Does RailMaster have a future?

[Nick_]

 @OzPepper, If you buy a 2nd copy not only can you then have RailMaster on 2 PCs at the same time but if your PCs are both on the same network you can also use the 2nd PC as a 'slave' connected to the first PC (See page 29 & 26 of the v1.64 RailMaster User Guide)

[mallone]

Very interesting to read about the £5 Railmaster cd. I am fortunate enough to have 2 computers in my workshop and being able to link Railmaster between the 2 opens various interesting possibilities.

Thank you HRMS for your very informed update. The service we get from ALL departments of Hornby is second to non.

[Ravens]

This is great stuff for smoene who does not normally get involved in forums or is yet to buy the system, I am picking up a lot of emotion and desire for this brand to go foward and grow.

Great.

As one of these newbies (althogh before christmas) I would be happy to pay a little extra for the Pro system, How to I buy it.

Ravens

[Chrissaf]

....for the Pro system, How do I buy it.

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It is a within application upgrade.

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Basically once you have got RM installed on the PC you intend to use it on AND you have its License Key successfully activated. In other words you have it fully installed and working as a full (non trial) version with no installation issues. Then you go into the RM 'Help' screen and invoke the online upgrade to Pro process. RM presents you with an online form to fill in. You input the data as requested (includes your credit card details). Payment is taken and you are e-mailed a RM PRO unlock code to use.

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To input the RM PRO unlock code, you navigate to the RM 'System Settings' (Loco Detection Tab). Enter your PRO Upgrade activation key on that tab. Save, exit RM and restart RM. You should then get the RM PRO Splash Screen when RM restarts.

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TIP.....when activating RM the first time AND when upgrading to PRO. Make a back up note of all the data you enter, such as email address used, name given etc. The reason being, if at some time down the road in the future you have to request your activation key to be reset. You will be asked to provide this information again. For security, the data you enter the second time is checked for a match against the data you entered the first time. Obviously it helps if the data matches.

 

[Fozzy Bear]

I have been thinking about this for a bit and Railmaster could have a brilliant future but Hornby would have to do some things.

Get the whole program rewritten in code from the 21st century. (nice graphics etc). To have to add lines to an ini file, set the port below 5 etc is a bad joke these days. They don't seem to have heard of "plug and play". People don't want to stuff around, getting things to work in this day and age. Install the software, plug in the leads and run your trains. End of story.

Make it compatible with anything. A lot of people would have Z21s or NCE stuff (even ESU) and would appreciate a computer driven interface. That's what sold me on it in the first place. The days of "it will only work with our stuff" is a joke.

Do proper beta testing instead of selling software and then relying on customer complaints to find the bugs.

Drop the "pro" nonsense. Sell it fully equipped to do everything. I get a good chuckle when they say a great feature of pro is "you can now delete old programs". Big deal. I just delete old stuff in Windows Explorer. a 10yo would work that out in about 20 seconds. I upgraded to get the voice control but stuff like this would be a big selling point to anyone.

That's my rant for the day. Thank you.

 

[Fozzy Bear]

And while I am at it, FIX this forum. To not be able to delete a post in 2016 is beyond the pale. The admins can do it, so why not the person who actually made the post?

My original came up twice for some stupid reason so instead of just deleting the text, I added another rant. Time for a beer.

[RB51]

Just to say Fozzy, I beta test for another tech company and although there are lots of us even we don't always manage to replicate the various system set-ups that the consumer base uses. I imagine it would be impossible. So the company I test for usually gets to a point where the latest update is released (sometimes catching testers off guard) acknowledging that there are bugs that only the world at large will find - plus some they couldn't fix yet. I could be wrong but I think it's standard practice. Enjoy the beer, I think I'll have one as well. R-

[Yelrow]

I agree about the propack. Why not, as a new year gesture,  chuck it in with RM. for a limited period. john

[Fozzy Bear]

Fair enough Rog but they wouldn't have to go overboard.  

"This program is compatible with Hornby Elite, elink, Z21 blah blah blah, but NOT such and such"

And is only suitable for Windows 7 & upwards.

That would still cover 95% of the market. Sure there would be some that complain "I want to run it on my 15yo desktop with XP" No, it won't work, update your computer.

My point being, you can draw a line in the sand and if your hardware isn't up to scratch, don't buy it.

[RB51]

Have two beers Fozzy. Whilst I agree, flak will ensue. R-

[Yelrow]

Fozzy, what about if you have already bought RM, purchased a designated laptop, xp, or vista. What gives any software designer the right to stipulate, this will now only run on.......... In an ideal world, everybody would have the most up to date equipment, but you buy to suit your budget. If you only want to have RM, as the only use of your designated machine, thats your choice.. In my house, our desktop, is in the office. My designated laptop, upstairs next to my layout. I certainly have no need, or no wish to spend  on a new machine, on which, 99.9%, would be unused. john

[dynax]

same here John, i have resurrected an old XP desktop pc just for RM, if RM did not support it i would look at other software that did,

[RB51]

