Model Railway Forum

I need to buy two decoders for two OO locos (Hornby 264T & Airfix 4F) I have acquired. I bought Digitrax years ago years ago because that is what the local model shop stocked at the time.

However, are there any better out there or should I just go for the cheapest I can find? I use a Bachman EZ control and only basic functions. No lights or sound.

Hattons own brand are as good as any for basic functionality and reasonably priced

Personally I only use Lenz or Zimo decoders. Not had any issues with either, but they are not budget priced ones!
My rule is the older the loco the better quality of decoder to be used, as these better ones frequently provide more CVs to allow better motor compatibility and fine tuning etc.
But at the end of the day its all down to what you need and can afford.

Zimo, Lenz, Esu, are all good. Zimo probably the best of the bunch, even their budget decoder is excellent and reasonably priced.

Well considering I spent over £100 on wood for the baseboard, perhaps it is a false economy to scrimp on the decoders.

To answer the question any nearly all by Hornby as they are too basic for the price charged and their have been compatibility issues in the past. The Sapphire is fine but far too expensive unless you find it seriously reduced. The 4 pin is unique to Hornby and the solution is either is wire a different decoder to its connector or hard wire a decoder in place.

Rog (RJ) wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:19 pm Zimo, Lenz, Esu, are all good. Zimo probably the best of the bunch, even their budget decoder is excellent and reasonably priced.

And don't forget TCS who produce a wide range of decoders, including the direct plug DP2X-UK which is small and fits directly into the 8-pin socket so no wires, extremely useful especially if you are pushed for space.

There are other direct fit decoders but certainly the TCS one is most useful; DCC Concepts hype one of theirs as being the smallest but its noticeably taller than the TCS one making its use in sockets mounted close to the top of the a steam loco chassis rarely practicable. Fitted the wrong way the TCS one fits the Hornby M7 without any need to remove weights; just a tweek of CV29 needed to correct direction.

I would say avoid CT decoders but I don't have to as most dealers refuse to sell them these days

LaisDCC decoders should be avoided if you loco is fitted with a cordless motor but fine if it's a normal brushed type (not cordless) they are quite good for a tenner but don't have much finesse to them setting wise.

Personally I only use Zimo now, their £20 range are as good as it gets, unless you need loads of AUX outputs, the Hattons's class 66 is said to need ten aux outputs for the lights to work as designed, (is that true ?)

Rails of Sheffield now have their own(?) range, which includes a direct fit (plug n play) for about £20. I have yet to try them. Nearly all my loco's have the TCS DP2X-UK direct fit decoder - including the Hornby M7.

I did buy some of Hattons own direct fit decoders, and they were not successful. I tried two, of the five I bought, and the loco's would only run in one direction. May be some CV's need changing, but you shouldn't need to do that with a brand new product - so I have given up on them for the time being.