eandbee Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I recently bought 10 Gaugemaster Opti25 decoders to convert some of my locos to DCC. The first one I tried was a Hornby Railroad A4 which was DCC Ready. I plugged in one of the decoders but I heard humming and the loco was erratic in performance (no problems before with DC). I use a Hornby Select Controller. I changed chips with another new one and had the same issue. (this is all documented in the link below). http://www.freetrackplans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=368&p=3060#p3060 Today I converted an older Lima Class 55 using another Opti chip and I have exactly the same (if not worse) performance...!! Are there known issues in using the Opti chips with the Hornby Select controller? Any ideas what could be the problem (don’t ask me to change CV settings though – not possible with the Select..! I don’t have any issues with any of my other DCC locos... Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregd99 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have not used the decoders you mention. there has been discussion on line about the select not operating well with some types of decoder and even different samples of the same decoder. the conventional wisdom seems to be to stick to hornby decoders with the select. hornby do not claim the select is nmra compliant. this is the stamp that ensures interoperability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublecee Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I get a weird speed spike on all of the Opti fives I have installed. When I accelerate or decelerate. Im using an Elite. Im assuming its the CV's but not had time to address the issue. If I were to describe the problem verbally i would do so as follows 0-10-20-30-40-70-50-60-70-80-100 100-90-80-70-60-80-50-40-30-20-10-0 Provided I dont hit that spike, all is well... but its annoying. Im not that well versed in DCC other than the basics, so maybe someone can help out with this issue too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashbang Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I feel the main problem is with the Select. You cannot alter CVs so you can not 'tune' the decoder to its optimum to the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashbang Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Further to above. Taken from the Opti25 manual.... .....top quality performance when used with any NMRA compatible control system The Select is not NMRA conformant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Doublecee, it certainly looks like you can improve things by reading up on speed curves and doing some adjustments. There was some detailed comment on this in this forum I think about a month ago. Eandbee, I agree your problem is the Select and you will probably have to stick to Hornby decoders as others say. If I were you, I'd be looking seriously at eLink as a possible cost-effective upgrade path that can salvage your Opti investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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