Hornby's HM7000 System/My Experiences & Thoughts Pt1. 53

As Hornby have now finally released the android app for their HM7000 bluetooth operating system I start test running my loco's with a pairs of these decoders with mixed results and future thoughts.
Don't forget, if you want to see what I'm currently working on and stay up to date with the channel you can follow me on my Facebook page below.
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Atb Graham 😊

[@ianobrien6908]

Nice update Graham, it seems the Hornby HM7000 is the way to buy decoders from now on. At almost half the price of, lets say, ESU Loksound 5. Thanks for the update. All the best. Ian

[@WHP1980s]

Yep totally agree. It really upsets the market as well, which in turn is good for us customers in the long run. Just in my experiences, you may need to buy Hornby's stay alive as this system may have been designed with that in mind 😏. So a little bit dearer than you think at £60 + £15 for their power bank. but still way much cheaper and flexible than an ESU at £120+. Time will tell I guess, got some power banks coming today, so will do another quick update on my findings soon. I'm pretty sure all will be well after adding them, just got a sneaky feeling. 😉 cheers mate👍

[@darrelldeltic807]

Very good sound file in the 56 Graham and the txs does give more flexibility, think I’ll just wait a little bit longer before I give these a go and keep an eye on how everyone gets to grips with them , cheers Darrell

[@WHP1980s]

Wise move mate. On the whole I may have sounded a bit negative but I really think this is going to be a game changer in the long run. Agree sound is great.😊👍

[@johng7622]

Maybe call this the HM7000 hopefully System, after watching this I’ll keep my NCE and ESU decoders.

[@WHP1980s]

The systems got bugs, but I think in the end it's worth persisting with IMO. Certainly wouldn't get shot of any old chips, but it's OK as a addition to a working system. 🙂

[@chriscox4023]

I found the control at slow speeds was much improved using the 7000 decoder. I have them in class 08’s which can take several minutes to travel 6’

[@WHP1980s]

Yep, I'm not giving up on them, I think they're great when it's all running well. Just wish they would get on and iron out the many bugs. 🙄 atb Graham 👍 😊

[@chriscox4023]

@@WHP1980s I agree, I have already sent a couple back, one to Hattons and one to Hornby which still doesn’t work, I await their reply

[@georgecohen1023]

Well dun mate

[@WHP1980s]

👍

[@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway]

Hi Graham. I think we are all learning from our experiences. My Class 56 hasn't had the same issues as yours. I didn't fit a power pack. My next installation will be a Class 08

[@WHP1980s]

It could amongst other things be the size of my layout I guess. Thanks for watching and your feedback cheers Graham 👍

[@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway]

@WHP1980s It would be nice to hear about your finds as to what the issue is. I did wonder if the decoder was getting too hot being wrapped in kapton tape but I'm no expert

[@WHP1980s]

It was stopping in simular points on the layout after very little running time really so I doubt it's a heat issue. Fit all my chips this way including old hornby sound chips. Had no issues before. Just don't put a Hornby chip in a Heljan or it's bbq time. 😁👍

[@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway]

@WHP1980s Yes, I know Heljan draw a lot of power.

[@stevecanningsc]

Hi Graham, couldn't quite see on my phone but when you connected the mega bass speaker did you just splice it to the Hornby sugar cube speaker and use 2 speakers or did you remove the small speaker completely? Regards, Steve.

[@WHP1980s]

Hi Steve, I removed the supplied Hornby speaker altogether. Spliced the megabass speaker to the plug in speaker lead rather than solder to the dcc pcb. Needed the extra length of lead. Atb Graham 😊

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Graham. Sorry to hear of your problems with the Class 56 using the HM7000 DCC TXS sound decoder. It would appear that the Android version of the app may have bugs that need fixing. Also, I wonder whether there is some incompatibility between the decoder and the Bachmann (DCC?) controller (was the Bachmann turned up to full power?). Generally speaking, power packs (stay alives) are only really necessary for 0-6-0s and 0-4-0s as they struggle to cross turnouts (points) - especially insulfrog ones. If only one bogey on a diesel is picking up power, then maybe a stay alive is necessary, although fixing the non-working bogey would be preferable. The more I think about it, it's sounding a lot like a buggy app! You didn't give many details of the loco you were fitting the decoder into; I would be most surprised if it was a Hornby TT:120 loco and the decoder/stay alive wouldn't fit (I know there have been problems with older locos from other manufacturers)! Well, it's a bit late now that you have ordered the power banks, but I would be very interested (given my earlier comments - and of course, I may be wrong) to hear how you got on.

