hornby elite

[gragrahadea]

hi everbody,iam thinking of treating myself and getting an elite, can you tell me if you address loco 1 on controller 1and address loco 2 on controller 2,can you run them both independently of each other.Hope this makes sense.

[RB51]

Yes, you can run them independently, but you have to select (push) each control button to access the associated loco to make any alteration. Does that make sense? R-

[96RAF]

You can allocate a loco to each speed knob, but you cannot control both at once, i.e. Twiddle both knobs together like you could on an analogue set with a dual controller. What you do is set one running, then the other and whenever you want to, you take control again of either one.

 

You can download the manual and have a good read before you go for it.

[RDS]

@gragrahadea

I can thoroughly recommend the Elite.  The fact that you have to 'select' each knob by pressing it, before being able to use it to control a Loco, becomes 2nd nature after a while.  Once a Loco has been allocated to each of the control knobs, it is a simple matter to switch between them as the Loco settings you entered are retained, until you enter a different one.

 

Bearing the above in mind, the simple answer to your question is 'Yes'.

[Howbi]

You can have several locos running at the same time, for example.........locos 04 & 05 could be running round the main lines while you control locos 01 & 02 shunting in the sidings.......you soon get used to it...... 😀.......HB

[RB51]

I can thoroughly recommend the Elite.  

Yes, that's a point I should have made. Great controller for use with Railmaster or just free standing. R-

[gragrahadea]

thanks for the advice ,guys is the elite alot better than the select i am using,and is it easy to use.

[Chrissaf]

Yes and Yes

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Yes it is significantly better than the Select and if you can use a Select, you'll certainly be able to use an Elite with ease.

[Yelrow]

And, with a suitable cable, plugged in to the select, it makes a great Walkabout controller, so, not wasted. john

[96RAF]

 I echo Chris with YES, YES and YES.

 

The Elite will also keep up to ten locos and points as last called up in a list for you, so you can cycle through them using the ESC button to quickly recall a loco previously used. This list dies when you shut down, but automatically regenerates in your next session as you call up and use a loco or two.

 

The Elite can do so many things more than the Select and in my opinion in a more intuitive way as well.

 

As I said earlier have a good read of the latest manual. There is even a flow chart to help you navigate the button/knob-twist/click menu system.

[gragrahadea]

thanks guys youve made my mind up,thats my xmas present to me,merry xmas everbody and happy new year.

[2e0dtoeric]

That's the way to do it! Buy your own present. That way you really get the item you wanted!  😛

[gragrahadea]

just another point ive thought of,if the elite carnt work 2 locos together, like the old dc double controllers, isnt it better to use a select and say 1 walkabout off it to work 2 trains independetely of each other thanks.

[96RAF]

You can plug a Select into an Elite also as a walkabout, but no matter what combination you use you can only think you are controlling two locos simultaneously.

 

As said on the other thread all the controllers do is shout the commands and they all join a queue, albeit a rapidly moving one, so it appears you can do two things at once but its an illusion.

Rob

[RB51]

Your post in the second thread (repeated above) you started on this subject has been moved to this thread. R-

[gragrahadea]

hi, if you carnt run 2 locos seperately isnt it better to have select and a walkabout working together thanks.

[Hairy]

Hi, one disadvatage of the Select is the very limited amount of CV's that can be adjusted. With the Elite you can access all the  CV's. You might think at the moment that you will not want to change them, but after a while you will want to experiment.

Regards

Chris

[RDS]

@gragrahadea

You CAN run 2 loco's separately on the Elite - you just have to Select the relevant control knob by pressing it before you rotate it.  They remember the setting you had previously.  If you add a Select controller as a walkabout you can then run 3 Loco's as long as the id being controlled by the Select is 59 or lower.

[Yelrow]

I am confused, with the Elite, you can run  2 trains at once,  You cannot run a walkabout from a select. So with an Elite and a walkabout, you can run 3 at once, although, another hand, would be a bonus. Take it to its logical extension, of 7 Walkabouts, that would give you 9 locos at once. The Elite to use your comparisom, resembles a H&M Duette, each knob controlling a loco.     john

[Chrissaf]

hi, if you carnt run 2 locos seperately isnt it better to have select and a walkabout working together thanks.

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Gragrahadea

Extract from the Hornby Select User manual.

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Note however that the Select Walkabouts that were shipped without any power supplies are now obsolete and not available for new supply from Hornby. Albeit, stocks may still be on the shelves in retailers or secondhand. A normal Select with the supplied power supply discarded can still be used as a walkabout. Just be aware of the Select limitations when being used as the master controller. Restricted addressing ranges and inability to configure all loco CVs.

[Howbi]

You can run more than one loco with the Select..........you just have to press the button to access each loco address, control that one then press again to get the next loco and so on.......just need to be nimble fingered.......so if gragra gets an Elite as well he could run a decent DCC layout......... 😀..........HB

[37lover]

I am confused, with the Elite, you can run  2 trains at once,  You cannot run a walkabout from a select. So with an Elite and a walkabout, you can run 3 at once, although, another hand, would be a bonus. Take it to its logical extension, of 7 Walkabouts, that would give you 9 locos at once. The Elite to use your comparisom, resembles a H&M Duette, each knob controlling a loco.     john

John,

I must be mis-understanding; you can run a walkabout from a Select, why do you say you cannot? I think posters are getting a bit too technical with their replies about pressing buttons to change which loco is being controlled and instructions queued! 😀 .

[Fishmanoz]

I think the answers have become both partly technical and partly pedantic.

 

If the original question is can I control 2 locos at once with just the Elite by putting one hand on each of the controllers and turning them both at the same time, then the answer is no. However you can make adjustments to both in very rapid succession by pressing then adjusting one knob, then immediately pressing and adjusting the other, and so on back and forth to your hearts content.

 

Then what about more locos, we know the Elite can power about 10 at the same time?  Well if you have 10 on the layout at once, you can start by controlling 2 of them at once as above.  You then get at more by calling them up via their address/ID on either controller knob, operate them once called up, then sequentially call up more until you have done all 10 (more if you have them on the layout and want to).  Having done this in a session, you can now cycle through all of them via the Esc key, press a knob and control them from it as before.  Once you've done this with each of them, they will continue to do what they were last instructed until you come back to them to change them.  So if you had 4 loop lines on your layout, you could set 4 locos to run, one on each line, then go off and leave them running while you do shunting in the goods yard with another loco, move another onto a platform to collect passengers and wait its time to depart, move another from a platform to a siding, etc.

 

The Select of course is more limited, only one knob so you can only call up one at a time, control it, then leave it doing what you last set while you csll up and control another.

 

So that's what you can do with single controllers but you can now add more Selects as Walkabouts if you are so inclined.  This way, you can call up a different loco on each Select and control it as soon as you have a hand free to do so, your 2 hands plus more hands from more people at the same time, all with instant access to a loco at the same time (at least virtually at the same time, meaning as fast as the DCC system can send the instructions down the track to the locos).  In fact, this way you can effectively run as many as you can fit independently onto your layout without having them running into each in an almighty pile-up.

 

Does that answer the question?  Do you see the potential of DCC now?  And we haven't even gone near adding RM to the picture, where you can do this via throttles on a computer screen plus have locos running according to a program you recorded earlier, or many locos running according to many programs you recorded earlier, all while you go off to make a cup of tea.

[gragrahadea]

thanks everbody,definately getting an elite.