TTS in a King R.3074

[geoff_higgins]

Popped the top off the tender and installed the speaker only to find that the cable is so short that the decoder would have to sit between the engine and the tender. In that position the wires from the decoder to the 8 pin plug do not reach the socket. A few centimetres more of cable would make the job so much easier so I suppose I will buy a sugar cube to replace the speaker and instal it and the decoder inside the loco body. Very disappointed..

[Howbi]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment, Geoff, but in reality the TTS decoders were designed to fit into the latest models with tender sockets and speaker housings........so, inevitably, we've all had to do some modifications to fit TTS into older models and non Hornby models.........could you not just extend the speaker wires into the tender and install a sugar cube?..........HB

[96RAF]

I would refer you back to the standalone TTS installation guide which clearly states various options including advice about when a loco doesn't 'fit-off-the-peg' as it were.

 

If Hornby provided the kit with longer wires as standard then someone else would comment about it being too long.

Rob

[Chrissaf]

And if Hornby provided it with longer unterminated speaker wires, for the installer to 'cut to length' and solder to the speaker. Then there would be complaints about the need to solder. You just can't please everybody.

[WilliamDavid]

I can't agree with the logic above. The wires are so thin, that if they were made longer, any excesss could easily be tucked away.

Hornby has the worst scenario. Having to acquire suitable wire to extend them, plus the needed insulation, is a real pain.

Please extend the wires in future batches. You know it makes sense.

[morairamike]

It is not difficult to extend the wires and fit heat shrink over the joint. Problem here is it's  down to cost, extra wire cost pennies but many pennies make less profit so they would pass it on. Then there would be complaints about the cost. So get your soldering iron out fit a 4 way plug socket and live with it.

[96RAF]

Agreed Mike

The linked installation guide says you may need modelling skills to adapt this kit to your particular model - obviously these days people want the plug and play approach adopted by some of the American models whereby you remove the complete pcb from your loco and install an expensive replacement. That works if your model has used the same design for donkey's years but where a universal kit like TTS retro is produced to fit a plethora of different forms within various types of loco then there can be no simple one size fits all solution and its back to self adaption methods.

 

If people wanted a bespoke kit that would fit their particular R number then they should expect to pay double the cost at least. Hornby (nor anyone else) would not take that on as a commercial offering due to the vast number of options they would have to engineer in the vague hope someone bought hundreds of each.

Rob.

[Phil_Spiegel.]

Since you will find it a benefit to have 'all wheels' - including the tender's - picking up power  - something that becomes increasingly apparent with sound, unless 'Stay Alive' components are also being added ... it is worth (in my opinion) spending some extra money on buying a new matching tender chassis/frame and mounting both speaker and decoder in there, in a standardised way  - this can be more than 1 part number - so as to have 6  (or 8) wheel pickup in the tender, PLUS that provided by the loco - and especially if you are converting older models with only 1 or 2 electrical power connections to the tender - 'upgrading' to the 4-way JST plug and socket method is a good idea ... I have done / am doing this for my A4, A1/A3s  - and for my old Mallard ( which was Tender drive and for which I have just bought a replacement Railroad chassis -  [Now all my tender-drive stock is retired to a display cabinet]

In planning for such a batch of conversions - buying a pack of the JST 4-way leads, and other parts,  on Ebay is a simple investment,   The low cost of the TTS Sound Upgrade Pack ( especially if you decide to re-use the original silent decoder instead of using it for cab lighting etc,  both: 'permits'  the purchase of extras to meet your individual requirements, and saves you the cost of having unused parts and alternative speaker shapes for differing models. ... all for less than any other sound conversion  (most make the speaker an extra)

When they released Zero-1, they produced (at least 4 editions of) a booklet covering conversions of EVERY Triang/Hornby model  ... and the range was much smaller then !!   [ I only had 32 locos when Zero-1 launched - up from the 16 I had at the announcement of it ]   Opening up models from the last 30+ years to convert/upgrade them once again shows how things have improved - and a replacement tender frame is one way of also gaining a NEM pocket coupling ... one of the most essential changes ever !!!

For fitting into some of the most recent models - the Pack is 'plug and play' - but you may prefer to change from their choice of speaker shape.