Ally_Smudge Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Hi All,I'm after some advice and wanted to see if anyone has shared the same experience. Up until a week ago I have used the Select but was never able to program CV's. So, after some deliberation I finally decided on the Roco Z21 (Black) system. Everything runs sweet except for the two TTS locos that I have on the layout. I increased a few sound levels to 8 like the guard whistles and some of the loco horn/whistle functions. It’s a Hornby A4 Mallard that came TTS fitted and a Hornby class 66 that was DCC ready and I retrofitted the Hornby TTS chip.Since making the adjustments both seem to be faulting but in different ways. The mallard has lost volume and is distorted with buzzing and clicking I had a look to see if there was any damage to the speaker but can’t see anything wrong and it still measures 8 ohms across the terminals.The 66 runs great without sound but when running with sound cuts out dead to a sudden stop and then continues on its way until the next fault occurs. This fault can be triggered by pressing a sound function like the horn for instance.I’ve tried programming 5 & 8 to CV 8 and checked that everything is back to default values (4), but the faults persist.I have no other TTS decoders on the layout. All other brands are running as they should.If anyone can help with this I’d really appreciate any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 I can't help you very much with the TTS query, but I just want to advise you that if you upgrade your Select to version 1.6 firmware. You will then be able to write to all 255 CVs and have access to all the 28 TTS functions. The upgrade is a return to Hornby upgrade that costs £15 plus your sending postage costs. The return postage is taken out of the £15 upgrade fee [assuming UK delivery address]. Arrange for the upgrade by getting a 'returns number' from Hornby Customer Services..If you want to see what new features the upgrade gives you.....read the version 1.5 manual in addition to the 1.6 version manual addendum. Both PDF files are downloadable from here:.https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/downloads/view/index/cat/12/.Just be aware that the speakers factory included with TTS decoders are cheap and do not last long (it appears) if run at full volume. You can get speaker distortion faults that do not affect the DC coil resistance value, so using an Ohmmeter is not conclusive diagnostics. If the posts on this forum are anything to go by, the amplifier output of the TTS is weak as well and can be the source of distortion....again aggravated by setting max volume levels..TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button..See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally_Smudge Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 For some reason it won't download. Tried Firefox Chrome and Internet Explorer.It shows the following message. "This download is currently unavailable. Please try again later or contact us directly to request the file" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDS Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Hi Ally,I can download the v1.5 Manual but I also get the same error as you when trying the v1.6 Addendum. I will see if anything can be done by Hornby to allow the download of the Addendum, although it will probably be at least Monday now before anything can be done.I suggest you keep trying early next week or within this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 The 1.6 addendum is only four pages. In the absence of the proper download here is a screen capture of my previously downloaded copy. Right click each of the four images and you can either view them full screen and/or download the image for viewing in any basic image viewer (subject to platform and browswer SW used)../media/tinymce_upload/2c8bc8a52cdc09b3b6a57b82f15a6a40.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/387dd382e49e744f01047f2ab9bd15ea.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/bc80727687017dfc776fcc2db60971cf.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5900a72d87883051802239556fa5375b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pendeenpete Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Unfortunately I think you will find the Z21 and TTS are not a match made in heaven, I have the the white z21 and have had problems with a Hornby class 37 TTS being the worst.I would suggest that the A4 needs a new speaker, the class 66 not sure, but it replicates my class 37 intermittent stopping, although mine doesn't coincide with sound functions.I have tried many cv adjustments, the only one that does any good is changing cv 150 to 1, this not only cures the well known juddering, but seems to make the decoders more "stable".It's possible that the Z21 track voltage is the reason behind these problems,but in my case the class 37 not only has it's own problems,but randomly affects the other TTS locos.Hornby have made these decoders at a low price point, they seem to be better suited to Hornby's own controllers, but the z21/Z21 is a fantastic system for every other decoder I have used,so I tend to put up with the issues discussed.Lastly, I would suggest sound level 8 is probably not a great idea with the apparent mismatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Until the Hornby link is fixed you can download the addendum from here - scroll down the page.http://www.halton96th.org.uk/dcc-downloads.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally_Smudge Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Apologies for the late reply, I had the newby poster 24hr restriction in force. Thank you all for the information, I've emailed Hornby for the 1.6 Select upgrade and am waiting to hear back. The A4 is now fixed and it turned out to be a faulty speaker as Chrissaf & Pendeenpete suggested. It is now working fine with an 8Ω sugar cube installed. Still having no luck with the 66 so have ordered a new decoder loaded with sounds from a well-known enthusiast. Thanks again for your advice and I’m glad to be a new member of this much-needed community. Have fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 You are better off ringing HCC even though they are on irregular working at present. An email may not get you a very prompt response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creilly81 Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Ally,Glad the Mallard is fixed - i was going to suggest a faulty speaker as it will crackle and volume reduce if it's on it's way out.The 66 - Can i ask, have you changed the speaker at all? I querying it as the results you describe i've seen happen when fitting a 4ohm speaker to a TTS chip - and obviously the TTS chip can only really run with an 8ohm speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 You really do highly risk damaging the TTS fitting a 4 ohm speaker. Hornby are very adamant in their technical blurb to specifically state that 4 ohm speakers should not be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 The Hornby link to download the v1.6 addendum is now fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 It has been pointed out to me that there was an issue a while ago with some TTS not working with Z21 (black one) and a fix was made to the PIC firmware of the decoder.It may be worth getting in touch with HCC and asking if you could have the decoder firmware updated. They will likely ask for the value of CVs 7 and 157 (I think is the decoder IDs).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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