bandmbill

I use these… They aren’t cheap - Radiospares - about £60 - but are brilliant - from decoder wires to 13 Amp mains cables - no adjustment needed - if I lost them I would replace them without a thought!

Probably just do some tests program to an address then test with point motors attached….. Looks like you can’t adjust anything apart from address - if the units work with your point motors of choice then maybe find more modern units?

Yes - might be setting blocks….. I built 4 MERG Accessory Decoders 20 years ago - they were programmed on the programming track but I can’t remember how the addresses were set - they did work really well though….

My guess, based on older accessory decoders from a few years back, would be that you attach it to a DCC programming track and write to CV1 the base address in the same way you would change the address of a loco. Once programmed then connect to the normal DCC output of your system. If you program it to address 20 then output 1 would be on address 20, output 2 on 21, output 3 on 22 and output 4 on 23...

I’ve been using Uhlenbrock Daisy 2 throttles with a Digitrax command station for 6 or 7 years now. The Daisy just plugs into a Loconet connection - very easy to use. I would add a computer interface and use DecoderPro for programming - Digitrax have the PR4 and Uhlenbrock have the 63120 to connect DCS50 to a computer.

The Zimo decoder tester is very good.

Probably Clutterbox, if not then my iTrain test track.

Very sad news - met him quite a few times over the years - condolences to his friends and family.

Agree there Nigel - my first stay-alives were on Zimo MX decoders with the SACC16 boards - 2 x 220uF for non-sound and 5 x 220uF for sound made running much more reliable on my 09 locos - the energy stored was enough as long as wheels and track were kept clean. The STACO boards give much a longer run time.

What voltage does your DC controller deliver? What is your DCC system and what is it set to deliver?

The dates for the 2024 Leighton Buzzard Galas have been set. Last year’s gala was great fun to operate but we did clash with other events that took away punters and people to run the trains. Monday 27th May - Diesel Gala -Sunday 26th will be a ‘normal’ operating day. Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September - Steam Gala - new weekend to avoid other local events. More details will follow - there is a possibility of running 4 train timetables for both galas….

Have they announced the price of the DCC version yet?

Same footprint but has a depth of 20mm as opposed to 83mm……..

There has been discussion on the DCC-EX Discord server……. If I understood the discussion on there then it is a timing issue with some of the possible hardware configurations….

DCC-EX has got a lot going for it - I have a test system to play with - at present no support for RailCom at present. Hans Tanner has added LocoNet support search for IoTT on YouTube…. I like the Uhlenbrock DCC stuff - the Daisy 2 throttle is very easy to use….

What about DIY - DCC-EX is a cheap way into DCC - you can use an app on your smartphone, also there is a web page throttle - plenty of YouTube videos. https://dcc-ex.com/#gsc.tab=0 The basic system can evolve to support a large layout……

Yes - car and lorry reversing cameras - most of the screens can take two cameras - 12V DC power - screen can flip image - have IR light arrray so would work in dark fiddle yard…..

Also - they are run by modellers - they have a large O gauge test track and have running sessions…..

Sale of goods act - supplier is responsible not the manufacturer…….

Think you have to accept that, no matter how carefully we prepare, that things can go wrong. I think that if you have tested, cleaned and fettled before leaving for the show that things can still go wrong. At a recent show one of the larger layout was having an issue and two hours after the show opened nothing was running - someone commented that ‘it did this last time out’…………… Although you can carry spare bits of kit there may be some bits that you couldn’t realistically have spares for, perhaps a DCC Command Station - if that was to fail then maybe you would have to accept that trains won’t be running for the rest of the show or if there was major damage to track or wiring in transit or while setting up.

Another vote for Antics - I live about 3 miles from their warehouse - you can pop in Mon-Fri - excellent stock of modelling materials - they can move stuff between shops within a day or so - I don’t buy ready to run trains so no idea about their prices.

Another very satisfied Digitrains customer - I have bought lots of Zimo sound decoders from them - really rate their exclusive sounds - service is always very fast - dropped a decoder off on Sunday morning at the Bristol show for a reblow with new sounds and picked it up a couple of hours later. My first choice for DCC sound!

The STAC03 is a bis step in energy storage - I am using them with MS500 decoders - they give a good amount of running time. The STAC02 has a socket for an Next-18 decoder - all wired connections are made to the STAC02 board - I have used them 3 times so far - again they just work!

I have used 5 tantalum caps and the SACC16 board with MX648 decoders - gives a short stay-alive in my 09 (9mm gauge 7mm/ft) 4 wheel locos successfully - 2 caps works with non-sound locos.

I have two Brother printers - the first one I bought was the P-Touch 1000 - I have used this to label connections on baseboards, panels, power supplies and loads of other stuff. I bought my PT-E300VP second hand on eBay - it will print flat labels and heat shrink. Both are very good - labels survive pretty well - some I put on 10 years ago are still well stuck - they don’t seem to fade either. The text on labels describes function so that I don’t have to look things up.