What did you order or the post deliver? (Japanese N Gauge)

[Yavianice]

Coming back to the Power Pack SX from Kato (22-018), I can now report that trains with a decoder will have trouble running on it (either at full speed or not at all). So people especially with Minitrix locos (which nowadays always come with a decoder) should think twice about purchasing the Kato Power Pack SX or make their Minitrix locos truly analogue somehow. Note that older Minitrix trains work fine (such as the Koploper trains).

 

[kvp]

Analog conversion mode works by detecting the less than DCC voltage and setting full throttle on the H bridge so the analog voltage could regulate the speed. Direction is interpreted digitally though.

 

For a PWM controller, track voltage could be near DCC voltage. N scale european locos usually use 12V as a threshold. A pulsed voltage above this is interpreted as grabled digital. The loco would either stay put or shoot out in one direction. A low PWM could cause the decoder to be stuck in brownout state or the loco to move jerkingly.

 

Adding a series resistance and a parallel filter cap to the track feed could smooth out the signal enough to allow the loco to move normally in analog conversion mode.

 

ps: more sensitive decoders could literally blow up from the high frequency PWM signal, so being careful or using linear controllers for DCC locos is always a good idea

[Yavianice]

Adding a series resistance and a parallel filter cap to the track feed could smooth out the signal enough to allow the loco to move normally in analog conversion mode.
 
ps: more sensitive decoders could literally blow up from the high frequency PWM signal, so being careful or using linear controllers for DCC locos is always a good idea

Thanks for the information. Fortunately my Minitrix locos come with analog boards to replace the decoder, to make them truly analog. They work smoothly now.

[Khaul]

Yesterday night I went to Popondetta and got my first Tomix High grade set.

 

It is of course a Tsurumi line 103. Nice.

 

I am bit disappointed because the pantograph is rather wonky. The top is made of plastic and there is very small bit not properly cut.

 

Do you think that's something the shop should take care of?

 

By the way, these are the views from my hotel room:

 

 

[EH500 (12)]

10 hours ago, Khaul said:

I am bit disappointed because the pantograph is rather wonky. The top is made of plastic and there is very small bit not properly cut.

 

Do you think that's something the shop should take care of?

A pantograph can be a bit wonky sometimes but that can normally be corrected with CAREFULLY bending the problematic part or CAREFULLY cutting a tiny bit of plastic if this is the problem. Take your time to inspect the pantograph and make sure you really found the problematic part before you do anything.

The collector is always made of plastic as Japanese trains are not meant to be used with working catenary.

 

Did you buy it used? If yes you wont have any luck requesting a refund or repairs from Poppondetta. Normally you can inspect used items at Poppondetta or other second hand model train stores.

[Pauljag900]

If you bought it New then I would consider taking it back and asking them to replace it,either the whole thing or just the pantograph.

if you bought it used or you really want this train,and if it were me,I would just order a new set of pantographs form Nariichi or David,they only cost maybe £3-£4.

[Khaul]

I've been back to Popondetta today and asked about the pantograph. The guy said it is fine. He raised a bit less and made it more of less level using tweezers. I am not 100% convinced, but well. I kept exploring Den Den Town and found that Super Kids Land has somehow better prices on average. You can get tax free or 5% discount if you have a Visa card. I bought a few buildings there. Then I blow up the savings by having an unexpectedly fancy and delicious dinner.

 

Before all that I rode the wonderful JR rapid to Kyoto and went to the railway museum. Both the trip and the museum are truly wonderful. I got to sit at the front of the train to see through the railfan window... wow...

[Khaul]

55 minutes ago, EH500 said:

A pantograph can be a bit wonky sometimes but that can normally be corrected with CAREFULLY bending the problematic part or CAREFULLY cutting a tiny bit of plastic if this is the problem. Take your time to inspect the pantograph and make sure you really found the problematic part before you do anything.

The collector is always made of plastic as Japanese trains are not meant to be used with working catenary.

 

Did you buy it used? If yes you wont have any luck requesting a refund or repairs from Poppondetta. Normally you can inspect used items at Poppondetta or other second hand model train stores.

 

I bought the train new. I think I have seen the culprit, a tiny bit of plastic. I'll try to fix it when I am back home. All my Kato trains have entirely metal pantographs that raise properly.

