[nzpaul]

I know the Hornby "select" copped a right bashing from everyone about a year or so ago ,I guess. Just curious to know if it still has the awful signal output of have Hornby made some alterations and made it better? I havn't heard much of anything about it recently so tends to suggest that it may have been sorted out to a degree.

I can hear the groans of disaproval from here already. I'm not threatening to buy one or anything, I'm just curious.

Cheers
PaulM

 

[Richard Johnson]

QUOTE (nzpaul @ 14 Aug 2008, 12:23) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I know the Hornby "select" copped a right bashing from everyone about a year or so ago ,I guess. Just curious to know if it still has the awful signal output of have Hornby made some alterations and made it better? I havn't heard much of anything about it recently so tends to suggest that it may have been sorted out to a degree.

I can hear the groans of disaproval from here already. I'm not threatening to buy one or anything, I'm just curious.

Cheers
PaulM

***Model Eisenbahn who are a respected EU publication did a full page review of it recently.
All in German of course.... except the title... It was "Return to Sender" in plain English... Nothing has changed

Richard

 

[dwb]

The Elite is now certified. Hornby has recently announced a new low cost decoder which also has been certified. The press release for that decoder makes a big play of Hornby supporting the standard.

The original design intent was for standalone Selects to be connectable to Elites as slave controllers. If that is the case then there is a "re-use" path for the Select and no good business case for reworking it to produce a certified signal. In other words it is a train set controller for a closed Hornby world.

David

 

[LTE TANK]

Hi,
I have had the Select for over a year now and have had no problems whatsoever.

Which is more than I can say about the Bachmann Dynamis, which was nothing but hassle/rubbish from the word go. Not only was it a total expensive waste of money, Bachmann failed to asnwer three emails and one letter.

Any queries or requests to Hornby have been answered usually by return.

I have no link to the firm other tan a very satisfied customer,(going back to Tri-ang days!!! and they are still running now with chips!!)

 

[dwb]

QUOTE I have had the Select for over a year now and have had no problems whatsoever.

Are you using any decoders apart from Hornby?

David

 

[LTE TANK]

QUOTE (dwb @ 14 Aug 2008, 19:41) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Are you using any decoders apart from Hornby?

David
90 per cent Hornby, they are cheap and do everything I want the to do, the others are either home built (2) or Lenz (3). Only used the Lenz beacuse a collegue was selling up and I wanted on for The Rocket.
LTE TANK

 

[dwb]

Thanks for that.

Were the Lenz ok with the Dynamis, or was the whole just a terrible experience?

David

 

[nzpaul]

I find it strange that Hornby hasn't gone some way to correcting the signal, If I remember correctly it had spike voltages of around 60v ??. As a happy user of an Elite I know that they have the ability to fix that problem as I've had the Elite on an oscilloscope and the wave form was exactly as described in the Forums ie a little noise after the zero pass then normal.
Peak voltage output was 17.6v with a mean of 15.2v so all good. Point being, even if Hornby don't make a NMRA compliant signal from the Select ,they could cure the peak voltage spike problem, make the thing less of a chip killer, this is all very hypothetical of course. The Select probably meets Hornby's "acceptable failure rate" tolerances as it is ,so no commercial gain from investing time in development...who knows.

***Message to all***
Richard has given the answer to the original question in his posting, so maybe we knock the thread on the head before the tempers get heated again. Hornby's controllers seem to be singularly successful in stirring peoples emotions.

Cheers
paulM

 

[john woodall]

I am surprised that from reading the forum, the acceptable failure rate seems quite high.

Realistically (I come from a Marklin background full service provider) I can see some commercial sense in what Hornby are doing. DCC has not been taken up well by British outline modellers, but now that Hornby are making it, it is much more palatable.

For their sake I hope those fans of Hornby DCC don't go through what the marklin boys are going through at the moment.

John

 

[Martin71]

I will say nothing and let you guys be the judge.

A couple of points, RFI is not an issue in this video and equipment had being calibrated and working correctly!

A dcc wave.





Another ahhh dcc wave.

m

 

[john woodall]

Martin,

Thats rather a lot of camera shake on the other ahh DCC wave

John

 

[LTE TANK]

[quote name='Martin71' date='15 Aug 2008, 03:20' post='59569']
I will say nothing and let you guys be the judge.

A couple of points, RFI is not an issue in this video and equipment had being calibrated and working correctly!

A dcc wave.





Another ahhh dcc wave.

