Are TTS Decoders being phased out.

[Aussie Fred]

I just received an email from a UK distributor who advised me that TTS Decoders are being discontinued and to get them while they last.

Did I miss that memo.

Having said that I am now going through my "ready" locos to see what I need to order. 1st one up is the class 73 in my "Beatles - singles from Liverpool" set, does anyone know what is a suitable TTS decoder for it.

I went looking for a decoder for my Class 47 "Galloway Princess" and found the only one to have it was a UK supplier, charging 65 pounds, compared to all the "out of stock" stores who are 40 to 45 pounds.

[SteveM6]

With the introduction of HM7K I would suggest that TTS is now obsolete.

[Brew Man]

Why not get TXS decoders? They are only marginally more expensive than TTS and have the advantage of being able to install any (available) sound file.

[Bulleidboy]

There are still a lot of TTS decoders (new) on ebay - nobody appears to be reducing prices at the moment - there must be thousands out there.

If they did come down in price (clearance sales?), it might be a cheap way of getting basic sound in a model that does not have all the bells and whistles. I have the Tom Moore Class 66 - with TTS fitted it just has sound - there were no lights unless you did your own conversion - so probably not worth fitting a HM7000 decoder.

[ColinB]

Yes it appears so, with all the hype with the new system, people seem to forget there is at least a 20% cost difference between TTS and the new system. On top of that the new system decoders are bigger. So let's say you have an A4 that you want to run on DCC, you are only going to program it once, if you are like me and run a multi windows DCC controller what does the extra give you, a Bluetooth system that is great for one or two loco, not the 10 or 20 that I can do on my existing system. So yes for me TTS with a decent speaker is a better option. Then of course you have the issue that none of it works on Android at the moment so my HM7K is no better that a TTS at the moment.

[96RAF]

There is no theoretical limit to the number of Bluetooth locos you can have, in fact the more the better as each strengthens the mesh. The practical limits however are track space and available power.

When the world realises TTS decoders have just become shop shelf ornaments there could well be a fire sale and you can fill your TTS boots then.

[Brew Man]

There is no theoretical limit to the number of Bluetooth locos you can have, in fact the more the better as each strengthens the mesh. The practical limits however are track space and available power.

When the world realises TTS decoders have just become shop shelf ornaments there could well be a fire sale and you can fill your TTS boots then.

Another limit of course is how many locos your brain can handle running simultaneously without at least one hitting the buffers.

 

 

[ColinB]

Yes 96RAF you are absolutely right, but there is a limit to how many you can physically get on the screen. Now if you are happy with the way the Elite works then this is an improvement but if you have something like I have in a DigiKeijs then there is no comparison. As it uses a Windows front end there is no limit to the amount of locos you can display on the screen and it remembers them from last time round. The only disadvantage is you cannot name them, well at least I have not found a way yet. So in my case on my layout I can run 5 continuously, so clicking between windows is painless. Then we come onto accessories. Now the Bluetooth would be extremely useful in the case of tank engines where you try and fit Keep Alive/Stay Alive which means you can't reliably program them on DCC, but then as SAM demonstrated so well, the new decoders won't fit into most tank engines as they are far too big.

Unfortunately as I have found TTS decoders are very hard to find, most Retailers have sold their remaining stock. I was paying £35.00 to EKM for TTS decoders which is not a lot more than a decent DCC decoder so I tended to fit them to all my locos, which I suspect from posts on this website is similar for other people. Yes they blow up easily if they get hot, but once I figured that was an issue I took steps to reduce the risk. So I doubt that they will become ornaments unless you find a backstreet Retailer that doesn't sell much.

[ColinB]

Yes 96RAF you are absolutely right, but there is a limit to how many you can physically get on the screen. Now if you are happy with the way the Elite works then this is an improvement but if you have something like I have in a DigiKeijs then there is no comparison. As it uses a Windows front end there is no limit to the amount of locos you can display on the screen and it remembers them from last time round. The only disadvantage is you cannot name them, well at least I have not found a way yet. So in my case on my layout I can run 5 continuously, so clicking between windows is painless. Then we come onto accessories. Now the Bluetooth would be extremely useful in the case of tank engines where you try and fit Keep Alive/Stay Alive which means you can't reliably program them on DCC, but then as SAM demonstrated so well, the new decoders won't fit into most tank engines as they are far too big.

Unfortunately as I have found TTS decoders are very hard to find, most Retailers have sold their remaining stock. I was paying £35.00 to EKM for TTS decoders which is not a lot more than a decent DCC decoder so I tended to fit them to all my locos, which I suspect from posts on this website is similar for other people. Yes they blow up easily if they get hot, but once I figured that was an issue I took steps to reduce the risk. So I doubt that they will become ornaments unless you find a backstreet Retailer that doesn't sell much.

[96RAF]

At present you can only have one loco open on the control screen at a time, but I have 9 locos lined up along the top with slide aside access, along with slide and click access to 5 acc controllers, so everything is close to hand and easily found. Locos can be re-arranged in the engine shed to alter their slide rack position, allowing in use locos to be even closer to hand.

[ColinB]

Each to their own.

[Aussie Fred]

Now that we have sorted out the pros and cons of HM7k, anyone got any suggestions for suitable TTS decoder for class 73.

[96RAF]

As the 73 is a dual mode motor and TTS does not support motor type type switching like the TXS 73 then I am afraid any suggested alternative will be a compromise, and would have to be a diesel as there are no electric TTS types either.

[Aussie Fred]

Thanks RAF, I might see if I can get a class 37 R8102 - may not be the right sound BUT, my layout, my rules.

[96RAF]

A pity there are not examples that can be listened to on the Hornby site, then you could make comparison.