Porfuera

On 01/05/2024 at 11:31, Michanglais said:

I was wondering whether anyone else was having the following issue:

 

I've currently got Next 18 Bluetooth decoders in both powered and dummy car of a TT HST.

 

The powered unit makes all the right noises and functions perfectly. However, the dummy remains obstinately silent. The lighting functions are all fine. I've tried a few different speakers in both the side of the decoder and in the special extension socket provided next to the speaker. Nada. 

 

Any ideas for what's going on/fixes, please?

 

Cheers,

Michael

Hi Michael - sorry for the delay in replying, I haven't looked at this thread for a week or so.

I'm not having any sound problems with my HST dummy - it makes all the same sounds as the powered version.

Assuming you haven't solved this already, have you tried reloading the sound profile or even resetting and starting again? I recently had to do that with one of my TXS chips where I had the opposite problem I.e. there was sound but the loco wouldn't respond to bluetooth movement commands.

The only other thing I can think of is to try is swapping the decoders between the two power cars - that might give you a clue whether the problem lies with the chip or the speakers/connections.

6 hours ago, Ravenser said:

 So I was interested to see this at a recent event - the first actual layout I've seen in the scale, bar the Hornby and Peco display layouts.

[snip]

 

The showguide quotes dimensions as 10' x 6' 

Even if you don't read BRM or receive the updates on World of Railways, the full build of Twelvemill Bridge is documented here - I'd have thought it would be pretty difficult to miss if you were googling TT:120 layouts. Plus there are quite a few YT videos of it on various channels.

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/building-twelvemill-bridge-tt120-part-one

The new issue of the TT:120 Club magazine is now available to download here

In case anyone doesn't get the emails or use Facebook, there is 15% off in-stock items on the Hornby website this bank holiday weekend - I don't know how that compares with retailers but presumably you can still use Hobby Points if you have them for an extra reduction 

8 minutes ago, Michanglais said:

Yay!

 

I just received my rake of 7 blue/grey Mk3s and I'm happy to say they are massively smoother running than the IC Exec ones.

 

No need for axle filing this time. I must have just got a duff set last time. 

 

Now to get them fitted with TJModèles magnetic couplers to get rid of those nasty gaps (and horrendous to uncouple pre-fitted couplers). 

 

Harking back to the days of my childhood with this 'flying banana'...

Great news! My BGs also are very free-running.

I have to say that I found that the couplings on the Mk3s are also a bit of a pain to couple up as well - they seemed to be much less user-friendly than the Mk1s. I had to get the magnifying headset out for some of them and align them vertically and/or horizontally with a poking stick to get some of them to couple.

And there also seemed to be more random uncouplings than I remember with the Mk1s, but rotating one carriage 180 degrees seems to have helped and also this seems to be disappearing with a bit of running in.

Apparently the close coupling mechanism is different - I don't know if that is contributing - but I'd agree that magnetic couplings are definitely the way to go. Last August's Train Terminal (called 'BR Fleet') said that Hornby will be supplying these as an option on the Mk2s so those will be interesting to compare with other makes.

On 13/04/2024 at 11:25, PeterStiles said:

It may be worth proactively contacting Hornby customer support and asking if you've been charged four sets of P&P :)

Just a quick update on this - I sent Hornby customer services an email last Friday explaining that all four of my Mk3s arrived in the same courier delivery and today (Monday) I received a reply saying that they were refunding the £15.80 postage. All sorted and relatively hassle free.

For anyone that hasn't seen it yet, the new catalogue/brochure is available to download from here.

No sign of April's TT:120 Club magazine yet, though.

24 minutes ago, Andymsa said:

It was for a brawa twindex and twindexx vario emu. Cost of shipping and packing 12.90 euros

 

previous order was viessmann tamp machine same shipping 12.90 euros 

If I'm looking at the correct items then those orders would appear to be well over the £135 limit and consequently UK VAT would have been charged.

My three orders so far from Modellbahnshop-Lippe have been under £135 (after German VAT has been deducted and excluding postage) and I haven't been charged UK VAT to date.

On 26/04/2024 at 01:30, britishcolumbian said:

But that's the thing... British equipment really is just that small.

I've been thinking about this because I recently purchased a European loco and a wagon to compare to UK outline (a Piko BR 223 Eurorunner loco and a Tillig double-container flat Sggmrs wagon) and I didn't find the difference in loading gauge to be too severe.

Maybe the examples I bought aren't typical but also I guess that as the scale gets smaller then the differences get less (so the difference in a scale like HO would look 'worse'). Obviously if you had a layout with structures (especially platforms) then even this small difference might cause problems.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from above comparing the loading gauges. The first is an HST on the left and the Eurorunner on the right while the second is an Arnold container flat on the left (grey) and the German one on the right (blue). I think the container flat is possibly a bit deceptive because it has the tie-down hooks mounted on outriggers rather than it being a full-width wagon whereas the Arnold container flat has the hooks mounted on the body.

15 minutes ago, Railpassion said:

After seeing the Hornby models for the first time, I was shocked at how small they were in comparison to my conception of them formed by YouTube videos etc. 

