Dear All,
My first DCC decoder was fitted to a Hornby Q1 (with socket) in December 2004. This was the easiest fitting ever and it's been downhill ever since! I was sucked into the idea that decoder fitting was a 10 minute job for each loco.
The 2nd decoder was fitted to a Hornby MN (with socket) in January 2005. The first attempt produced a beep on the programming track which indicated a problem. After a bit of testing, I found out the socket was physically the wrong way round with pin 1 towards the back of the loco, when I had assumed it was at the front. In those days the board was not marked, so you had no idea where pin 1 was. This must have caused huge problems for the D+E guys, but for an old steam man like myself
, the front of the loco is obvious. Anway, I reversed the plug in the socket and then it worked, but now backwards! So I added 1 to CV29 and all was well again. I wonder how many ways you can get it wrong?
I have always assumed that pin 1 should be at the front of the loco, but is this really a standard? Of course, pin 1 should really be marked, but will this marking be in correct place, when you are not sure about the way it has been wired anyway? It's a good job that I am using Zimo decoders that have built-in protection, otherwise I would have blown the decoder.
So this is not a new problem for Hornby.