How To UPGRADE The Hornby Sentinel with DCC Sound & Stay Alive! - Model Railway Tutorial
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- A tutorial on how to fit DCC Sound and a Stay Alive to the Hornby 0-4-0 Sentinel.
Early Access: / @thatmodelrailwayguy
MERCH: shop.thatmodelrailwayguy.com
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This episode is proudly sponsored by DERAILS MODEL SHOP!
Check them out here: derails.co.uk
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The Hornby 0-4-0 Sentinel is a great little model and has incredible slow speed... when it doesn't stall. For this reason alone I really don't run the loco as much as I'd like as it's just not a reliable runner, especially when it comes to shunting.
Well today I've decided to do something about it and fit both a Stay Alive and DCC Sound to give this model a massive and much needed upgrade. That said, those of you who know the Hornby Sentinel will be aware that there's not a lot of space to work with inside this model. Will I be able to fit a DCC sound decoder and stay alive in or will I have to admit defeat? Watch on to find out!
The sound project, decoder and stay alive used in this video is available from YouChoos: www.youchoos.co.uk/Index-Shop...
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:16 - Dismantling The Body
02:46 - Minor Modifications
04:18 - Fitting The Decoder
06:15 - Fitting The Stay Alive
07:56 - Reassembly
10:13 - Derails Model Shop
11:07 - Sound Demonstration
12:13 - Running Session
Thanks for watching 😃
You did a great job with that Sentinel
Thanks! It wasn’t easy but definitely worth it. Thanks for watching 😃
Great fitting job, I just recently did a sound fitting on a Davenport gas-mechanical (basically the American equivalent of a Ruston although it has very similar siderods to the Sentinel) and it gave me an appreciation for how tricky it is fitting all that in such a small space. Now I'm doing decoder fittings on some steam tender engines and the difference is night and day, you have so much space to work with in a tender.
Yes I’ve got a few videos on fitting tender locos too and there’s a world of difference! Mind you, some of the British locos have very low tenders so that can sometimes pose and issue. Thanks for watching 😃
Great work as proven by the result! One habit that it is worth trying to adopt is to always check decoder installation on a dedicated programming track first (e.g. just try to read and set loco. address and watch for the motor twitching as it should). Unlike the main track, the programming track is only live when programming is taking place and, even then, at a very reduced current. As you say decoders (particularly sound decoders) are not cheap and it can be heartbreaking if you put them straight onto the main track and realise - too late - that you've made a mistake and let all the smoke out. All the best.
Yep this was done while changing the decoder address before running the Sentinel on the layout. I didn't show that part so it wouldn't spoil the big reveal so to speak but I have spoken about the importance of this in my some of my other videos. Thanks for watching 😃
What a great job you did with that old loco, my old hands shake too much so I very much doubt I would try that. Well done.
This was a bit of a fiddly process… I’ve definitely had easier DCC Sound fits! Thanks for watching 😃
What a cracking little shunter, thanks for that, good job!
It is now! 😁 Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 👍
Very impressive That Model Railway Guy. To get that tiny 0-4-0 to run and sound that good is quite an accomplishment, I'd say. Congrats!
Thanks! It's certainly been very satisfying to give this loco a new lease of life. It's been great to have it shunting around the yard on Pitley. Thanks for watching 😃
Grear video and a wonderful demonstration of microsurgery. Looks like you now have a locomotive that you will really enjoy run.
Really glad you enjoyed it! It was definitely a fun challenge and shunting wagons with this loco is now an absolute joy. Thanks for watching 🤩
Good job on fitting the decoder and speaker and the stay alive in such a small loco, the sentinel sounds great and it would be a good little shunter now 😀
It was definitely a challenge but it’s made such a difference! Thanks for watching 😃
Well done, runs and sounds great and does justice to the layout..
It's definitely made a world of difference! I'm certainly looking forward to having Sentinel shunt wagons around in between passenger services. Thanks for watching 😃
Excellent job!
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃
Great job. Really fun and interesting to watch!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃
Well done, you certainly like a challenge! Massively envious of your soldering skills....
It did keep me on toes a bit! To be honest my soldering is nothing to write home about... it did take a bit of practice to get to where I am today though. I remember all too well the frustration of trying to solder things and it just not working when I first stated out 😅 Thanks for watching 🤩
impressive work. I think it might work better than the real ones.
