Latest News
Monday 18th, January 2010
The Bristol 0 Gauge Show and King catch-up
Masterpiece Models will have a stand at the Bristol 0 Gauge Guild Show on 31st January. Unfortunately I will be away on holiday but delighted Malcolm Mitchell will be on our stand for the day. He will have three very different Kings on display; the pristine King George V with its special tender as it was on return from the USA; a King in BR blue and a BR double chimney King.
With the exception of three Kings damaged in transit to the UK, all Kings have now been distributed. Unfortunately further damage has been done by UK couriers but we are in the process of getting these Kings corrected. There are also a few cosmetic issues that require attention and again we will put these right. We believe it is very important to ensure all our Kings are in fine condition. A very different way of distribution has been suggested, which we are looking at very closely and we will also be introducing a further quality control check in UK before our Coronations and Duchesses are released.
Some difficulty is being experienced when our Kings are run on DC layouts with a controller of less than 5 amps capacity. This is because the Loksound XL decoder draws significant current beyond the capabilities of the standard DC controllers which normally only deliver 1 amp or just above.
A simple solution is to hand for those wishing to run DC only without sound. We are waiting delivery of a connector which fits into the existing electrical socket on the loco (instead of the tender connector) to which a small modification will be made by our sound guru Bryan Robertson. This will have the effect of by-passing the sound chip completely, allowing the King to run on a standard DC controller. The existing tender connector can be tucked back under the tender footplate out of the way. This will overcome any DC problems and your King will run smoothly whilst maintaining the integrity of the sound decoder should you convert to DCC at a later date. Supplies are expected shortly so if you want to run your King on DC without sound and have a controller with less than 5 amp capacity, email bryan@waitrose.com with your details and he will post a connector to you suitably modified. Just push it in the socket! For those King owners who are now, or who will be running their loco on a DCC system this connector will not be required.
Some King DCC users find sound level too loud. Following the release of our Castle, a few owners reported the sound wasn’t loud enough, so Bryan programmed the King sound to make it louder. But we also improved the speakers and their positioning, which has allowed more sound to escape. If you want to reduce the sound level, the overall volume of the decoder is controlled by CV63. This needs to be reduced from the current value of 60 to around 10 or a value near that to suit individual customers listening level.
For those who wish to run their King with sound on DC should seek the assistance of someone who can adjust CV63 to a level they are happy with. Once changed, the level will remain the same whilst under DC control.
I do hope this Latest News covers everything (a further posting for the Coronation and Duchess will appear before I leave on holiday). Meantime, as I'll be away for a few weeks, there may be a slight delay answering e-mails, letters and telephone calls. So please be patient.
Michael Brooks
18th January 2010