I see we have been using the same idea. My RFI came when using Long wave radio both cut the signal. The main problem with the Dynamis was that unlike a TV remote that does not have to be pointed directly at the tv, the Dynamis wouldn't receive a signal unless you were on top of the reveiver, and would not transmit across the layout (10 ft), therefore it required a hole being drilled in the middle of the layout to place the receiver. A second problem arose when for no reason a loco being 'controlled' would take off at max soeed and failed to respond to the controller. After which the memory was deleted from the chip and the could not be reprogrammed on the Dynamis. (It had to be done on the Select.) After damaging two locos we called it a day.and as the item was purchased for my dad who's stuck in a wheel chair it was a coplete waste of time.
LTE TANK

 

[dwb]

QUOTE The main problem with the Dynamis was that unlike a TV remote that does not have to be pointed directly at the tv, the Dynamis wouldn't receive a signal unless you were on top of the reveiver, and would not transmit across the layout (10 ft), therefore it required a hole being drilled in the middle of the layout to place the receiver

The Infra Red connect is outside the scope of any NRMA DCC specification so in the context of the original post regarding the Hornby Select is not really relevant. Clearly the IR controller wasn't doing what you required and you're right to reject it on those grounds alone.

QUOTE A second problem arose when for no reason a loco being 'controlled' would take off at max soeed and failed to respond to the controller. After which the memory was deleted from the chip and the could not be reprogrammed on the Dynamis.

Was that with a Hornby chip or a Lenz?

David

 

[LTE TANK]

QUOTE (dwb @ 15 Aug 2008, 17:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The Infra Red connect is outside the scope of any NRMA DCC specification so in the context of the original post regarding the Hornby Select is not really relevant. Clearly the IR controller wasn't doing what you required and you're right to reject it on those grounds alone.

Was that with a Hornby chip or a Lenz?

David

Both, the first time I was able to 'pull the plug' ei turn the power of at the switch. The second time was when dad was using it.
LTE TANK

 

[dwb]

QUOTE Both, the first time I was able to 'pull the plug' ei turn the power of at the switch. The second time was when dad was using it.

Hmm. I've not heard of Lenz chips behaving like that.

Maybe you will have more success with Hornby's remote whenever it becomes available. Your current Hornby setup works ok, so there's no reason why their next one shouldn't.

David

 

[wiggy25]

Martin,

Is that Select one of the first ones to come out?

I only ask as the first ones wouldn't work with some TCS decoders, which is not suprising looking at that waveform, where exactly would the on/off position be on that?
No wonder certain decoders wouldn't work or blow up, nice peak voltage!
There was a modification though, if you sent the unit back to Hornby.

I can only assume the modification in some way made that signal a bit sharper to give a clear transition between a '1' and '0'

I just wondered if anybody had measured the output waveform of a Select with the latest firmware in it, with the modification done to see what difference it has actually made.

 

[Martin71]

Hi Wiggy

I have another video of it but the problem is some of the electrical engineers watching made some shall we say, #@$% remarks about a certain controller.

It is the original controller and I did contact said supplier but they told me "no problem" with controller. Mind you that was over 15 months ago. Peak to Peak was somewhere between 40-50 v. Nice I just love complex "square waves". On the other hand the wireless controller had a real clean wave form and as per manufacturers said specifications.

I might actually send it back for update and stick it on the crow and see what happens..

m

 

[Richard Johnson]

QUOTE (Martin71 @ 17 Aug 2008, 23:11) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Wiggy

I have another video of it but the problem is some of the electrical engineers watching made some shall we say, #@$% remarks about a certain controller.

It is the original controller and I did contact said supplier but they told me "no problem" with controller. Mind you that was over 15 months ago. Peak to Peak was somewhere between 40-50 v. Nice I just love complex "square waves". On the other hand the wireless controller had a real clean wave form and as per manufacturers said specifications.

I might actually send it back for update and stick it on the crow and see what happens..

m

***Why bother - it has not still not really improved in waveform last time I looked not long ago....

On the same theme, I had a new loco on hand today with a hornby decoder in it - a new BR stanier tank loco.

The new owner said try it, the H decoder is OK....

It ran back and forth on my test track four times - thats about ten metres total, and at nothing much speed wise... then it elected to use its "built in hornby feedback" and gave off smoke signals, literally, as it died a flaming death.

It was a newish chip, yellow dot on processor (yellow superceded the red dot in early may/late april... version 4 I think....)

coming on top of a new H Coronation that needed valve gear rebuilding after almost no running + a new never run H 8F which had a totally screwed up 8 pin plug (solder bridges across pins x 2) and wiring (crossed tender and loco wiring so LHS of loco was to RHS of tender) I have to wonder what hornby are doing - certainly they are not trying very hard.

Richard
DCCconcepts.

 

[LTE TANK]

QUOTE (dwb @ 17 Aug 2008, 14:47) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hmm. I've not heard of Lenz chips behaving like that.

Maybe you will have more success with Hornby's remote whenever it becomes available. Your current Hornby setup works ok, so there's no reason why their next one shouldn't.

David
Wasn't the chip it was the Dymanis!!
On both occasions the chips was wiped and had to be re-coded on the Hornby, the Bachmann wouldn't.
LTE TANK