Tomix E7 preorder start

[NEX-989]

The preoder for the Tomix E7 Shinkansen has started @ 1999.co.jp

 

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10254818

3 car set

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10254824

12 car set

 

Release is scheduled for March 2014

 

Order quickly

unless your waiting for the Kato one like me ;-)

Edited December 13, 2013 by NEX-989

[Spaceman Spiff]

NEX-989, has Kato announced a release? Is there much a difference between Kato and Tomix? I find that they almost equal in quality.

 

Spiff

[cteno4]

kato dcc slot probably and tomix the all wheel pickup. so if one of those two things is super appealing that usually is the big tipper other than a personal pref for k or t.

 

jeff

[linkey]

Jeff, I just get both for the benefit of showing them off to the attendees of the train shows

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks Jeff. I preordered mine(Kato) with loco hobby.

 

Spiff

 

[cteno4]

Yeah I'm an all wheel pickup fan and with my collection size dcc is a long way off, so will probably go tomix.

 

Jeff

[domino]

hey all

 

So how does the E7 Tomix model run, I am normaly most into Kato, but if the Tomix run great I will consider Tomix, so please guy`s post you experience here, thanks

 

Brian

Edited April 27, 2014 by domino

[cteno4]

my tomix is in sal somewhere! but i will get to run one next weekend at the embassy gig so will see. i expect it will run great with the all wheel pickup. that soooo helps with issues of dirty track and wheels or even voltage drops. during the weekend of running trains at a show single car trains will start to sputter as the track gets dirty but the tomix all wheel pickup trains just keep on purring!

 

jeff

[domino]

Thanks Jeff

 

When is the Kato model released, do you know ??

 

Brian

[Melandir]

Thanks Jeff

 

When is the Kato model released, do you know ??

 

Brian

Has been moved to june release, I'm waiting for mine

[domino]

Is the Tomix DCC ready like Kato Model ??

Brian

[kvp]

Tomix generally doesn't support DCC, but most of their models have very simple circuits that makes it easy to solder on DCC decoders. Getting function decoders with bipolar outputs for directional lighting is a good idea though, which makes it simple to add them. (for many models you could even add drop in decoders with small double sided contact pcbs added to the ends of conventional wired decoders and then inserted at certain contact points, sadly they are not an off the shelf item)

 

ps: The aforementioned converter cables with 8 pole connectors on the other end could be a good business for someone who could make them. This could make most tomix models DCC ready off the shelf and without permanent modifications.

[cteno4]

Tomix generally doesn't support DCC, but most of their models have very simple circuits that makes it easy to solder on DCC decoders. Getting function decoders with bipolar outputs for directional lighting is a good idea though, which makes it simple to add them. (for many models you could even add drop in decoders with small double sided contact pcbs added to the ends of conventional wired decoders and then inserted at certain contact points, sadly they are not an off the shelf item)

 

ps: The aforementioned converter cables with 8 pole connectors on the other end could be a good business for someone who could make them. This could make most tomix models DCC ready off the shelf and without permanent modifications.

Kvp,

 

I've too wondered why no one has yet made little double sided flex Pcbs tabs with leads and a standard decoder socket. Seems like a simple thing that would allow quick slide in conversions like that. Flex pcb would even let you trim it easily to fit. I bought some flex pcb with traces on each side to experiment like this. I've wanted to think about a way to start doing the conversions and then later fill out with decoders, but get the plug in there and circuits isolated and just jumper end for now.

 

Jeff

[Ochanomizu]

Tomix generally doesn't support DCC, but most of their models have very simple circuits that makes it easy to solder on DCC decoders. Getting function decoders with bipolar outputs for directional lighting is a good idea though, which makes it simple to add them. (for many models you could even add drop in decoders with small double sided contact pcbs added to the ends of conventional wired decoders and then inserted at certain contact points, sadly they are not an off the shelf item)

 

ps: The aforementioned converter cables with 8 pole connectors on the other end could be a good business for someone who could make them. This could make most tomix models DCC ready off the shelf and without permanent modifications.

 

Also, with Tomix, MA, and GM this is my tip: solder harnesses and use pinned decoders.  Then the decoders are not permanently attached to the consist.

