TCS recently raised prices of their decoders at least 20% claiming that shortages of microchips has created an environment where they could not profitably continue supplying the model railroad hobby at their previous pricing. I have found that many decoders I need are not currently available. There may be some alternative unit from brands I am not familiar with at a higher price. The most pressing one I need are Kato EM-13 since I have several GS and FEF units that are only DC equipped. I saw a Zimo MX605N decoder which is supposed to be a substitute for the Kato EM-13... but... I'm not familiar with it... and there was language on the vendors website to read and accept Zimo terms and firmware updates. HMMMM??? Have any of you found getting the right decoder a problem?? Your thoughts... should I wait for supply chain issues to abate??
I have found that the only way to get decoders is to buy the locomotive with the decoders from the factory. It seems they may have stockpiled the decoders before the COVID crazies hit. I just ordered a pair of Atlas locomotives with the sound decoders installed. The one thing that does do is slow down my expenditures. Though I still need a substantial supply of decoders, they will be either ESU or Zimo decoders.
Perhaps a moderator can move this to the DCC and Electronics Forum. Hmm... Yeah, there are only a few messages... shouldn't be that heavy...
It's not just DCC decoder availability being affected either. The SPROG US distributor is out of stock on full-up Pi-SPROG systems (3v2 and 3-Plus) due to unavailability of Raspberry Pi 4b's. They also sell the kits (power supply, Pi hat and custom enclosure) for you to supply your own R-Pi 3+ or 4b, and they are in stock.
Hi DCESharkman. You stated that you plan to use ESU and Zimo decoders. I am looking on a DCC vendor site that had Zimo decoders for Kato GS and FEF. There is a comment about accepting Zimo warranty and also a firmware upcharge which has to be accepted before you can order the decoder. I haven't contacted the vendor about this... but perhaps you have encountered this issue.
The price hikes are crazy. But they are claiming these factories are at capacity etc etc. I was on Amazon last night and the price of my Kato bridge literally went up while it was still in my cart. lol
Yeah, it's interesting; neither of my grown children (in their mid- to late-20's) have ever lived during an inflationary economy. I remember the late 70's into the early 80's, and it was not fun. Neither was the recession it took to break out of the inflationary cycle. My son bought a new home, and locked in his contract price and interest rate early. The same home in the same neighborhood, by the same builder went up >10% by the time he closed, but he kept his contract price and fixed interest rate.
Zimo decoders are my next favorite to ESU. I've several locos that came from the factory with those decoders and motor control is excellent. What specifically is your concern about zimo terms and firmware updates? I've installed a few zimo decoders and they work without any updates and was able to configure to my needs with the usual CV programming. I've not used that exact board so can't comment as to how well it drops in place without additional modifications but the installation instructions here should give you an idea of what to expect. For the FEF units the digitrax DN163K4A can be found for around $32. Can't list the retailers due to the rules of this forum but there are some out there. Not the biggest fan of their motor control but gets one operating on DCC if that is the biggest concern and right in there with TCS performance per my experience. There are ways to tap in with a wired decoder such as the ESU lokpilot 5 but that requires some micro soldering skills and equipment. If you've only got a handful of locos to update and are not confident of your soldering skills then drop in is the way to go. I would grab up anything I can where the budget allows right away as the prices are going to go up soon for a lot of this stuff.
I have not looked at Zimo decoders for Kato steam, so I can not answer that question. For the 100 or so Zimo decoders I have in locomotives I have never had and upcharge for the firmware. I am only using the motion only decoders from Zimo, not sound if that is the difference. I go to ESU for all sound applications. You may want to check with Streamlined BackShop, they are a Zimo reseller that are also an advertiser here I believe.
Sent some CN-GP decoders to TCS under warranty. Was told they would replace but currently out of stock.
Want to replace the laptop I have running JMRI with a Raspberry Pi. None available unless I buy from eBay and want to get skinned. In no hurry though so I’ll wait it out.
Raspberry Pi Model 400's are available from authorized dealers (at authorized prices). The Model 400 is model 4b electronics, on a different printed circuit board, housed inside a keyboard. The 400 (no power supply, mouse, HDMI cable, etc.) is available for $70 at Adafruit. It has one less USB2 port (due to the built-in keyboard), but still has 2 USB3 ports. The model 400 is also available with power supply, mouse and HDMI cable for $100.
I contacted SBS4DCC by email regarding my questions about the Zimo decoder warranty and firmware upcharge. Got a reply from Bryan Vianco with a link to the required acceptance of the warranty. The link also detailed other warranty limitation for the rest of DCC decoder providers. It seems that my propensity to buy and stash decoders for later intalls was not a good idea... most warranties are limited between 3 months to a year from purchase. This may be one of the reason for the required Zimo acceptance. As to the firmware upgrade/upcharge, Bryan stated that for motor control only this is rarely required. Unfortunately I cannot find a You Tube video showing how to properly install the Zimo MX605N for the GS units I have. Apparently the FEF uses Digitrax for motor control... so I'm not sure about those since I am not a big fan of Digitrax. If you have any links to intallation videos for converting DC to DCC of the Kato GS and FEF units... please post here.
Not a video, but instructions. Looks pretty straight forward. While they are written for the Digitrax decoder, with the Zimo being the same format the install would be the same.
Was looking at that and find it interesting but the size is putting me off. I’m in no particular hurry so I’ll wait it out. Been getting stock alerts from adafruit but by the time I open the email they’re gone. Very small numbers of stock.
Yeah, all the authorized dealers are only getting small lots, and they go quickly. One advantage of the built-in keyboard, is a key for (safe) shut down. Simply removing power from running Linux systems can occasionally result in a corrupted filesystem, and a Pi that won't boot until it is fixed. I can VNC into the pi from my laptop or phone to shut down safely, or there is a SSH button app for Android (and I assume for Apple) that can do it. There are also mini-hats that will do it.