[@WHP1980s]

Hi Paul, the steam loco is oo and as the stay alive's that hornby supply are quite a bit smaller than I thought I have managed to incorporate one in the tender. Will show you how in my second part of this saga. As for the decoder I'm still drawing my conclusions but it has nothing to do with the bachmann dynamis which supplies a constant 16v unless shorted for any length longer than a couple of seconds which hasn't effected esu sound chips so far. Cheers for the feedback though. Regards Graham 🙂

[@plantfoot6672]

I fitted them into my class153 and class08 I can not get them run they will run for a while then stop when the class 08 starts again it takes a long time to speed up. The class 153 changed its address to 16 from 2 I could run selecting loc 16 had to select loc 2 to start sound? Going to ring Hornby next week.

[@WHP1980s]

The only way I could get them to run properly was to use their power banks with each loco. Now they work fine for me. Hope you sort your problems. Atb Graham 👍🤞

[@newlynnrailway]

It would be a good system if they`d waited till they ironed out all the bugs, seems strange they launched it while only having ios then months later android, the US have soundtrax blunami decoders, I bought a couple of there econami which have class 20, class 31, class 37, class 47, class 66, class 67 and Leyand DMU preloaded, I know a lot have had issue over the size and not being able to fit it in locos.

[@WHP1980s]

I'm still trying to get to grips with the system but things are running better with stay alives. Will do another update with my final thoughts and findings soon. But its only my opinion really. It's started to look more promising now and it's growing on me. Cheers Graham 👍

[@PaulGarwood]

Are you using the 4amp power unit? because if it's less then you will have problems.

[@WHP1980s]

I'll check on that, think it's 4+ but not sure as never had problems running 5+ trains at once some being hungry Heljans too. Layout rarely gets close to 3 amps on my meter. Cheers 👍

[@WHP1980s]

Just checked and my power supply is rated at 5A and as far as I can see, running one of these only increases my layout load 0.600 amp (a lot of loco's sitting on it) by less than 200 milliamps to around 0.800 ma. 🤔

[@alanwagstaff16]

Well the idea is there but they just don't seem to work. As many other people are reporting.

[@WHP1980s]

I'm hoping the stay alive's make a difference as the sound and flexibility on these chips is great for the money 🤞

[@johnwebster2525]

Go and get your money back Graham. Who wants to keep rebooting the layout all the time ! Not my cup of tea. Cheers John

[@WHP1980s]

Just fitted power banks and things are looking a lot better. But extra cost. Will make a part two update as to how these work out. No problems yet but will give it a while testing until I report back. Even managed to get a power bank in my steam loco tender, amazing. Cheers for watching/commenting. Atb Graham 👍 🙂

[@Simon-Davis]

Hornbys system simply hasn't had enough development before being released, its far too buggy and just feels like they've rushed it out 'as is' with the intention of having the paying customer become the Guinnea pig for the developer to iron out the problems. Its ridiculous that Hornby can release a product initially stating that 'it works on any DC/DCC supply' and then swiftly turn around and say 'actually no, it only works with a limited few power supplies, my bad'. Its spec isn't particularly great either, but then I'm not expecting much more than a wireless version of TTS, which is exactly what we have here. I suppose for the price its reasonable, but it is very much a case of you're getting what you pay for. I've bought it, I've tried it, I agree that bluetooth is very much good for the future of the hobby, but I'll be waiting for something else with more of a polished feel to it. If I'm going to fork out for a premium product I'd rather have quality over quantity, and unfortunately Hornbys HM7000 just feels cheap and unfinished.

[@WHP1980s]

I do agree some what, but I'm willing to give it a chance all the same. My latest experiences with the system are promising and it's starting to grow on me. Thanks for the feedback, cheers Graham 👍

[@davidgregory1668]

I’m not wasting my money, I’ve seen too many problems

[@WHP1980s]

A good concept but maybe needs more time to iron out the bugs 🐛 🤔 cheers Graham 👍

[@andrewcalladine2507]

Totally disagree, there maybe some initial teething problems but this system is far better value than £130 on an ESU chip where your stuck with 1 profile.

[@WHP1980s]

@andrewcalladine2507 Good or bad it will hopefully shake up the market for these sound chips, which in turn is good for competition, and ultimately prices for us the customer. Agree ESU chips are extremely dear and inflexible. 🙂