Crosland

1 hour ago, Southernman46 said:

This was Royal Mail Parcelforce in a small West Country market town where we KNOW the postie ......................... 😲

That was probably someone else in a van, not the regular postie. That's how it works round here for timed services.

Short answer Yes, no (of it being there).

Longer answer: It is a suppression capacitor for analogue use. You are correct that it may interfere with BEMF but all that I've seen on the subject suggests that Zimo decoders are generally tolerant of leaving the cap connected.

4 hours ago, Feoffee2 said:

They now charge you 16p extra if bought online to drop it at a post office. I believe collection, parcel postbox and dropping it at a sorting office are still free. So it looks cheaper until you click post office and then it adds on 16p per parcel. 

Collection is still free until later this month. It was extended last time it was due to expire. There's a footnote on one of the pages when you book and pay on line with the exact date.

RM reduced the on-line price of small parcel 1st class earlier this year (from £3.95 to £3.69). I suspect it may be in anticipation of adding the collection charge back on.

On 01/08/2023 at 21:25, RFS said:

 

Bear in mind also that the price for Tracked 48 varies by weight. For, example, it's £3.29 for up to 500g, £3.45 for up to 1kg etc.

Online or at the PO?

Online, small parcel is the same price (£3.29) up to the 2kg limit. Some services (e.g., special delivery) vary by weight. None of the services are £3.45 for 1Kg

12 hours ago, dpgibbons said:

The new Creality Falcon 2 laser engraver (reviewed here)

Link doesn't work, simply goes to http://here

How about a combination of 3D printed and more easily fettled metal parts?

11 hours ago, charliepetty said:

Please Note:

 

There is a batch of faulty Next 18 decoders out there that do 'odd' things.

Thanks. Is this what 'woodenhead' was referring to? So not just N gauge factory fitted?

This loco is OO "factory fitted", in practice probably fitted by Rails, as it's ordered as an upgrade.

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Is this in an N gauge loco factory fitted?

 

If it is, isn't it a known chip problem that the manufacturer will replace?

It's OO, factory fitted.

2 hours ago, Steven B said:

I've changed decoder addresses and volume levels on a couple of LokSound v4 (6 pin) and LokSound v5 (Next18) using a Sprog II (v2?) and JMRI without any problems.

OK, thanks for that.

2 hours ago, Steven B said:

I'd try the (next) decoder in a test-jig to rule out any issues with the loco/installation.

As above, it's factory fitted and works OK initially.

I guess there's no harm in saying it's a Rails/Sonic A5

I am asking on behalf of a SPROG user who has purchased a new loco fitted with a LokSound Micro. I won't name the suppliers just yet.

I hope I have the problem description correct: the loco works OK after initial programming. On subsequent programming attempts (e.g. to tweak the volume) the decoder cannot be read and the loco is then dead. A decoder reset has no effect.

The retailer has replaced the decoder (twice) saying it is "corrupt", but we doubt they did any meaningful investigation. This has now happened for a third time.

The SPROG works with all of the customers other decoders, including normal LokSound, without problem.

Could the particular sound file have a bug?

Is anyone successfully using LokSound micro with a SPROG? Whose sound file?

Andrew Crosland

sprog-dcc.co.uk

11 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I often put a new DC loco on my DCC layout sufficiently long to run it in each direction, checking it is mechanically sound, before adding a decoder. 

That only works on systems that support address 0.

3 hours ago, Dave B said:

I was going to say this, too.  Like this one.

https://uk.banggood.com/Topshak-NPS605W-110V-or-220V-0-60V-0-5A-Adjustable-Digital-DC-Power-Supply-300W-Regulated-Laboratory-Switching-Power-Supply-p-1587471.html?rmmds=detail-topright-recommendation&cur_warehouse=HK&ID=47757&trace_id=a6f11689854732771 

I would rather shop somewhere like Farnell for this type of kit, e.g. https://uk.farnell.com/tenma/72-2685/bench-power-supply-1-ch-30v-3a/dp/2563981 A bit more expensive but you know who  you are dealing with and returns are a lot easier.

13 hours ago, ikcdab said:

 They are either switched on or off. They need the signal voltage continuously to remain in the "on" position. As soon as the signal voltage goes to 0, the servo goes to the off position.

