changed, it had been working for several days before it stopped responding! regards mike g

Hi, thanks to Dutch Master I have my system working, but I have one or two problems, 1) All my locos ran the same way with the gaugemaster unit but I have only three out of 10 sofar entered into the system that run the right way, is it possible to change the direction without having to change the CV's? 2) I have used the camera on the phone to take pictures of the locos but 2 are not right and I can't find any way of editing them and replacing the image. 3) two loco's do not respond to the original programmed number, do I need to re-programme them. I have not yet tried the program facility of the Z21 as my programming track is connected to another system in use on my N layout, its made for use with O, OO & N. Hope I am not just being thick! but it's the first time I have ever used a mobile phone so have two learning curves at once. regards mike g

AS you have taken it apart Gaugemaster my not repair it for free. There controllers DC & DCC have a lifetime guarantee, I have had mine repared free of charge three times now, plus they updated my unit when I bought the wireless unit, as has been said very excellent service from them. regards mike g

Try Gaugemaster. regards mike g

I have used some 3mm thick adveryising board that I was give by a bank manager that has printed sealed surfaces and if you can get some of this I think it will last quite a long time. My use was for scenic areas that were not loadbearing but had a good weight of latice structure and plaster bandage, after about ten years there is still no sag and and the base size was 600x400 and has no supports other than being stapled round the edge to the bottom of the ply baseboard frame. Another type of advertising sign is the corex plastic that comes in 5mm thick and 10mm that is fairly ridgid but I have only seen it used for backscenes as it is light and paper can be stuct to it with any liquid solvent or simalar glues, but I think it could be used for the framework of a baseboard as the 10mm on edge, ie the core vertical and say 100mm deep would be very strong and it can be screwed together by inserting timber in the core. And the advantage of both is that you can find it in a lot of shops and once the promotion is over they through it in the skip, just ask the manager and they will usually give it to you. hope this give you some extra ideas for modelling on a small budget, I thought the £100 layout superb but if starting from scratch it would be a lot more than £100, about £175-200 I would think but still within a lot of peoples budgets I would think. regards mike g

Chaz, the warping may just be where the DAS has dried out and the card is not stiff enough to resist, I had this problem with the 4' way infil and I had used 3mm thick card, overcame the problem by painting the back of the card with paint before gluing down and appling neat PVA to the top and letting dry before appling the DAS and this worked for most of the infil replacement, about 12ft in all, I've 18ft total 6ft was OK although slighty warped it was not above rail level. Your modelling looks excellent and I wish I could get as good results! regard mike g

I have not built a complete loco, but I have built a replacement chasis for a BoB that I bought and found it had a whitemetal chasis that kept distorting and giving shorts, so purchaced an ACE chasis from bill at kettering and found it very easy to build and it runs very sweetly. I know that one member of our club does not like the kits as they can be difficult to build and some early ones did not have parts that fitted very well, I've been told, but I believe most have been redrawn on cad and are now good, bill came to our club a couple of years ago and he brought some stunning locos that he had built from his kits. regards mike g