John, I am sorry to keep banging on about this (and upsetting Fishy to boot) but many software designers write for certain platforms. There are many track planning pieces of software for instance that only work on Windows not a Mac and some that are the other way around. Eventually XP and others will become commercially unsupportable and then owners of the obsolete kit will have their own choices to make. As the software authors they have every right to include or exclude whatever they wish - and perhaps suffer the commerical impact of that - but that is undoubtedly their choice. R-

[Yelrow]

I think apart from those we know on the forum, there are a devil of a lot of RM users who have done the same. Why would anybody want 2 up to date windows 10 machines in one household, if 99.9%, of the second one was never in use, and sitting in a loft, agarage, train room. OK, if both hubby and wife need one, for business and hubby is prepared to cart it about, so be it. To my mind , utter waste of money and totally un necessary to have a state of the art machine, sitting beside your layout, unless of course, others know better. I would need a lot of convincing, and would probably be estranged, by that time. john

[RB51]

Initially, and for a year following the announcement I think, the update to W10 was free. No cost at all. R-

[Gitter]

Hi Roger, when I heard that, I thought I'd have a look at it , and it was only for W8 onwards. As long as my XP ( only use it for Rm,  Hornby Forum/ Shop and ebay when in loft ) does the needful I'll stick with it  Not really worth purchasing W10 for a pc of it's capacity. It is what it is,and all things have to end sometime, so decisions will have to made then. Hugh.

[Bigskybirds]

Microsoft ended support for Windows XP in April 2014, any new software has to be developed on supported operating systems  

[Yelrow]

Rog, hi, i dont mind you banging on, nor upsetting fishy. You misunderstood my udate bit, prob could have put it better, i meant, buy a new machine. eg, why would you need 2 machines, with new spec. I accept you have a mac, you need it this time of year. As to the software being manufacturers choice, they have a duty of care to existing users. , and yes they can dump them at their peril. I doubt , however given Hornbys financial position, they would go out of their way, to shed existing RM users, we will see.  Did you see Hornbys Warley statement, Stand alone TTS sound decoders from August, at £,39.99, new Hitachi, but total silence on Loco Definition/ recognition, quelle surpris. john

[PJ_model_trains]

I think apart from those we know on the forum, there are a devil of a lot of RM users who have done the same. Why would anybody want 2 up to date windows 10 machines in one household, if 99.9%, of the second one was never in use, and sitting in a loft, agarage, train room. OK, if both hubby and wife need one, for business and hubby is prepared to cart it about, so be it. To my mind , utter waste of money and totally un necessary to have a state of the art machine, sitting beside your layout, unless of course, others know better. I would need a lot of convincing, and would probably be estranged, by that time. john

Hi John

 

I have a PC in a bedroom, for RM, but also use it for many other things.

 

I have a laptop which is handy for many things, it is portable, I can use it in the dinning room, lounge or sun room, when ever I want. I do other things on this machine and have all my books on the laptop. Some I can read on the phone or the tablet but many reference books are on the laptop. 

 

Anything saved on the laptop is synced to the PC and everything on the PC is synced onto a 4TB drive. 

 

Some things don't like you to back them up onto the ain computer, RM is one. So I back up onto the 4TB drive but sync a copy back to the PC drive. 

 

I have lost data in the past due to a drive failure, many of us will have. Now I have two copies of everything saved.

 

I also have Calendarscope software, it is an electronic diary, it is based on the PC but is synced immediately to my phone and tablet and my wifes phone and tablet. If I am at the hospital and my wife is at the doctors or dentist, our diary it totally up to date and we can see all the appointments, this has been so helpful due to the amount of hospital appointments I have and also whilst my mother and father in law have been ill with Altzheimers and Vacular Dementia, we can make appointments any time any where and know we are not booking something the other has booked.

 

There are lots of uses of technology John, it is not just another machine in another room or loft space.  😉

[Yelrow]

PJ, hi i am afraid all these  technical things cost far more than the £45, for the XP laptop. Did you see by the way the hornby presentation today, at Warley, no mention of LD.  It matters not whether Microsoft support xp or not, as solely used for RM..  I accept all this may be down the road, but the whole idea of this thread is to expose to hornby, and others that of course Railmaster, has a very bright future, on the proviso, that new releases do not work against existing users machines, or, if they do, Hornby must be prepared for people to find alternatives that will. work with their existing laptops.  The tail, must not wag the dog. john

[PJ_model_trains]

Hi John

Windows allows older software to be run on newer Windows versions.

It took Microsoft years to include this feature, but I guess the reason was they were always trying to create a stable system. 

[PJ_model_trains]

No I didn't see the Hornby presentation at Warley, I have not been for last couple of years, the car parking fees, on top of the entry fees makes it an expensive day.

 

I am not surprised LD wasn't mentioned, Hornby are seeking to stabilise the company and regain some of their losses. I think they will probably do what they have always done, what works for them, keep drip feeding new locos and carraiges. LD is down the line somewhere, it will come in time.

[Bigskybirds]

 The way things are going it will be less of a finacial outlay to purchase an up to date PC than it will be to buy a new Hornby locomotive.

 

I expect you will still be able to use the current version of Railmaster on XP, but in the future if you want new bells and whistles they may only be on supported platforms.

 

[PJ_model_trains]

But a PC doesn't run on the track the same bigskybirds   😉

[Bigskybirds]

 Or fall apart when you take it out the box.........