In reply to Shep,
I sent six of the old R8215's back to Hornby recently asking if I could have a couple of the new Sapphires. They replied that the Sapphires were not available, and sent me six of the new 'red dot' ones.
They are packed so the the red dots are clearly visible through the packaging. However, you would have to know about the 'red dot' upgrade to look out for it when purchasing.
Why did Hornby produce three versions all with the same number. If someone is advertising R8215's for sale, they could be any one of three versions.
Now the best bit. The recent R8215 has an NMRA warrant, and therefore should work with any controller that is NMRA compliant. (not necessarily warranted).
I have a Prodigy Advance 2 controller which works perfectly well with three types of decoders. One has a warrant, the other two do not. They work perfectly.
I installed one of the 'red dot' decoders into a Vi-Train 37, which had been running perfectly on a Lenz decoder.
I connected one of the new improved Hornby Select controllers to my layout, and the decoder worked perfectly on all functions.
I re-connected my Prodigy, and the engine went forward o.k, it then reversed o.k. I then tried forward again, and it crawled when set to top speed. I had to reverse and then forward again to get top speed. On changing direction whilst it was in motion, it refused to respond. It had to be stopped to reverse direction. The emergency stop failed to work at all.
When I removed power from the track (not the controller) and put it back on, the engine ran at full speed totally out of control.
Shep, I suggest you try out one of your decoders on an engine that is easy to get into. If it does not work, send them all back to Hornby and ask for the new R8249 in replacement. This is what I shall be doing.
AlanB
I sent six of the old R8215's back to Hornby recently asking if I could have a couple of the new Sapphires. They replied that the Sapphires were not available, and sent me six of the new 'red dot' ones.
They are packed so the the red dots are clearly visible through the packaging. However, you would have to know about the 'red dot' upgrade to look out for it when purchasing.
Why did Hornby produce three versions all with the same number. If someone is advertising R8215's for sale, they could be any one of three versions.
Now the best bit. The recent R8215 has an NMRA warrant, and therefore should work with any controller that is NMRA compliant. (not necessarily warranted).
I have a Prodigy Advance 2 controller which works perfectly well with three types of decoders. One has a warrant, the other two do not. They work perfectly.
I installed one of the 'red dot' decoders into a Vi-Train 37, which had been running perfectly on a Lenz decoder.
I connected one of the new improved Hornby Select controllers to my layout, and the decoder worked perfectly on all functions.
I re-connected my Prodigy, and the engine went forward o.k, it then reversed o.k. I then tried forward again, and it crawled when set to top speed. I had to reverse and then forward again to get top speed. On changing direction whilst it was in motion, it refused to respond. It had to be stopped to reverse direction. The emergency stop failed to work at all.
When I removed power from the track (not the controller) and put it back on, the engine ran at full speed totally out of control.
Shep, I suggest you try out one of your decoders on an engine that is easy to get into. If it does not work, send them all back to Hornby and ask for the new R8249 in replacement. This is what I shall be doing.
AlanB
