Steve-353799 Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 Hi guys I was surprised to come across this video today about an American guy using Bluetooth to drive his dcc decoders. I didn’t know there were other companies into it. For a more in-depth review Larry Puckett runs through it more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 Yes Blunami has been out for a while.My concern is incompatibility: as I understand it you can't run Blunami decoders with the HM7000 app and v.v? This kind of goes against the openness of traditional NMRA DCC where at the track protocol level any controller can run any decoder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ateshci Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 To see what is available, have a look here - http://deadrailinstalls.com/ much too clumsy for TT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-353799 Posted June 18, 2023 Author Share Posted June 18, 2023 I wasn’t advocating we use it more that I was surprised it's already out there grinning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Hornby HM7K app does not pick up Blunami decoders and the Blunami app does not pick up Hornby decoders, this is likely because there is no written standard for Bluetooth application to model railways like there is a DCC standard. Until someone standardises the standard in use then ‘ne’er the twain shall meet’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Lack of a Bluetooth standard is also an issue some of the ‘critics’ failed to appreciate when shouting about decoder sizes. Currently there are only dimension specifications for non sound and sound versions of decoders listed by NMRA and NEM… they haven’t caught up to Bluetooth yet and it would have to be bigger due to extra components and the antenna. Will be interesting to see which system wins out as the standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-353799 Posted June 19, 2023 Author Share Posted June 19, 2023 Lack of a Bluetooth standard is also an issue some of the ‘critics’ failed to appreciate when shouting about decoder sizes.Currently there are only dimension specifications for non sound and sound versions of decoders listed by NMRA and NEM… they haven’t caught up to Bluetooth yet and it would have to be bigger due to extra components and the antenna.Will be interesting to see which system wins out as the standard. I think Betamax will win it hands down joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D9020 Nimbus Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Just like Blu-Ray did…(On occasion the better technical standard does win out, in this case over HD-DVD.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 There could always be an outside runner…. Philips Video Disc…. I’ll get me coat… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ateshci Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Provided the issues of HM7000 BT will be straightened out within reasonable time, it sure will be a step forward in control. AFAIK there's no decoder around offering DCC and BT with such a small footprint. If they could be persuaded to offer it with a Hirose connector instead of a PCB antenna, some 12mm could be saved in length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Provided the issues of HM7000 BT will be straightened out within reasonable time, it sure will be a step forward in control. AFAIK there's no decoder around offering DCC and BT with such a small footprint. If they could be persuaded to offer it with a Hirose connector instead of a PCB antenna, some 12mm could be saved in length. The examples of Hirose BT connectors are huge. The current plan is to reduce PCB size by use of smaller components and cross board Ae within the smaller footprint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ateshci Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 @96RAFDon't know what connectors you are referring to. Here's a picture of the antenna section on a WiFi transceiver I used ( bought it for ~ 2$ apiece ). It uses an onboard antenna and alternatively you can plug in a ready made wire antenna into the socket.Compare the size to the clumsy affair of HM7000. There's potential to reduce the size considerably with an almost neglectable increase in component cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Have no idea on the cost comparison but, if a multi-layer PCB were used, the antenna could be its own layer over the full area of the PCB. Definitely more than one way to skin this cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ateshci Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 @FishmanozI don't want to go into the technical details as this forum is not the place for them - but it ain't that easy. Just this - the other components must not shield the antenna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I’m sure the Hornby decoder designers know what they are doing and will use the most appropriate Bluetooth components available for the gen-2 task. Adding even pennies to the price is always a big consideration.Recently one of the social media ‘in the know experts’ had suggested that as there were no in-stock decoders of a certain pin type it likely meant there was a shipping container of the smaller next gen-2 decoders on its way. The irony being the decoders in short supply were not the oversize ones and how many decoders can you get in a 40 ft container - enough to last a lifetime I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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