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The other supplier of Laisdcc decoders is Railway Maker. A comparison of the sheet supplied with the TCS DP2X-UK with that supplied by Railway Maker suggests that the two chips share a common heritage. The differences between the two sheets are highlighted in yellow.

The DP2X-UK is much talked about in the various forums as providing a compact layout with pins below the board, in the fashion of a blanking plug. This makes it an idea decoder for fitting into locos with restricted spaces such as the Hornby Railroad 9F. The primary difference between the TCS and Laisdcc chip is the orientation of the pins: applied to a UK model the TCS decoder lies parallel to the rails, whereas the Laisdcc/Railway Maker chip is at right angles. The other difference lies in the price, with the TCS DP2X-UK retailing at £23, whereas Railway Maker (February 2015) are offering them at the bargain price of £6.98. At this price, the chip is worth a look, and the cunning plan is to turn the loco socket through 90 degrees to allow the chip to sit parallel with the rails, and so hopefully sit comfortably inside the boiler barrel/smokebox.

Finally the Railway Maker chip is rated at 1.0 Amp, and our stall tests of the Hornby 9F has produced a peak value of 0.95, so the chip should be able to comfortably handle the load.