Really? The real ones were powered by Rolls Royce! 😅 Thanks for watching 👍
nice to see all around the layout .
It’s been a while since Pitley was shown on the channel! Thanks for watching 😃
You are a lifesaver!
I've had so many stalling problems with my Graham ever since I bought it and with my 11 x 36ft layout it only seems to have gotten worse. I'll definitely be investing in a stay alive for mine asap.
One question i have though, I run only Analog on my layout; is it possible to install a stay alive to a DC Sentinel, and if so how would I go about doing so since this tutorial is for DCC only?
Stay Alives only work on DCC I'm afraid as it's the decoder that switches over to the capacitors when the track power cuts out. Even if it were possible to add a Stay Alive to an analog loco it would mean that, when you turn down the power to bring it to a stop, the model would keep moving. Hope that makes sense and thanks for watching 😃
Wow I’m absolutely amazed that you fit a sound decoder, speaker and stay alive in this, there really isn’t much room on that chassis! Really goes to show that modifying locos isn’t as scary as it looks!! I’ve actually been thinking of buying one of these little Sentinals, as I’m currently in market for a diesel shunter. Do you think it would be possible to add working lights to this? I feel like it would add a lot to the loco (mine will be staying on DC if I buy one as I sold my DCC controller since I found DCC to be an unessasary expense for a small layout).
The positions of the lights are quite exposed in most places so you'd probably have to have a visible LED and wires running back to the decoder. Never say never though, I bet someone has attempted it. A cab light would be fairly easy, although that wouldn't be used when the loco is moving. Thanks for watching 😃
@@ThatModelRailwayGuy that’s what I thought as well 😂 I’m sure it is possible though!!
My goodness the wheel flange sound makes it seem so much more real
It really does! I think some of the new Accurascale releases have a hall sensor on the wheel so the sound triggers automatically on curves. Thanks for watching 👍
What you have done looks great but as there is little (if any) ventilation is there a risk of electric components overheating ... possibly even failing because of this?
I’ve never had a decoder overheat on me personally and I’ve seen pre-fitted sound locos with similar or less space. It’s not ideal but so far, fingers crossed, it’s all been fine. Thanks for watching 😃
Particular reasons for choosing the Zimo? I know you were considering a z21 system at one point, and the z21 management software can do firmware updates to Zimo decoders. Was that a motivation?
This is not a slight against Zimo - I've used them to upgrade two of my G-scale LGB locos plus some accessory decoders and their modern sound decoders pack in a lot of functionality. But they don't seem nearly as common as ESU or US/UK brands so I always note when someone uses them.
A few reasons. Partly, as you said, because I run the Z21 and so updating firmware and CVs is very easy.
Before I went over to sound, I used the Zimo standard decoders as they were always highly recommended, were fairly cheap and were readily available.
But I also recommend the YouChoos sound files and they use predominantly Zimo chips so it’s a lot of little things that add up. Thanks for watching 😃
Could you do the inglenook shunting puzzle with this too?
Thats definitely the plan for the future when I get time. Thanks for watching 😃
Always cut AWAY from your fingers. You had me worried at 4:07 and 4:10
To be honest I was using so little pressure that I probably could have removed them by snapping them off with my fingers. If I was using a sharper knife with more pressure then naturally you approach things differently. Thanks for watching 😃
This is a dreadfully made loco.........have you ever considered fleischmann?..... this was actually painful to watch.
I would hardly say dreadful... it's not the most intuitive design but lets not forget that this model is over a decade old from a point where manufacturers in the UK weren't really thinking too much about digital
control, never mind adding speakers and stay alives. So really I'm really pushing this model beyond what it was designed to do to give it a new lease of life. It's also worth mentioning that this was also one of the first small industrial locos to hit the market in 00 too.
Fleischmann isn't really an option for me. They don't make anything I'm interested in and even if they did the prices are considerably higher than what new locos tend to cost in the UK. Thanks for watching 👍
Agree, I have a blue one of these, badly designed body when compared to ancient US models with a single piece body that either clips off or is removed by unscrewing the couplings. However, brilliant effort to do this work.