I think the are not sufficiently larger than British N. It's a personal opinion and one I've heard from others earlier in this thread. I did not agree with them at the time, but now I see they have a point. 

 

There's much in its favour with standardisation and correct gauge etc.

It's providing an exciting buzz and I wish it success but, sadly, I will not be buying it. 

 

If I had serious money (inspired by lego and a brilliant O gauge Bodmin layout) I would explore sound-fitted, low-voltage motored, battery powered, radio-controlled, dead rail locos. 

Using the track for power seems a big weakness in model railways.

But that's another topic.

'Shocked' seems a bit strong - TT:120 is just a scale like any other. Are you even more shocked by H0 given that 1:87 seems closer to 1:100 than even TT:120 does, never mind TT:120 to N Gauge? I doubt it.

With the advent of TT:120, UK modellers now have a choice of scales of 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm and 4mm (as well as scales outside that range) - on the face of it there doesn't seem to be much to choose between any of them. It seems a bit strange to single out 2.5mm as being too close to 2mm when others are equally close.

As for your closing paragraph, why even mention that here? This is a TT:120 thread. Do you go posting that on 00 gauge threads? Again, I doubt it. I'm sure there are plenty of other threads where those things are discussed.

9 hours ago, Railpassion said:

Here's a 1/100 model of Friedrichstasse in the Cold War from the Palace of Tears Museum in Berlin 

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, really, apart from the fact that 1/100 is an international architectural modelling scale.

Just like TT:120 is an international model railway scale, whereas TT3/TT100 isn't.

In fact, AFAIAA it is so international that the rest of the world just calls it 'TT' whereas we are forced to call it 'TT:120'.

19 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

4mm/ft is quite easy.......

Quite easy when you're dealing with whole numbers of feet I guess but I imagine it gets tedious if you're having to include odd inches and fractions of inches (and maybe yards) and then you're having to convert lots of measurements for a wagon or a loco or something...

4 minutes ago, osbornsmodels said:

Do you think  so when virtually all the available drawings are in feet and inches!! I don't find it easy when I then have to convert to mm. Not that difficult but certainly not 'easy'

I was just making the point that it is easier to divide by 100 than it is to divide by 76 or 87 or 43.5 or whatever, regardless of the units that the original drawings are in.

That's why I spent my life working with computers - they are much better at sums than I am.

1 hour ago, Porfuera said:

something in TT100 is going to be around 60% bigger than the same thing in TT:120

I freely admit I'm rubbish at sums and on reflection something in TT100 might be only 42% bigger by volume than the same thing in TT:120. Even so, 42% is still a fair difference.

I'm sure that someone better than me can get the right figure!

18 hours ago, Railpassion said:

After being enthusiastic about TT120 as a concept, and having had a TT continental layout for a time, yesterday I finally saw the Hornby range at Monk Bar Models in York. 

 

My first impression was that it's too small. It was quite a shock to see the scale close up, Flying Scotsman, the 08, and HST.  I was strangely disconcerted and underwhelmed, it simply did not work artistically. I never expected to say it, but I think that 3mm 100 is a much more satisfying size and scale. 

I saw the 3mm 100 diesels at the York Show and felt the were immediately attractive in shape and size. 

 

There is something psychological about scale, and it's no coincidence that 1:100 is architect's scale. 

I know you are just expressing a personal opinion, but you don't say whether the 3mm layout that you saw was running on 12mm or 14.2mm gauge track but if it was 12mm gauge then surely the rolling stock was over gauge which would contribute to its apparent bulk, giving the wrong impression when you look at something like TT:120 that has the correct gauge-to-scale ratio - just as it would when comparing British H0 to British 00.

And just as a model in TT:120 is almost twice the volume of the same model in 2mm scale, then something in TT100 is going to be around 60% bigger than the same thing in TT:120, so no surprise that TT:120 looks a fair bit smaller than TT100.

As for scale, that is just a ratio of the size of a model to the size of the real thing - I can't see how there is anything psychological about it apart from some people having a preference for bigger scales and others for smaller ones.

And surely there is nothing intrinsically special about architect's scale being 1:100 - it is simply easier to divide a measurement by 100 if you're making a model, which is nice for TT100 but it isn't an insurmountable problem in other scales.

My four BG Mk3 coaches arrived yesterday - I had to delay the DPD delivery by 8 days because I was away on hols ☹️ but today I finally got the chance to play with them check them and test them.

I think they look great. I can't comment on the prototypical accuracy but then that doesn't bother me as long as they 'look right' from normal viewing distances.

The running qualities are excellent in both directions - i.e. both when pulling and pushing - although so far I have only tried a loop of track so no points to date. But I'm relieved that I don't have the wheel binding issues reported earlier.

The only initial 'problems' were a couple unplanned separations between coaches. Inspection with a magnifying headset (those couplings are so tiny!) showed that, once the couplings were correctly aligned, sometimes both metal hooks remained raised rather than dropping down and locking onto the opposing coupling. A light touch with a screwdriver dropped the hooks into position. A bit of running in might fix this but I'll probably fit magnetic couplings when I get around to it. I might wait and see what the proposed Hornby ones look like before I decide which ones to buy.

