Hornby's new bluetooth 6 pin decoder.

[sxbiker]

I wonder if anybody can tell me whether the new bluetooth 6 pin decoder would be suitable for Hornby Terriers that have been issued in the last few years? I note that this is a direct fit (no wiring harness). I have been told in the past that it was not possible to fit direct plug in decoders as the pins were likely to get bent of break.

[Fishmanoz]

Sounds like a furphy to me biker. We know the 6-pin will fit direct plug into a TT:120 gauge 08 so should be a lot more room in an OO Terrier.

And I can’t think what might cause the pins to bend/break once seated in the socket.

But I don’t have any direct experience with this model.

[DarkRedCape]

As long as the new TXS decoder isn’t thicker than the plug on the old standard 6-pin decoder, I think it’ll be ok. However if it is thicker, I think there will be some bodywork modification required. Maybe some light filing where the bodywork slides down against the decoder.

If they don’t fit in the Terrier out of the box, I think the Peckett’s will be even worse as I found them to have even less room than the Terrier’s when it came to decoder space.

[Ighten 1707822464]

Re the Pecketts and the 48ds I expect a little Dremel work may be needed to carefully excevate a little more room in the die cast body.

Fingers 🤌 it isn't and it just fits in but it's worth noting none of these products mention or have that introduction to HM7K on the web description page. Hence why I asked the question on the wish list thread for HM7K.

I can't speak for the terrier as I don't own any but I did find one solution re the 48ds (which is even smaller) was to follow you choos advice in actually bending the pins into the slot(very very very carefully) and sitting a chip larger than the smallest on top of the motor.

If you already have a chip in you can measure the specs/size as RAF (Rob) has kindly pictured them all with a list of sizes in the forum. But I do suspect depth may be an issue due to the BT receiver on the board. One other issue not mentioned is would the reception for BT be effected by a die cast body. Personally I doubt it as we are not dealing with great distance.

[96RAF]

Couple of points...

TXS is the sound decoders, 6-pin is a none sound decoder but as stated the decoder size has been published for comparison with existing 6-pin decoders.

The decoders have been tested with metal bodied locos and range was found to be adequate, i.e. more than your average layout.

[Brew Man]

I have 2 terriers and can say that a direct plug decoder will not fit, because in order to fit it has to be turned back on itself. Hence it needs to be on a wire harness. There are, however harnesses available, so if there is a male to female one you should be OK, so long as the wires aren't too long as to get in the way. Space is fairly limited.

[sxbiker]

Many thanks for the replies.

[Brew Man]

DCCConcepts do a male to female 6 pin harness. I saw a set of three for just over a tenner.