That's not how servos work.

The control to a servo is a pulse with the width of the pulse determining the servo position, anywhere between the limits of travel for that servo (what you call "on" and "off").

If the control pulse is turned off when when the desired position is reached then analog servos will shut down completely and draw very little current. The friction in the gearing holds the position.

Digital servos are different and they (or at least some) will continue to actively drive the motor to hold the last position if the control pulse is turned off.

It's important not to drive a servo hard against a stop if you want to minimise the current draw. Always use some kind of flexible coupling such as an omega loop that allows the servo to reach its set position.

I would echo everything Nigel says.

54 minutes ago, Nigelcliffe said:

 

Depending on your soldering skills, you would have more control over current and brightness by making your own strip from some larger surface mount LEDs and resistors and some PCB with tracks scraped to create a circuit board. 

Another way is two parallel strips of self adhesive copper with the LEDs soldered across them. You can even make a pattern out of the strips to accommodate resistors and series connection[1] of some LEDs. The strips can be mounted on thin plasticard, or even card.

[1] with track voltage of 12 V or more you can connect two or more LEDs in series. Use a smaller current limit resistor. If one LED is 5mA, any number in series will still be only 5 mA. How many you can connect in series depends on the track voltage and the forward voltage of the LEDs. Eight parallel LEDs could be replaced by four strings of two LEDs, with the strings in parallel, and halve the current required. Always use  a separate resistor for each LED or string of LEDs.

I would experiment on the bench.

6 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

One thing that hasn’t yet been mentioned

Second post :)

Do you really need that much current? How many trains actually running at once? Will you be using DCC powered accessories?

I am not a fan of large boosters and would go for smaller boosters, with one dedicated to a separate accessory bus, if required.

With lower current boosters, if there is a fault, the fault current will be that much lower, reducing the risk of anything bad happening.

Is the seller a business?

Are they VAT registered?  In which case there is VAT on secondhand goods.

Did the price include or exclude VAT?

Have you asked the seller?

I would be looking at Back EMF settings, it sounds like the control loop is out of kilter, but I know very little about this decoder.

If you can disable BEMF, try doing that to start with.

At worst, it's fried. At best, it's simply lost it's mind. Have you tried reprogramming the DS-64?

15 hours ago, hayfield said:

At least you can speak with a human being with the Royal Mail

Last time I tried there was an hour wait on the phone.

They do also pay up readily when things go missing. I just wish they offered higher compensation limits for international services.

6 hours ago, hayfield said:

What makes me smile is that they inform the recipient that the goods have been delivered not the sender !!!  The recipient already knows !!!

Not if they were left with a neighbour or have been delivered to the wrong place. It does happen.

24 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

The way our Royal Mail things are delivered has changed since last month. It seems that letters and small packets now get delivered on the same round and our delivery is routinely around 2pm. The same person also collects and it seems that they have a van. 

In my neck of the woods, it's been like that for some time. They still sometimes send a separate person, but not very often.

The time of the rounds varies according to day of the week. You can see this when booking a collection. Today , for example, it's a 4-hr window between 12:30 and 4:30. Our postie explained that their shifts vary and they prioritise Monday deliveries for earlier in the day. It seems this is for stuff that was posted over the weekend but mid-week deliveries are scheduled later to allow more time for sorting stuff posted the day before.

It's great that they print and bring labels too, but the free collection offer expires at the end of this month.

On 29/05/2023 at 11:10, Stefan88 said:

ESU on the other hand seem to have gone the other direction and sourced what ever they can get hold of, speculation being that they are sourcing lower quality components 

That doesn't necessarily follow. We were able to carry on business as normal  throughout the pandemic with minor substitutions (e.g., we redesigned a PCB to use a different package) and minimal price increases. We certainly don't have the buying power of ESU or Zimo but our production partner was able to source everything. There was a lot of scalping going on but we managed to avoid it.

Why do you need such long run times?

Just remember that going from 4k to 12k is not 3x resolution improvement. Going from 8k to 12k is not 1.5x.

They're actually 1.7x and 1.2x respectively (square root of the pixel count increase).