Hornby Elite -- which Loco Decoders are best

2818 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by nzpaul, Dec 1, 2008

PhilRMK

Discussion Starter · Nov 30, 2008

I have heard that although it is NMRA Compliant, the Hornby Elite has problems with some loco decoders

I am just changing to DCC and will be using the Elite. Should I only get Hornby Decoders or will other Decoders work

I am also looking for best value as well as I need to convert around 10 or 12 locos, so dont want to be spending more than is necessary also looking for the best prices as wil be buying 10 or 12 to start with

Do any of you have any experience and which Decoders would you recommend for the Elite and best value for money

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upnick

· #2 · Nov 30, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi PhilRMK,

Welcome to the forum

For good general operation and size of decoder the 2 function TCSM1 is a good choice NMRA though a little more than some decoders i use them all the time for installs where a hard wired decoder is called for.

http://www.tcsdcc.com/DecoderSelection/M-Series.htm

they have a goof proof warranty and either TCS will replace them free of charge or Bromsgrove will replace them if purchased from Bromsgrove models in both cases the buyer pays postage for return of the decoder usually fist class covers it in the U.K.

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Richard Johnson

· #3 · Nov 30, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

QUOTE (PhilRMK @ 30 Nov 2008, 22:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have heard that although it is NMRA Compliant, the Hornby Elite has problems with some loco decoders
I am just changing to DCC and will be using the Elite. Should I only get Hornby Decoders or will other Decoders work

*** I have to ask... given that awareness, why would you still buy the Elite when there are better otions not so far away in price that will give better results?

Re your specific decoder question, if you are in OO then the best option is actually the MC2 not the M1 as recommended by Upnick - the M1 is superb but also super-micro so is good for Nicks N scale. the MC2 is identical in performance and being only very slightly bigger will still fit all your 4mm scale locos at far less cost per decoder.

Richard

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PhilRMK

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 30, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 30 Nov 2008, 15:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>*** I have to ask... given that awareness, why would you still buy the Elite when there are better otions not so far away in price that will give better results?

The Elite has been bought for me as a present -- and to be honest I am quite happy to own one. I heard that the Elite was NMRA compliant whereas the Select is not and that the Elite does get some good reports/reviews

Also I had heard of problems with Hornby DCC Controllers (not sure if only the Select that has the problems) hence asking about which loco decoders would be best.

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Richard Johnson

· #5 · Dec 1, 2008 (Edited by Moderator)

*** Try the MC2 first - its universally good in every loco we install it in, and the last Hornby software revision has fixed most of the interoperability problems which hornby had with other brands. The "economical option" brand would be the current bachmann chips, but TCS has a better back EMF and a totally goof proof one year warranty, so it should be first choice.

Apart from that, most brands will be OK but prices are very varied by brand. Beware of very cheap though - there is always a quality cost to go with the price saving. The only chip brands I now regularly see problems with are earlier Digitrax designs, ZTC, hornby and MRC (sold in UK as Gaugemaster).

Enjoy your start with DCC - I'm sure you will be deighted with the change.

kind regards

Richard

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nzpaul

· #6 · Dec 1, 2008

Hi
I don't think you'll find many problems with the Elite. I havn't & I've been using it for a couple of years. I've got mostly budget end decoders & the Elite has been quite happy running Digitrax DZ123PS, Bachmann & Hornby's own decoders. The Digitrax gives the best results performance wise, the Hornby one's are ok but very limited for tuning the loco's, Bachmann are good too but a little noisier than the other two at slow speed. If finance wasn't an issue I'd look at Richard's recomendations. I've connected my Elite to my local clubs layout and run some sound fitted loco's as well, all works ok but the Elite is a little clumsy at function selection, other than that it seems to have plenty of power & has proven to be reliable.

Cheers
Paul M

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