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Decoder Which one


stewart166

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We can only recommend Hornby if they have a product for the job, in some cases they don't. This may well be one of those depending on what your loco is.

 

Look at my answer in the thread Crossing issue.  In this instance, the basic Hornby decoder may be suitable, then again it may not and recommending a Hattons decoder is fair.  You could say I should have recommended the R8245 Sapphire, but this is a large, full function decoder with a higher current rating and a price to match.  It would be overkill to use it in a Belle, in fact it may not even fit due to its larger size.

 

Which leads me to say, to give good advice, we need to know what loco you are planning on putting it into, and what controller you are using?  Let us know please.

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Hello again Stewart...............from your previous posts asking advice about different locos etc and now which decoder is recommended you seem very nervous about buying anything............All the products available from Hornby, Bachmann, Dapol, Peco and 3rd party decoders available through well advertised suppliers and retailers are good quality..........Everyone on this Forum has used all of these products with success...........it is very rare to find a duff product, it would soon be exposed on this Forum so you can rest assured that you can buy with confidence.......In the case of decoders I, for example, am running decoders from Hornby, Bachmann, Gaugemaster, Hattons and MyLocosound and they all work perfectly.............So go get the decoder that best fits your loco, size is important so check the space available first.........HB.

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Well I thought since i am going to get a class 08, I might as well get a  sapphire decoder because it still gives power to the loco even when there is a dead spot on the track unlike the other hornby decoders but I wanted to see what other decoders people recommend because I was on YouTube and people say that some of the decoders they were useing had many problems, they also said that when they got the newer version of the decoder it was worse than the one they had before! So it makes you really think! 

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Stewart..............your statement..."it still gives power to the loco even when there is a dead spot on the track" is not correct. The Sapphire decoder is not fitted with a stay-alive capacitor so it is no different to the standard Hornby decoder in that respect. In fact the size of it 23mm x 16.5mm x 6.5mm may be too large to fit into the CL 08..........Why don't you simply buy the 08 model you prefer and the R8249 decoder at the same time, get your member 10% discount, fit the decoder in and see how it runs. That's what all the other members do and then enjoy their hobby.. HB

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  • 1 month later...

Hi David.............unfortunately the Sapphire decoder is rather large and will not fit into many steamers whereas the hornby R8249 decoder along with several other makes are more compact and will fit without difficulty.......you need to choose the one with the best features to suit your need, they are not all the same...............HB.

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Hi David, it also depends on your controller, as well as your loco, which decoder you can make good use of.  For example, the Sapphire you have is a somewhat advanced decoder which can handle 1 Amp continuous current.  If you have only a Select controller, you cannot control most of these features.  In general, modern models don't need a high current to run.  And steam locos don't have many features to control.

 

As a result, the basic R8249 decoder will more than likely meet your needs.

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