Steam DCC with Sound

[DSY011]

I see that Hornby are going to do a BR 4-6-2 Duchess Class with DCC sound, it's Hornby number is R2782X. I have seen the price from £175 down to £154. Has anyone heard if Bachmann will be doing a steam loco with DCC sound.

[John H-T]

Yes Syd, Jubilee 45593 Kolhapur. Price about the same as the Hornby Duchess. I'm starting to save now. Should be out for Christmas. Looks like the sound chip is going to be in the tender.

Last saw Kolhapur in action at the East Lancs in the late 90's. At present she's at Barrow Hill awaiting overhaul.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[DSY011]

Thanks John. I see that Hornby are now making most of their models as ether DCC ready or DCC fitted. I hope all the makers will be doing the same. I have read the review in Model Rail on the Bachmann Dynamis and was pleased to see that they thought the same as I do about the system. The only thing they were able to mark down is that there is no CV read back, which doesn't bother me. I am very happy with it and a set of standard AA batteries from Tesco's lasted 29 hrs, so it is not too power hungry. I have bought a set of rechargeable batt's which are 22000 m/amp hrs, They should be good for a few months

[John H-T]

Syd,

As the Hornby Chip is so basic it as well they are offering the choice!

I think the new Hornby Saphire Chip is very expensive at £20. The Bachmann chip is acceptable so wouldn't be bothered if one of the locos I wanted was DCC fitted. .... hasn't happened yet!

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[RJR]

Syd,

As the Hornby Chip is so basic it as well they are offering the choice!

I think the new Hornby Saphire Chip is very expensive at £20. The Bachmann chip is acceptable so wouldn't be bothered if one of the locos I wanted was DCC fitted. .... hasn't happened yet!

Best wishes,

John H-T.


Does saphire not have additional features such as timed starts station halts ect synchronised by the internal clock in the Elite ?? I think I have read that on hornby's website

John
RJR

[Foghut]

I have read the review in Model Rail on the Bachmann Dynamis and was pleased to see that they thought the same as I do about the system. The only thing they were able to mark down is that there is no CV read back, which doesn't bother me. I am very happy with it and a set of standard AA batteries from Tesco's lasted 29 hrs, so it is not too power hungry. I have bought a set of rechargeable batt's which are 22000 m/amp hrs, They should be good for a few months
The Dynamis is a lovely looking piece of kit, I reckon that this sort of technology may lure me back into modelling when I retire. That won't be for a few years yet, but hopefully they'll have got the technology even cheaper by then ;)

Just a quick question though; I appreciate that it's meant as a remote handset, but can you not plug an external power supply into it ?

[DSY011]

It is a wireless infrared operation and so has no wires at all. I bought 4 22000 m/amp hrs batts and charged then up. so far they have lasted for over 32 hrs and tester shows that they still have 2/3 of their power ready for use. Mind you they did take nearly 36 hrs to charge up. I agree that it is a good bit of kit and at under £100 it is much cheaper than a lot of the others. I like to drive my trains, not have some system stop & start them at stations. It can control up to 40 locos at any one time so I can have 2 or 3 trains running while I do some shunting with another. I can also have up to 5 locos running together if I wanted, although I have only run 3 together just to try it out.

[John H-T]

Does saphire not have additional features such as timed starts station halts ect synchronised by the internal clock in the Elite ?? I think I have read that on hornby's website

John
RJR

The problem John with DCC is deciding how many functions you are going to use. My problem is that I have about 40 locos to chip and £20 per chip is going to be very expensive especially if you dont use all the functions. Hopefully Bachmann will make all their decoders with four digit addresses. The new ZTC direct plug in decoder looks good at £12 50. Will probably pick up one to try at Nottingham Exhibition in March.

Best wishes,

John H-T.