I'm very happy and I'm looking forward to the Class 50s and the Mk2F coaches!

EDIT: apologies for the phone-camera blurry photo!

On 19/04/2024 at 11:03, Hobby said:

Hornby in interview with Peachy and MacTrains about the range, the issues, plans for the future and lots of background. Very interesting and explains why we can't have everything tomorrow!

I watched it last night and I quite enjoyed it. I thought they were pretty open about the issues that were discussed. That is good because if anyone is suffering from any of the running problems mentioned then it could point a way to a potential fix. For me, I think I may need to take a look at the insides of the axle boxes of my 12T tank wagons - but I think that's about the only problem I've had so far. Touch wood! Also good to know that issues are being investigated and addressed when they are discovered.

The exchanges about the design/development/production schedules were also interesting and also that they're not sticking rigidly to the original plan - as we've seen with the J50. My take on it was that they're keeping an eye on whether steam or modern image is selling better and they may further adjust the release schedule to suit.

I wasn't sure what to read into Martyn Weaver's body language at times, though - he occasionally seemed a bit fidgety - I'm sure that should mean something! 😆

On 12/04/2024 at 14:12, Porfuera said:

A couple of hours ago I received four emails saying that my four BG Mk3 pre-orders have arrived. My credit card has been debited as well.

True to form for Hornby's logistics company (CCL ?), despite all four emails arriving within about an hour of each other last Friday, I've just noticed that three of my Mk3 carriages are showing as 'Dispatched' with a date of today (the 15th), but the Buffet is still showing as 'Processing'.

I guess I should have known better than to expect all four to arrive in the same package... or at least, on the same day.

47 minutes ago, MartinRS said:

When I looked at the Hornby site a few days ago I saw a large photo of a couple of J50s 'on shed' which lacked front couplings. The locos looked aesthetically pleasing, but was not what I wanted. (https://web.archive.org/web/20240415125113/https://uk.Hornby.com/hornbytt120) 

That image is probably a couple of 00 scale locos because Hornby didn't even have a complete TT:120 loco available to show on the Q&A - IIRC all they had was a couple of recently-received test mouldings that they hadn't even had time to assemble.

I don't know for sure but I suspect that the front coupling on the 00 is optional/removable (at least, I think I've seen this on other 00 models) and that's possibly why they didn't put it on the photoshopped images they're using for the TT:120 models.

1 hour ago, andrewshimmin said:

I haven't ordered my carriages yet as I was waiting for my pending Hornby points to be useable. It says 21 days after delivery, which would have been Thursday, but they're still showing as pending. Anyone else had that problem? I've emailed Hornby Customer Services but no response as yet.

I noticed that as well - my HST arrived on 22nd March but the points don't appear to have been credited yet. Hopefully we're on the cusp so fingers crossed for next week, although I'm fortunate in that all my pre-orders are already in so I don't have anything I want to buy (at the current time 🤔) therefore I can afford to wait in any case. I might be waiting on the Class 37 before I spend mine! I must resist the J50...!

2 hours ago, PeterStiles said:

It may be worth proactively contacting Hornby customer support and asking if you've been charged four sets of P&P :)

I was originally charged p&p on each one - each carriage was a separate order (in spite of ordering all four at the same time) and as there was only one of each carriage then each order was under £50 and so each one attracted p&p (I hope that makes sense!)

I'll be contacting Hornby about the p&p after the carriages arrive. I didn't think it worth doing beforehand because I think you only get the p&p back on ones that arrive on the same day. So if (for example) all four were to arrive on different days then from what I've read I don't think they'd refund any p&p in that instance.

A couple of hours ago I received four emails saying that my four BG Mk3 pre-orders have arrived. My credit card has been debited as well.

12 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

Agreed, out of idle curiosity just looked at the IP address assignment on my home router and they're all over the shop within the 192.168.1.x subnet.

Mine are quite tidy - I have 10 devices between 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.27

2 hours ago, Kaput said:

No real risk other than things randomly not working correctly.

 

Unless you have pretty much hundreds of devices connected to your home network at once, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

 

For what its worth, the router that came with my Z21 has never left the box. The Z21 gets plugged into my network by ethernet whenever I'm using it. I could change the IP settings but there physically isn't enough networkable devices in the house to make the router get to the stage of trying to assign .111 to anything...

Thanks for that reply - that sounds like a practical and sensible approach.

I've just switched on every device in the house I can think of (except the Z21, which is boxed up atm) and a quick check of my hub shows that there are 10 devices connected so I don't think I'm going to worry about it for the time being.

18 minutes ago, DaveArkley said:

You can set up a reservation in your home router's DHCP rules, you'd need to find the mac address of your Z21 and add using that. If that isn't crystal clear then I suggest you don't do it, too easy to get wrong if you aren't familiar.

 

Cheers

Dave

That doesn't mean anything to me - I think you are answering a question that I didn't ask.

I was told that there is 'risk' involved in connecting an Ethernet cable from my wifi hub directly into my Z21. I asked what that risk was and what could happen - I'm pretty sure that doesn't answer that question.