[Melandir]

Getting function decoders with bipolar outputs for directional lighting is a good idea though, which makes it simple to add them

 

I'm still waiting for one with this function to show up on the market, currently only motor decoders can perform this action but with double cost compared to normal functions decoder, TCS Z2 is currently one of the best motor decoder to pilot ligthboards without touching them, but cost 2 times more than TCS FL2 or FL4

[kvp]

Considering that a bipolar output with more than 20 mA capacity needs a motor driver chip, the price seems reasonable. What they could make is a motor and lights decoder that has 2 bipolar outputs for the motor and 2 or 4 for the bipolar head/tail lights. (requires a total of 3 motor driver chips) For a single car dmu, this could come really handly.

 

Also, if a function decoder supplies fixed power and ground outputs besides the function outputs, then it's possible to add a translator circuit:

(essentially when only one of the functions is active, the motor driver ic gives a fixed bipolar output, the two pullup or pulldown resistors can be almost anything that works, like something around 1k-5k ohm, the motor driver ic can be any 6 pin pipolar motor driver ic, that works reliably at the DCC system's voltage)

[domino]

Just ordered the Tomix ( could not wait for the Kato) 92530 and 92531 , hope that I wont be disappointed and to difficult converting to DCC (wink Martijn) .

 

Brian

[Melandir]

This company is currently developing the function decoder I need

 

http://railstars.com/

 

it's owned by CaptOblivious that is also the owner of Akihabara Station I hope it will be available sooner or later

Edited April 28, 2014 by Melandir

[kvp]

This company is currently developing the function decoder I need

 

Sadly they are not for sale. Even i could sketch up a few circuits, but having them made is another thing. So far the only model railroad products that i ever designed and sold were small pwm controllers (with directional CL functionality) and a low power single block DCC boster based on it for larger Z scale layouts where a high amp single unit will melt a derailed train, so you have to use many smaller boosters (750 mA continous, 1000 mA peak, with automatic short protection and reset). Making them convinced me that designing something for fun and building a few for personal use is completly different than making and selling them. And i couldn't sell enough to make the whole thing remotely profitable once i factor in my time.

 

Other than that, a decoder with multiple high power bipolar outputs will need multiple motor driver chips (or a multichannel driver ic, like the one lego is using), a central microcontroller, a diode bridge and a few caps and resistors. And of course if you want to sell them at a competitive price, you'll need cheap workers who will do the assembly for you. A certain amount of time and monetary investment is required to get products ready and you need a rather large market, so you could sell enough of them to make it at least slightly profitable. Anyway, let's hope those products you mentioned will see the light of day...

[linkey]

I really like the colour scheme of the E7. I haven't done anything with the E7 as of yet as it will be one of the trains running on the group layout in August.

[Bernard]

Brian - I've converted my Kato & Tomix 800 Shinkansens to DCC......I find most Kato trains are easy to convert to DCC, but if the new Tomix E7 is anything like their 800 internally, I recommend sending it to Martijn. Why? because I had to solder the points of the decoder very close to the connections on the Tomix motor, you have to be very careful otherwise you can overheat the brush mounts and melt the casing of the motor.....IMO Tomix trains are not as easy as Kato's to convert to DCC.

[cteno4]

Well we ran Thomas's E7 for quite a bit this sat. We had one derailment on its first lap but that was due to a n700 wheel set left behind from the train before. After about 5 minutes at full speed there was one derailment going into a point. We then did the proper jr safety and kept running it at about 260kph from then on to be safe and it was ok for another hour or two of running. We were trying to not fiddle with trains at the embassy so we never got to see how well it would work at 320kph or fiddle with running it the other direction.

 

But it does look nice and the paint job stands out!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

Edited May 5, 2014 by cteno4

[Martijn Meerts]

Mine arrived last weekend as well.. The first motor car had 1 bogie fall off, the 2nd motor car had both bogies fall off.. For a moment I thought it was a MicroAce set considering it's not uncommon for that to happen with MicroAce. Of course, they snap back in place easy enough, and the thing runs really well. The motors are some of the more silent ones I've seen so far, very smooth and quiet.