Suzie

The DCC spec now includes a lot (and I mean a lot, something like 32000 if my memory is correct) extra functions should you need them. It is all down to whether command stations will support the extra feature, and how the functionality will be handled on hand controllers. I am sure that Zimo will include support on their decoders if they do not already support it!

This video of Liverpool Lime Street shows a theatre indicator which appears to be using a 7 x 5 display on its side to give 5 x 4 fonts edit: I think that the font is actually 5 x 4 not 5 x 3 as I originally thought.

Nowhere to store the coal on a Fairlie!

I just have recollection of seeing the theatres on the approach to Liverpool Street having a yellow appearance.

There are two implementations of Next-18 (non-sound) and Next-18S (with sound) so potentially some models with Next-18 sockets will not be intended to have sound, but I suspect that this one does not use all eight function outputs that would preclude having a speaker! The space available is larger on the sound version. You have probably been lucky in that the Zimo sound decoder (Next-18S) fits in to the space intended for a non-sound decoder (Next-18).

There are suitable dot matrix displays available to make 7mm sized ones, but you have to be imaginative for 4mm and use the displays on their side to give a 2-digit display with 5 x 3 fonts or 1.5 digit display with 5 x 5 fonts. A bit limiting but modelling is compromise. The hardest thing is getting hold of yellow displays, I don't think they were lunar white! Another possibility is to use 7-segment displays which are available in 4mm size, or at least the digit is, but you have to hide the surround. A mask with holes in can be placed over the 7-segment display to give the impression of individual lamps, but you will be a bit limited as to which letters are available.

It should not be responding to short address 62. Just make sure that you don't have a double header or consist set up that links 62 with 0062.

Something is wrong there, 0062 is a long address, and 62 is a short address. What is configured in CV29 and CV19?

At least you won't need any feathers...

082 should work as a long address (sometimes referred to as '4-digit' address). It is the same as 0082, but not the same as 82 which is a short address (sometimes referred to as '2-digit' address). Using the leading zero should force the NCE to use the long address where there is ambiguity (1 - 127 versus 01 - 0127). Short address is the address which goes in to CV1, long address is the address which goes in to CV17 and CV18.

It might be worth a trip to Clacton (on the train) with a video camera to get a glimpse of a variety of signals including a 4-aspect searchlight and splitting (admittedly with a miniature yellow for the diverging) on the run in from Burrs Road level crossing. On the platforms you can see 3-aspect searchlight and motorised disc.

082 is long address 82 which you should be able to use with your NCE system. Just make sure that you program the decoder with a long address 82 and not short address 82

The only thing the MTC-21 socket does support that none of the others do is the Marklin 3-phase AC 'C-Sinus' motors. None of those in UK models though.

The key answer to that is that both the NEM652 8-pin and NEM651 6-pin socket and decoder combinations are bigger and more expensive to make than the more modern PluX and MTC-21 socket solutions with more pins. The S-Stock does have provision for sound (even though the speaker is not fitted) and NEM652 8-pin has no speaker connection.

The Next-18 socket comes in two versions (can only be wired for sound or non sound - not both), and does nearly as much as the similarly sized and keyed PluX-16, that is why it is pointless. If it had not been invented manufacturers would have just used the PluX-16 socket and people could just plug in the PluX-12 and PluX-16 decoders that are used elsewhere for N, H0, 00 and small 0.

Speaker for sound anyone?

Bachmann have just standardised on the supposedly obsolete MTC-21 and the rather pointless Next-18 sockets, therefore they just fit these to new designs. Neither have a lower or higher pin count version so regardless of the functional requirement of the train they all get the same socket based on available space and current draw.

There is no difference on the whole. Some sockets have different versions of wiring like the MTC-21 (C-Sinus motor support versus DC motor) and Next-18 (sound and non sound) so different decoders are made for the same socket - but on the whole the decoders are the same and the more pins you have the more functions you can access, and the bigger the decoder the more current it can provide. Generally speaking the sockets are intended for different scales depending on size, so you will find that N-gauge will have NEM651 6-pin, PluX-16, or Next-18 sockets depending on whether it is legacy (old design not intended for many functions or sound), following NMRA recommended practice (capable of being fully loaded), or from a bolshy manufacturer. H0 or 00 will generally have NEM652 8-pin/jst 9-pin, PluX-22, or MTC-21 in the same categories. There is some overlap in that small H0 and 00 will sometimes have a socket intended for smaller scales, and a lot of modern small decoders are suitable for larger scales such that many of the PluX family with 12 or 16 pins can be used for larger scales in the 22-pin socket.

I guess that at some point there will be one going from Sudbury to Colchester, but apart from that they will presumably be staying the other side of the Ipswich tunnel.

It is the direction of travel that is used - not which way the train is facing. The stopping distance is related to when the last vehicle which links track power in to the stopping section gets in to the stopping section - so if you have a train with lit coaches it should not matter whether it is pushing or pulling. If just the loco has pickups it probably will only work going in one direction.

There are fake SG90s on the market, so if you really want an analogue servo (some controllers muck about a bit with digital ones) you probably want to find a reputable source. The fake ones are digital due to being cheaper to make.

The circuit puts AC across the capacitors so if polarised they will behave a bit non-linear like having a capacitor with a diode in parallel! I guess it depends on how much fidelity you expect from the circuit. If it is a fuzz-box then fidelity will not be too important.

C102, C103, and C105 should all be non-polarised. If they are polarised (with a negative marker by one of the legs) that will explain the crackling!

Peedie Models https://www.peediemodels.com/proddetail.php?prod=SB1

The Signalist servo point motors are about 40mm high. They fit in the same footprint as a Peco PL10 solenoid on a PL9 or PL12 base and have the provision for two microswitches for end position feedback or frog switching.