New to DCC. Please Help.

[itydog]

Hello modellers,

I have returned to the hobby recently as I am now retired and have time to spend  on the hobbythat I never had previousley.I recently purchased a Hornby class 395 4 car Javelin and a Hornby class 66. My question is - what decoder should I buy for these models and what advice would you give me on going down the sound route ? I look forward to your replys.

Happy modelling and keep safe.

mistydog

[Chrissaf]

If your previous modelling history was DC Analogue and particularly if you are using your old track etc for this move towards DCC Digital. Then please be aware that the old DC Analogue track power connectors [R602 & R8206] are not compatible with DCC and will either need replacing with DCC versions [R8241 & R8242] or modified to remove the analogue capacitor ... see image below.

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Also be aware that Digital DCC data signals are very sensitive to track condition and are far less forgiving than the Analogue control track power system. DCC needs spotlessly clean track and absolutely no tarnishing or corrosion of the rails. The bottom line is that although DCC will work on the older steel based rails ... it is more reliable on the modern Nickle Silver track.

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With regard the decoder part of your question ... I will leave that for others to comment on.

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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.

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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/

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[Souty Train Guy]

Decoders should be chosen by:

- What number of pins the decoder socket in the train has (although adapters are available)

- The current the loco draws on the steepest gradient

- The controller in question to use it with (some Hornby controllers do not like certain decoders)

Most Hornby Locomotives have 8-pin sockets...

The right DCC Controller depends on your layout and operating capabilites

 

[jane1707819582]

Hornby do a class 66 sound decoder. Is your 66 DC ready ? If so pop the lid off, plug the decoder in off you go .

If your 66 is not DCC ready then you will need to fit this yourself .pretty straight forward .the 66 tts is due in may 

The javelin as far as I know has no tts decoder available yet .you may need to source from an open model shop .

Bear in mind a sound decoder also has a motor function and you might need two for the javelin to work the lights if so wish .this can be an ordinary decoder.

[96RAF]

R8249 will do as a basic non sound decoder, else as above for sund. Other basic decoders are available and Zimo get good reviews although with this being a Hornby forum the rules say we cannot actively endorse them, so you will have to investigate their various types for yourself.

[ColinB]

I have both of these models and use DCC. My Javelin is quite old it was produced during the London Olympics. In the Javelin I used the Hornby normal decoder, if I remember correctly I needed two, one for each end. The second one only does the lights in the trailing carriage, but I don't know if Hornby have updated their design to use only one in any new version. For the class 66, I used a TTS sound decoder. I use a Hornby Elite and Fleishmann Twin Track as DCC controllers, the reason I have two DCC controllers was they were going cheap on EBay as they were broken, I managed to fix them (one was just missing a connector). So I use the Elite for testing and Fleismann for running, I like the Fleismann as it remembers function settings even after a power on/off. Using both of these controllers I have tried most DCC decoders and they all seem to work, so I don't know about the statement Hornby not working with some DCC decoders is actually true. I must admit I don't mess with CV values much.

[96RAF]

Hornby continually test their kit, especially controller firmware updates with other manufacturers’ kit to ensure compatibility is as good as it can be, given its a one sided exercise by them. I don’t suppose the other manufacturers go to such lengths. Usually the mantra trotted out by such folk is ‘... we design to comply with NMRA specs (but didn’t bother getting it warranted by them) so it should work, if not its your kit at fault...’.

[itydog]

Many thanks  to all,this has helped greatly.