Postman On The Rails Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 It is a shame but as the 6 pin HM7000 decoders are now showing as September 2025, cancelled my Green 08 and separated decoder order. I appreciate they are having difficulties by I have had my DB 08 since the 12the June 2023 and haven’t been able to use it as my layout is Digital at this rate I will have had it two years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunmarc88 Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I totally understand. I’m making a DC small layout for this very reason - so I can run the smaller locos. Don’t miss out on a livery you want though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postman On The Rails Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Wanted an extra one for more play shunting so decided in March to get the Green 08 as an addition as the 6 pins were due around the same time, but I cant justify in my head having around £230 of locos just sat there without any enjoyment. It’s good they ask why you are cancelling your order so they know the reasons why. Maybe the blue on will be back by the time they turn up fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Allen Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Any dates for 2025 are just place holder dates, they can and do more back & forth as stuff alters. You could make your goods yard depot DC for shunting purposes and once the 08 is locked away on a siding use DCC by opening the points up to allow current through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postman On The Rails Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Hmmm have to do some thinking to see what the costs are and if I can fit it in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Appreciate it’s a more expensive solution, but if you also want to get the J50 and use your existing 08 then a Hornby Select controller can be had for about £50 on eBay. The dongle is then £40 and various existing 6-pin decoders then become viable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTop Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 (edited) I hear you, i'm in the same boat. My plan for the time being is to have an isolated section of the layout to just shunt about on, using an hm6000 for power and control. Seems the least drastic compromise. A select and dongle sort of defeats the point of the simplicity of app control, although it is appealing. I live in hope that the 6 pins will be available long before September ‘25! Edited May 1 by BigTop 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I was lucky that I already had a Select controller. I did share your view but after trying to operate my 08 on the Select and the Pacifics on the app, found the £40 dongle cost worthwhile. I understand that the dongle also strengthens the mesh network. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM67 Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Sadly reading between the lines after the 2024 launch Q&A and from watching Peachy and Mac's interview I believe they are having trouble developing the 6 pin chipset in a form factor small enough to fit. I expect a long wait before these things actually appear hence the release date has been kicked down the road by a year. I will be looking for another solution to chip my 08's whether this being an alternative DCC 6 pin chip + controller or attempting to shoe horn the 8 pin chip in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generic Hornby Username Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 4 hours ago, Postman On The Rails said: It is a shame but as the 6 pin HM7000 decoders are now showing as September 2025, cancelled my Green 08 and separated decoder order. I appreciate they are having difficulties by I have had my DB 08 since the 12the June 2023 and haven’t been able to use it as my layout is Digital at this rate I will have had it two years. This is, unfortunately, completely rational. I too have an 08 that has sat idle, awaiting the the promised 6 Pin decoder. I'm considering the J50, but buying another locomotive I can't run is not fun. I'm not angry at Hornby for failing to predict the massive silicon chip shortage, but I'd rather buy products I can use right now. It's not difficult to choose between a locomotive you hope to be able to run in 2025 and one you can take out of the box right now and enjoy. There are solutions to the problem as others have noted, but HM7000 is really really good. I'm planning to stick with it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc4946 Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Problem is, you don't know when the green 08 will next appear in stock, it's highly unlikely it'll be the exact version which you just cancelled. The next green 08 released could be in allover green without yellow/black stripes and with different detailing from D3986. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skelton Junction Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I think what we’re discovering here is that TWW is going to be busy fitting 8 pins with sound to the green 08s and the J50s. If only Hornby would send the J50 specs to Rich so that room for a power bank could be located too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulsanne88 Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 7 hours ago, Skelton Junction said: I think what we’re discovering here is that TWW is going to be busy fitting 8 pins with sound to the green 08s and the J50s. If only Hornby would send the J50 specs to Rich so that room for a power bank could be located too. Agreed, although my 08 cost quite a bit to be chipped by TWW it is now looking like a reasonable investment This is also the reason for me not ordering a J50 yet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Tall Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 (edited) I often wonder why people don't just fit a "normal" Decoder , sound or non in, but then remember not everyone has a DCC controller ! I did find a nice sort of compromise for my 00 build. A Sig-Na-Trax Ace 3 controller. Its a touch screen system with similar features to HM7k in terms of sliding bars for accel and decel settings, and named buttons for sound, but obviously not blue tooth. there is also the ability to connect a wired remote button and dial controller. Although price wise, similar to an Ellite, so could well put it out of reach of many. I know they will be implementing more features in future software updates, including Express net, but wouldn't imagine it would work with the HM7k Dongle unless they had demand for it. My advice for a low cost option is grab yourself a SH Select (but try to find one with the latest firmware as that can not be user updated) and run a regular Decoder (non sound for low cost) until there is a 6 pin sound HM7k available. Edited May 2 by Too Tall 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM6 Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 2 hours ago, Too Tall said: My advice for a low cost option is grab yourself a SH Select (but try to find one with the latest firmware as that can not be user updated) and run a regular Decoder (non sound for low cost) until there is a 6 pin sound HM7k available. I don't believe Hornby has plans for anything other than the non-sound 6 pin HM7K decoders. The sound and Bluetooth components are simply too big to fit on a 6 pin PCB. By all accounts it's a struggle to get BT added to a non-sound 6 pin which is probably why the date for those has been pushed back. Smaller parts may be available but their price would likely render them economically unviable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 (edited) Not knowing the ins-and-outs of the decoder electroinics, but can't help wondering if the bluetooth-y bits actually need to be on the main decoder pcb - could they not be on a separate board with a wiring harness which would allow positioning elsewhere in the model? A bit like the use of a SUSI connector and a daughter board for sound on some older decoders. After all non-bluetooth sound decoders in 6 pin and Next18 are readily available from other brands without being that much larger than basic non-sound decoders. It's the speaker location which tends to be more of a problem in N gauge. Edited May 2 by ntpntpntp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Allen Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 59 minutes ago, SteveM6 said: I don't believe Hornby has plans for anything other than the non-sound 6 pin HM7K decoders. The sound and Bluetooth components are simply too big to fit on a 6 pin PCB. By all accounts it's a struggle to get BT added to a non-sound 6 pin which is probably why the date for those has been pushed back. Smaller parts may be available but their price would likely render them economically unviable. They did say during an interview (think it was peachy) they are looking at chipsets that can do both but with the chip supplier they are not as high value customer as say phone manufacturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 I have thought same as @ntpntpntp, the biggest space consideration on an HM DCC decoder is the antenna, if that could separate or flexible off the main decoder PCB it would probably get round the space issues in the smaller TT:120 locos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Not for now, but I wonder whether the antenna in future could become part of the locomotive body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Is the BT antenna affected by metal shielding? Did I read somewhere that the Duchess will have a metal body, or was that just the loco not the tender? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM6 Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 (edited) It was tested prior to launch in metal bodied locos with no appreciable drop off in performance. Edited May 2 by SteveM6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 3 hours ago, Moccasin said: Not for now, but I wonder whether the antenna in future could become part of the locomotive body? Ditto speakers could be the flat sides of a loco or tender. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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