Flying Scotsman 'pulsing' with digital controller

[Ed1707822709]

For Christmas I bought my son an Flying Scotsman R3284TTS, as they are out of stock I had to use Ebay. A very disappointed son on Christmas day as when we tried it it didn't work properly. When using the Select Digital Controller it would kind of pulse, the train would start making a noise and then cut out, the controller display would show '10' then '30' then '03' but with only the bottom half of the figures showing, this would keep repeating. Does anybody know if this could be a simple fix? whilst I wait to hear back from the seller. His Mallard works fine on the same track / controller.

[ColinB]

To me it sounds like an issue with the Select Digital Controller, the display not working properly should have nothing to do with the loco you are running. The only thing I can think is that the Select's power supply cannot source enough current to run the Flying Scotsman so it keeps cutting out. Does the Mallard have TTS? Someone with more knowledge of the Select can advise you, I don't have one.

[Chrissaf]

What you are describing is an observation you see when the loco has a "short circuit" fault when using the 1 amp power supply with the Select. The internal Select short circuit detection circuit is designed to trip when using the optional upgrade 4 amp P9300 power supply.

When using the 1 amp power supply, short circuits do not generate the 4 amp trigger current needed to trip the Select, instead the 1 amp power supply goes into shut down causing the Select to continually reboot. This is why you continue seeing the repeating 10 30 03 display sequence.

As you bought the loco off ebay and your other Mallard is working OK, it is likely that the TTS FS is faulty and probably why it was being sold on ebay. But I would not assume that the FS TTS is definitely faulty until the Select firmware is resolved [see note below].

Also note this, the initial 10 in the display shows that the firmware level in the Select is version 1.0, this is a buggy release and does not support the F numbered functions to operate the sounds on a TTS loco, so even if the loco was working, you would not be able to play all the sounds supported on a TTS decoder. It is also documented in forum posts that TTS decoders have other issues with version 1.0 Select firmware.

The Select firmware is a 'return to base' Hornby upgrade. You would need to obtain a "returns number" from Hornby Customer Services. The charge is in the region of £15, and the turn around is typically less than 10 days. The current firmware is version 1.6 and this version provides the ability to write to DCC CV's as well as full support for TTS decoders. This is a significant feature and function upgrade compared to version 1.0

If you upgrade the firmware to version 1.6, download the Select 1.5 manual and the 1.6 manual addendum from the "Support" section of the Hornby website. The operation of the Select is completely different from version 1.0 and a new user interface needs to be mastered.

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[Ed1707822709]

@Chrissaf

Wow, this is my first post to the forum and that is an amazing reply; thank you so much. I will look at upgrading the Select firmware an await the seller of the Flying Scotsman to open after the Christmas break to see what I can do.

[Chrissaf]

Now that I am on my PC this morning, I can provide a clickable link to the Select 1.5 and 1.6 addendum manuals.

Download both R8213 documents listed on the page below:

Hornby Digital – Hornby Support