Rallymatt Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 I decided to fit a decoder to my Piko loco, a £130 sound decoder has been on order for months now… beauty of the HM7000 decoders are you can rewrite over the top in an instant and files are free so nothing to lose! Did have to snip and resolder the speaker wires to feed it through the pre set holes fromPiko, setting up the decoder is so simple, did take a couple of attempts to get the functions and profiles uploaded to the decoder but not a big challenge and she runs and sounds like a champion. Moving between BLE and DCC couldn’t be simpler and hilariously if you are running and switch, it replicates pulling the communication cord! Bell rings and loco stops will new system takes over. Serious congratulations due to the team that have put this together, it wipes the floor with what’s gone before. DCC that is user friendly and very capable! Thank you 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM6 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Really good to hear Rallymatt. The testing team have not had it quite so easy, but you are benefitting from the hard work of the project team and the testers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 A good post that offsets the nay-sayer minority posts.Of interest Hornby has stats for numbers of app downloads and requests for help (these exclude FB and other social media whiners who cannot be counted). Out of date stats from early yesterday were showing 350 for 5.Unfortunately these data are not available relative to RM users which would have been interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 Well I am a big believer in credit where it’s due, there must be an army of people who had vision and skills to bring this to where it is and at such a remarkably low cost to the customer. And for once it’s a decoder system that can evolve. Less expense, less waste, constantly updating. If there was a couple of things to feedback, the guards whistle sounds like it’s from a football match and perhaps some of the functions could be arranged differently. Dynamis only copes with 20 so some I lose is going DCC, ability to rearrange them in an order the customer uses most would be nice. I think Hornby could really pull in new customers by have a sample of each sound file on the website… once you have heard it, you want it! 😁5 * from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ché-348931 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Well I am a big believer in credit where it’s due, there must be an army of people who had vision and skills to bring this to where it is and at such a remarkably low cost to the customer. And for once it’s a decoder system that can evolve. Less expense, less waste, constantly updating. If there was a couple of things to feedback, the guards whistle sounds like it’s from a football match and perhaps some of the functions could be arranged differently. Dynamis only copes with 20 so some I lose is going DCC, ability to rearrange them in an order the customer uses most would be nice. I think Hornby could really pull in new customers by have a sample of each sound file on the website… once you have heard it, you want it! 😁5 * from me FYI - you can rearrange the function layout by going to the Locomotive Settings screen, tapping the functions tab and then you can hold down on each function to drag and drop the functions in the function grid. All customisable, figured this out last night! The same drag and drop also works on the Engine Shed screen to rearrange your locomotive order in the control screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_nelmes Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Just used the app and it is really good. Quite intuitive so easy to get going quickly. First time linked to decoder and updated firmware. Think I might be buying a few more of these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris98 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Have to agree, I am very impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 C3 you are a star! So that I presume reallocated the function number too? Fantastic if it does 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ché-348931 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 C3 you are a star! So that I presume reallocated the function number too? Fantastic if it does 😁 No worries! The functions aren’t set in any particular order. Each function in the grid can be setup to however you want. Click into each function and you can customise the name, icon, button type (push on/off, switch or timed), function number etc! You could add multiple buttons for the same functions if you wanted to, it’s entirely up to you. The dragging and dropping rearranges the grid to how you so desire. After customising you can export / import function maps if you want to re-use that particular setup across different locomotives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 I have tied this but it seems the only thing we can do is change the position, the function number doesn’t alter so doesn’t really help with my DCC controller sadly, unless I am missing something. I couldn’t get the buttons to shift to a different page etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 In the function tab on loco settings you can allocate any function into any slot but a function key keeps its function number, that cannot be re-mapped. All you are doing is swapping icons on a screen to be able to view and access them easier.e.g. This icon for lights F0 can be amended to become any function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ché-348931 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 I have tied this but it seems the only thing we can do is change the position, the function number doesn’t alter so doesn’t really help with my DCC controller sadly, unless I am missing something. I couldn’t get the buttons to shift to a different page etc Tap the function boxes on the grid in Locomotive settings, you can edit it all in there and design your pages how you want them. The profile maps are pre-made for each profile by Hornby, however you can customise these (or start from scratch!) to whatever setup you desire. See screenshots below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clement Matchett Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Like Rallymatt, I think the HM7000 system is very good. I duly installed, updated and downloaded the files to run my TT120 Falcon A4 and am very impressed with the results.Take a bow, Development Team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge1965 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 I installed two decoders in both the Mallard and Flysing Scotsman.. Went well ish..Mallard played up in the app, everytime i turned a sound on it stopped the loco. No issues with the FS at all. Had problems loading the correct profiles to the Mallard, but now she is all good and working..When updating the profile, i've had to load the same profile 3/4 times on the Mallard. Is this just me?I have to say, its amazing and love the control and the app, for the first user version, very good.. Look forward to using more... Thanks Hornby team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 When loading you can have your phoneipad to close the the loco/decoder. I used to rest my iphone against the tender and found the download didn't work, and was advised to move it away, which I did, about six inches and the download worked fine. Sounds trivial, but sometimes trivial works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 I may have done this BB, good tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge1965 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Same distance for all loads, around 300mm from loco. 4 loads for Mallard and 2 for Flying Scotsman.. All said no sound file loaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 I installed an 8-pin decoder, power bank and speaker to a Class 66 yesterday. The sound load went faultlessly but I still imported the function list and running profile separately, taking note to power cycle after each event.Motor control was perfect being able to crawl along my short loading track at SS1.I have loaded many profiles on my main layout and the iPad was anywhere from a few inches to several feet from the locos. Some profiles had to be loaded more than once to ‘take’ but all got there in the end. It could be a loco thing. If you are having problems try to reload the default SD999 profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge1965 Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 After those loads, they both seem perfect and all good.. I did read people loading multiple times.Thanks for info on SD999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_nelmes Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 My decoder is in a Hornby decoder insulating sleeve and loaded first time for all updates including sound profile on an iPad Mini 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminaire Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I agree with the OP here - this is such a step forward for DCC and sound. No more programming track. Easy sound profile updates. No soldering needed (but still possible). The way Hornby have enhanced DCC for existing users whilst building something new is really impressive. I design apps for a living and Hornby have also done a good job here - and not many companies that had to learn how to do that because it’s not their core competency can say that. Real innovation, and done well from my experience so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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