drM decoders?

[chadbag]

I saw on the "what did the postman deliver" someone got a decoder from the drM company.  I had not seen these so investigated and it appears they are out of Taiwan.  Their webpage doesn't give a lot of specs.  I've emailed them about Railcom support (one decoder specifically mentions but the others don't so asked them if their decoders in general supported it or not).

 

Has anyone tried drM?   How do the LKN100 light decoders work?  (these are their FL12 cab light decoder equivalents).  Price is decent and shipping is not bad to the US it seems (when doing a sample cart).

 

Looking for any experiences with them and any comments on them.

 

[bc6]

@chadbag That was me who posted about their decoder, I've just got for the Kato EH200. The decoder is sitting in the locomotive waiting for some wires to be installed to the secondary circuit board. The dRM is in fact located in Taiwan I ordered my decoder online and it took about a week which was awesome. The fit was great they even have installation photos for the locomotive go figure. As I mentioned the decoder is awaiting some wires then I'll be testing it soon. They are a legit outfit as one of the members may be a dealer for their decoders (I made a thread asking about dRM) . Unfortunately I can't speak to any of their otherr products maybe other have. Below is a picture of a dRM decoder in a EH200. 

[chadbag]

Yep!!   I saw that and then looked them up and went to their website to try and get more info and see their product line.

 

Besides the EH200 they have some of both types of the normal KATO lightboard replacements and EM13 and FR12 type decoders for those who DCC their Japanese KATO...

 

I'd try some of theie decoders -- especially the FR12-type as I always am needing those sort.  And if they all support RailCom I'd probably try a couple of their other ones.

 

[ksxmi]

I am interested in their drM's ND-LKN100

I found details from their pdf: https://drm.com.tw/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ND-LKN100_V102_english.pdf

I wonder if it can be programmed like the Kato's FL12N (dim light when stopped) There are some effect on page 5, but there are not much details in it.

[bc6]

@ksxmi Have you emailed them they are pretty responsive to.emailĺ

[ksxmi]

On 8/2/2024 at 4:22 AM, bc6 said:

@ksxmi Have you emailed them they are pretty responsive to.emailĺ

They told me to look at the pdf, not quite helpful
(edit: After another exchange, they said it's 2, step light. I might give it a try since FL12n is hard to find.)

 

@chadbag i asked them about railcom and the answer is no

Edited August 8 by ksxmi

[chadbag]

I have not received any email in response to my inquiry but just noticed they had the downloads for the spec sheets.  I had not seen those before. 

 

I'm not really carrying if their FR12 equivalent has Railcom but am interested in if their EM13 equivalent does, since they mention Railcom in the description of some of their other motor decoders, and these companies tend to use the same core decoder circuitry across their lines if possible (just different form factors).  I looked at the download sheet for their EM13 decoder equivalent, the ND-DE131 Digital decoder, and unfortunately it doesn't mention Railcom.

 

They do mention an HD08100 wired decoder with Railcom but there is no download sheet for that decoder to compare against.

 

too bad.   I'd liked to have found an affordable EM13 decoder with Railcom.  I'll continue using the pCB EM13 adapter boards (from this JNSForum) that I had made and use with D&H decoders or other micro decoders -- I've used a Zimo on one as well...

 

[Dani]

Hello,

 

Interesting to have an alternative to KATO decoders.... but I don't see the advantage. For a full train you need one motor decoder EM13 and two cab/end car decoders FL12. The cost of KATO's decoder set is 33.96$ (Hobby Search), and the drM's is 36$ (clone decoders). 😒

 

Am I missing something?

 

It's also funny to see that the pack of two FL12 KATO decoders costs 23.23$, but a single one costs 10.19$!

 

Cheers!

Dani

[chadbag]

48 minutes ago, Dani said:

Hello,

 

Interesting to have an alternative to KATO decoders.... but I don't see the advantage. For a full train you need one motor decoder EM13 and two cab/end car decoders FL12. The cost of KATO's decoder set is 33.96$ (Hobby Search), and the drM's is 36$ (clone decoders). 😒

 

Am I missing something?

 

It's also funny to see that the pack of two FL12 KATO decoders costs 23.23$, but a single one costs 10.19$!

 

Cheers!

Dani

 

 

When I go to the drM shop, it shows a price of "$12.0" for the EM13 clone.  I've not tried to order or anything.

 

[Madsing]

3 hours ago, Dani said:

It's also funny to see that the pack of two FL12 KATO decoders costs 23.23$, but a single one costs 10.19$!

You refer to this right? https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10982930

The pack of two is not for two Kato FL12 decoders, it contains two FL12N decoders, it's the new version with automatic dimming.

 

I am also interested in testing various decoders compatible with the Kato EM13. The price is not the only criteria. I am mostly interested in adding a "stay alive"  / "keep alive" capability. I also would like to compare the performance / stability of the BEMF, specifically when running at low speed.

 

Marc