Friday 18 November 2011

Piko Digi Fern Blog Note

For first steps into DCC (digital command control for model trains) manufacturers like PIKO have produced relatively accessible solutions. The Piko Digi Fern controller, for example, is an IR device which can be used to wirelessely control trains, and looks rather like a standard TV controller.


Here's the catch - programming functions are limited to assigning addresses to loco, switch engine and other device decoders. So, a separate programming track will be required, despite the fact that there are about a hundred buttons on the PIKO Digi Fern, it is less capable than it might at first seem!

Thursday 10 November 2011

Hornby NEM Pocket Couplers

Here's an interesting one. Regular readers will be aware that I have, in the past, converted old Hornby Railroad stock to NEM couplers, but it appears that some people want to go the other way and use the old Lima D-ring couplers in NEM pockets.

Before I show you how, let's just go over the basics. Pre-NEM, manufacturers simply chose a coupling type (Lima-D ring, Bachmann style tension lock couplers, Hornby tension lock couplers, etc.) and variously moulded or screwed it into the design.

Changing the coupling for a specific piece of kit would then be a case of unscrewing (or cutting off, in the case of the Railroad stock) and then attaching the new couplers instead.

With NEM pockets, things have changed.

A NEM pocket, without going into too much detail, allows us to swap between NEM-compliant couplers, and be pretty sure that they'll work. They just clip into (and out of) the pocket.

This was great for new stock, and for converting stock to use (for example) Kadee magnetic auto-couplers, and gave everyone a great deal of easy choice, but the question remained - what to do with the old stock?

Symoba came to the rescue with a number of solutions - the first is a simple arrangement to fit a NEM pocket to a non-NEM model, be it loco or rolling stock. That's the solution I used to fit Kadee automatic couplers to an old Railroad shunter.

However, in doing so, I cut off the existing D-ring, which has left me with an issue : rolling stock with D-ring couplers that I'd like to shunt, but no 'compatible' shunter!

Which brings me on a round trip to Hornby part number R8268, "Pack of 10 large width couplers". (If you want to see one, try the Hornby Spares Page at NewModellersShop - just scroll down a bit!)

These have *gasp* NEM connectors, and will plug into my newly-installed NEM couplers. 

This means two things. Firstly, I'm flexible, and despite the fact that the shunter in question is a bit of a dog (owing to the cheap motor, no doubt), I've finally found a use for it towing slowly away from the shunting yard.

Secondly, just because something looks like a good idea, doesn't always mean it is. I should have left those D-rings on in the first place, since the shunter (despite a DCC conversion) has turned out to be useless at ... shunting!

Addendum : Amazon also stock the NEM D-Ring couplers, and if you buy from that link, you'll make me some pennies towards my own layout...