Moccasin

The 08 will have no speaker fitted as it can only accommodate a 6pin decoder. As the HM7000 6pin decoders don’t have sound capability, it’s unlikely that they’d fit a speaker.

I think they'll be at the mercy of vessel unloading capacity and customs etc at whichever port the shipment arrives at. As I understand it, it's just the BR Blue 08 arriving this month. The GBRf and DB 08s arrive in summer and autumn respectively.

You could do a nice micro layout and you already have some wagons to keep you going until hoppers etc arrive. Maybe a heritage shunting day theme!

Hopefully by @96RAF and others asking the question, it might spur them on to provide some information, a bland statement or something, to avoid causing the rumour mill to run away. They may feel that they’re stuck (software doesn’t like the d-word!) either way - provide information and people pull it apart letter by letter or provide none and risk people making it up. They’ve been caught out before. With Simon K leaving, whoever takes over will have a thankless task. Simon has enough experience and knowledge across the business to deal with most queries but it’s quite a step up for anyone else to respond with the same authority. That’s no slight on any of the Hornby staff, just a recognition that Simon has big shoes to fill. The TV programme has introduced a few of the team and I presume this was part of the plan, given that Simon’s retirement has been a few years coming.

That’s a real shame although I’m going through similar thoughts as I don’t really have room for a permanent layout. I’ve only put £400 into TT so far, so could just walk away as well. At the moment I’m thinking I’ll just keep my pre-orders and plan ahead for when I have the stock I need/want. I take your point about quality and locomotive issues, but don’t forget that forums by their nature tend to attract negative feedback - generally customers won’t come here unless they have a problem. That said, it’s concerning that a few users have had multiple wrong-uns, which does seem concerning. Either very unlucky or there’s a pattern emerging. Hope it’s not too long until the TT comes out again.

If you’re a member of the TT club with the 15% discount, you don’t receive that on non-TT items like the decoders, but do receive the 10% back in reward points. I think the standard collector’s club members do get discount/enhanced points on decoders. Not sure if you can be a member of both or, if you can, whether the reward points are applied to a single account.

Wonder if it's worth a new sticky thread to provide TT layout planning options in advance of TT track geometry being added to the HM 6000 and 7000 apps? For those new to the scale, it will be a common query.

I note that the 00 range is continuing to suffer delays. There’s a thread elsewhere about the 2MT pushing back to Autumn. The issue is just more acute with TT given that they’re starting from scratch and have no diesels available yet.

Really sorry to hear this but I can imagine that with TT & HM7000 both launched he feels like he has done what he set out to do when he returned to Hornby. The company is in a far better position than it was when he returned and they did well to tempt him back. I note it’s 5 years since he rejoined, so I would not be surprised if this has been his plan/agreement with them all along.

Yes it’s imminent and should be released before these digital sets are dispatched to customers.

I was told to send mine back and have got a refund. Unless you have a 00 locomotive you could install it in instead, I would contact Hornby to ask to return it.

The digital sound set cones with preconfigured HM7000 installed. No controller included but power supply is in the set. You just need a compatible Apple or Android device to run the app. You won’t be able to use the set without a phone or tablet that can run the app.

I recall that Hornby have already said on one of the videos they won't be including the DCC point clips, and the power supply will be the 1A I think. This is to keep the cost and retail prices of the train sets as low as possible. Certainly including the P9300 4A supply would increase the cost by £40 and many users of the train set would never need it. The 1A supply should be enough for the fully built out layout with all track packs, which really can only cope with 3 locomotives moving at any one time (one circulating each loop and another shunting etc). Incidentally, what I don't think Hornby will have anticipated is customers buying more than one train set, but quite a few forum users seem to have done so (they are good value - essentially the track and at least one coach are free).

Fantastic! I hope it gets past the 4 hour threshold. I have visions of half the Hornby team examining and testing the model before it was dispatched to you!

It's with Hornby at the moment. Am currently (TT) loco-less. Not heard back since it went to them 2 weeks ago so hopefully will get it back soon. Interestingly they offered to inspect it even before I noticed that damage, as I had grumpily emailed about the problems I had with initial installation using my DC train set controller. Which is what made me think that they're keen to bring models in to see how they're working. Have you got your 4th replacement A4 yet?

yes I’ve found that to my cost.

I found it quite fiddly but yes there are two lugs at the front (by the locomotive cab) that need engaging. If you haven't already done so, loosen the screws under the rear of the tender either side of the coupling to fit the body back on before screwing it back together again. My tender body partly separated without even removing those screws, so the fixing isn't the best. Hornby were very keen to take back my Flying Scotsman for inspection/repair for another issue, so you might be best calling them and seeing what they say. My distinct impression was that they're wanting to examine locomotives so that they can see how they're faring "in the wild". I'm not sure when I'll get my locomotive back as I've heard nothing since sending it two weeks or so ago, but presume I'll just get a DPD notification when it's on its way back!

The problem should go away, to some extent, in a couple of months once digital sets are available. These will have just a power unit and the adapter to link the power to the tracks. There will be no controller. These will mean that users will just have to link the locomotive to the app. Simples.

Hornby have updated their upgrade paths on the website in the past few weeks to remove the DC train set controller path they initially highlighted. You may have ordered your bundle before this was clarified. The updated info was after it became clearer that using the train set controller didn’t work with the HM7000 decoders, I was caught out in a similar fashion to you when I first got the bundle. The HM7000 threads on this forum and the contributors and moderators have been very helpful in getting me up and running. I don’t think Hornby will produce a DCC bundle until the sound fitted locomotives arrive. They would just say that those who want to take this path can install their own.

@Backafter5 - if you look at the sticky threads in this forum, there’s quite a lot of troubleshooting advice for fitting decoders. As @fishman says, the power supply is a key issue, again this is detailed in the relevant sticky thread. if you’re using the controller from a bundle or Analogue set then you need to read the manuals in the links provided in the threads and choose one of the recommended power supplies. Hornby’s r7337 bundle is the best option at £60.

Really sorry to hear you’re so fed up and have had such a bad experience with quality. If you haven’t already, I suggest you contact Simon K to outline your experience as Hornby really need to know how this apparent quality issue is affecting their new range. I have felt in the past that their customer care can let them down.

Seems like a lottery then! My FS was great until I damaged it getting the decoder in. Waiting for it to come back so am loco-less.

Sorry to hear it’s not passed muster. I think the express delivery means that it’s despatched next day and delivered next working day after that. To be fair, they do say that express isn’t next day. When did you order it? My reckoning has been that anything ordered from Thursday morning onwards won’t be delivered before the weekend. I’ve got sound-fitted Mallard on pre-order. Hopefully that means it will go through an extra level of checking!

I’m on Apple so am already up and running. Was just remarking, somewhat ironically, on general attitudes here and the fact that Hornby are likely focusing on getting Android out before submitting any update to Apple. The Android release will hopefully include the simpler sound profile process that was mentioned in the podcast, but I fear will open the floodgates for more issues being reported as users go through some of the same growing pains we’ve had on iOS. Am not expecting any update in the App Store until after the Android app is released but know from the podcast that an update will arrive before long.

I imagine there would be a mutiny in this forum if enhancements to the iPadOS/iOS app were delivered before the Android app!