[Doug]

Looking forward to seeing this.

Hornby's attitude towards DCC will be a factor determining the future of the model railway hobby over the next decade or two.

I hope that they drive it on and get young kids involved as well as trying to coax the older gents who are more set in their ways to look toward new technology to improve the running of their layouts in a far more protypical manner by using DCC.

 

[Doug]

That linked info sheet doesn't mention the decoder specs on addressing. What does the MR booklet say?

 

[Doug]

Thanks for that Gary.

I still personally haven't seen any written statement on how locos will be addressed so talking about alpha numeric displays is one thing, seeing it in action is another.

Has Hornby 2, 3, 4 or more units per loco for it's address or ID code whatever you may like to call it.

If I have my Lenz controller on the Xpressnet BUS linked to the Hornby Elite, what number do I use to call up the loco that I want?

 

[Doug]

Thanks to dwb for laying out the info.

The address (CV1) can be ignored and left to the factory default when using 4-digit long addresses. My lenz system has a quick address feature that supports long addresses so you just have to enter the 4-digit address and it calculates CV17 and CV18 for you, setting CV29 at the same time if not already set. Manual long address calculation here.

There was quite a bit of confusion over addressing, functions, 'inertia' (acceleration and deceleration delay) etc. I think Hornby released some info too early and perhaps didn't grasp some of the info themselves. Even their current FAQ on their site has conflicting info on the DCC products. The said to the press in December '05 that their decoders would be 13mm x 13mm x 5mm in size. They say on their FAQ that the decoders are 10mm x 14mm x 3mm. And now, some shops say it is 17mm x 10mm x 3.5mm - what size is it?

Instead of giving specifics and getting it wrong or changing spec along the way, perhaps it would have been better to say NMRA complaint or compatible - entry level / medium spec / high end or whatever. Bachmann have done this to a point with their Dynamis release info. A bit vague, but at least they won't be cought up by specifics until release.

 

[Doug]

I've just got hold of this "32 page DCC Magazine".

I think that it's just a marketing exercise. Nothing new about the Hornby DCC items at all. Perhaps just some specs that have been tidied up since we first heard about it.

The photos of the units are still the stock computer rendered images - no pre production units out there being tested by the magazines.

The big red labels telling you what the buttons and sockets are for seem a bit unnecessary. We can read the labels on the devices. I notice they stop the labels at the Booster sockets. Perhaps the MR expertise and Hornby marketing info ends here too.

Using the main for programming and having to remove all other locos indeed

- I think they're confusing it with programming on the main. Anyway, programming tracks have been around for ages and I think that the current for the programming track is not enough to be sent around the track to some solitary loco on the other side.

The quality of some of the ads in the mini-mag is quite bad. What were Grahamsrailways and DCC Supplies thinking...

Finally - a 32 page mini-mag with only 15 pages of content...

I suppose the smaller ads paid for the production so the big advertiser gets more free marketing. I wonder why it was held up last month. Nothing new here from Hornby. I wonder if it was the Dynamis ad on the back from Bachmann that caused the delay? Who knows...

And while we're about it... The Dynamis ad:

Dynamis®
Dynamis adj. characterized by force of personality, ambition and energy; of or concerned with energy or forces that produce motion

Which dictionary is this from then...

Surley Dynamic is the adjective and Dynamis is the noun that they have invented to name their dynamic product... Excuse me if I've got it wrong - I'm French