[Das Steinkopf]

If you are after general bits and pieces I would also suggest going to Yodobashi in Umeda they have a decent range of stuff there, they also have tax free if you show your passport and spend over ¥5000, it's a good way of getting track and buildings as well as layout detail parts. On my trip last April I purchased a whole heap of buildings as well as some track and other bits and pieces, I purchased a little bit of rolling stock but I mainly went for bulky items that would be expensive to pay shipping for but would fit nicely into a suitcase.

[beakaboy]

some items i purchased from a friend at our local train show. The EH200 is DCC equipped and runs beautifully. paid $100 for the EH and the rest of  the haul for $130. Most of the overhead station is in the plastic storage  container with a couple of Kato point switches.

[Kiha66]

Wow, nice haul!  That station alone pays for the rest, I've been wanting one for myself.

[cteno4]

Oooh that is a very good haul beakaboy! Good job!

 

jeff

[Philphil]

Amazing haul, Beakaboy! I'm totally jealous! Was your friend getting out of the hobby?

[katoftw]

On 1/14/2018 at 10:21 AM, Khaul said:

By the way, these are the views from my hotel room:

 

 

Hotel must be north of the station ?

Edited January 15, 2018 by katoftw

[Khaul]

5 hours ago, katoftw said:

Hotel must be north of the station ?

 

My hotel is actually to the south of the station. The tracks closer to the hotel lead to the Tokaido main line to Osaka station. The tracks further west belong to the Umeda Freight Line and are use by the Haruka limited express to reach the Osaka loop line. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of freight trains running on Sunday. I was on a Rapid service using the inner track and a freight train overtook us using the outer track. It was for sure sustaining 110 km/h. 

[IST]

After a few month of struggle, I could buy Japan Railfan Magazine as an eBook from Kinokuniya. Last year I saw on JRM website that the magazine is available in some webstore (for example Amazon), but when I logged in to Amazon the option to buy it in an eBook format disappeared (I think due to that I am from abroad), only paper version remained. Yesterday I tried Kinokuniya and while the registration was a little bit frightening in Japanese, I solved it with the help of Google Translator, and today I was able to buy the magazine.

It is way more cheaper than order it in paper version due to the lack of postage cost.

[Welshbloke]

My powered KuMoYa 90-100 arrived and has been gently running in. GreenMax are rather loud compared to Kato and Tomytecs!

 

 

[gavino200]

Some more freight, and a new Kato drool book :)

 

 

[Gryphr]

1 hour ago, gavino200 said:

Some more freight, and a new Kato drool book :)

 

Is the book very heavy? I'd like to order one but I'm kinda scared of the possible shipping costs :D

Edited January 18, 2018 by Gryphr

[katoftw]

haha That is what I did once.  Brought one of every different type of maroon 5 foot container I could find available.

[gavino200]

1 hour ago, Gryphr said:

 

Is the book very heavy? I'd like to order one but I'm kinda scared of the possible shipping costs :D

 

It''s approx 1cm thick. Exactly the same dimensions as previous years Kato books. I put it on my wife's kitchen scale, which maxes out at one pound. All I can say is that the catalog weighs more than one pound. 

[Das Steinkopf]

3 hours ago, gavino200 said:

Some more freight, and a new Kato drool book :)

 

 

 

 

 

Nice haul of containers there, with the C20's they are out of era for contemporary JRF as they are from the JNR era but don't worry there are still plenty of uses for them, I have seen some of them sitting on the edge of freight yards slowly rusting away or being used for storage in railyards, they also get sold off to the public and people use them for storage.

 

Here is a shot of one slowly rusting away behind the relay cabinet in the freight yard at Yatsushiro on the Hisastsu-sen when I was travelling on the SL Hitoyoshi.

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Das Steinkopf

[railsquid]

Oh dear, I'm starting to worry the Container Inquisition will break down my door and want to examine my containers now...

 

Before that happens, an important gap in my classic Shinkansen collection now filled:

 

Microace 200 series Shinkansen (A2061) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Complete all the way up to "400" now :)

 

I should point out that 200 series Shinkansen were rarely seen in quite that close proximity to Chuo Line E233s, we'll have to pretend this is a rather implausible diversion at Kanda ;)

[Welshbloke]

The random SaHa 204 arrived:

 

I don't have any other 205 Series stock yet, but this fits in with my plan to assemble a Yamanote themed collection of commuter units. It's from Kato's era of selling individual cars rather than train packs. I can only assume that these are left in stock because you only needed one per train, as opposed to multiples of other types.

 

[railsquid]

I suspect that one was an individual pack because they were added to the real-life Yamanote sets in 1991, when they were extended from 10 to 11 cars.