Elite vs Dynamis

[Nictor]

Looking for some advice on up-grading my DCC controllers. I only have a small layout and at the moment run it with either an early version Hornby select or a Bachmann EZ-command plus companion unit. I know the latter are a bit 'toy like' but I prefer it to the select although It can only run 9 locos.

Looking to upgrade to a more sophisticated unit and I am torn between the Elite and the Bachmann handheld Dynamis. What are peoples thoughts on those? 

[2e0dtoeric]

This is a Hornby forum, so we are not allowed to discuss competitor's products.

[Yelrow]

Nictor, hi, being a Hornby Forum, you are not going to find many with other than Hornby Controllers, and we cannot recommend other makes. Having said that, there are many, on here, including me, who have, and are very happy with the Elite controller.  There are 2 other model railway forums, you could join, and seek their advice, as they are not company owned. Pre owned Elites occur daily on ebay, and Hattons have the odd one. I would download both manuals, and have a read of them. The Elite will do anything you ask of it, and, because you have a select, by buying The Walkabout Yellow cable, from ebay, and doing away with the power supply, you will get another controller, to work with your Elite.  You may have to return it to Hornby, for a firmware upgrade, that costs £15, but they work a treat together. john

[Nictor]

Nictor, hi, being a Hornby Forum, you are not going to find many with other than Hornby Controllers, and we cannot recommend other makes. Having said that, there are many, on here, including me, who have, and are very happy with the Elite controller.  There are 2 other model railway forums, you could join, and seek their advice, as they are not company owned. Pre owned Elites occur daily on ebay, and Hattons have the odd one. I would download both manuals, and have a read of them. The Elite will do anything you ask of it, and, because you have a select, by buying The Walkabout Yellow cable, from ebay, and doing away with the power supply, you will get another controller, to work with your Elite.  You may have to return it to Hornby, for a firmware upgrade, that costs £15, but they work a treat together. john

Thanks for the useful reply, I am leaning more towards the Elite. I like the two knob system. My layout is only 8' by 3' so hardly worth upgrading the old (very old) select.

[Bulver]

Hi Nictor,

i have 4 dcc controllers, ranging from the basic Bachmann model, the Dynamis, an American hand-held controller, and Hornby E-Link with Railmaster.  I find that the easiest and most intuitive is the E-link (I like using the laptop, big screen and so on)  which, I know, is not the Elite, but shares some of the characteristics of it's stable cousin.

Rod

[Flashbang]

Please note the two control knobs on the Elite do not allow simultaneous dual loco control. Only one loco can be directly controlled at any one time.  Pressing the other knob allows a second loco to be controlled, but the first loco will now continue doing whatever it was told to do last. It can be recontrolled again by pressing the first knob, which then leaves loco two doing whatever it was told last to do.  

Adding a Select as a Slave allows two (or more if additional Selects are added) locos to be operated simultaneous but only address numbers 1 to 59 via the Select(s) can be used.

[Nictor]

Please note the two control knobs on the Elite do not allow simultaneous dual loco control. Only one loco can be directly controlled at any one time.  Pressing the other knob allows a second loco to be controlled, but the first loco will now continue doing whatever it was told to do last. It can be recontrolled again by pressing the first knob, which then leaves loco two doing whatever it was told last to do.  

 

Gosh, that seems a bit lame! 

[Chrissaf]

Gosh, that seems a bit lame!

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Not at all. DCC is a serial digital data protocol. It is technically impossible within the DCC protocol to control more than a single loco at the SAME instant in time (as you can with an Analogue twin knob DC controller).

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Because the DCC data protocol is serial. Many controller brands only have one SINGLE throttle control knob on the main controller. The Elite is ahead of the competition in that respect as it has two controller knobs. Granted, you have to switch between them, but the DCC Digital protocol is relatively fast. Fast enough that the two Elite control knobs give the illusion of simultaneous control. If you then add further control knobs in the form of Select 'Walkabouts' then the illusion of being able to control multiple locos simultaneously is further enhanced. Up to seven Select 'Walkabouts' can be added to an Elite (this gives up to nine control knobs in total).

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Therefore this control method is not 'lame'. It does more than many competitor brands in the same price range can do. Granted, there are other controller brands that support multiple throttles, both wired and wire free. But they all still have to adhere to the basic limitation of only being able to communicate with one loco decoder at a time due to the inherent limitations of the serial communication protocol used by DCC.

[RDS]

Having to press the rotary control on the Elite before it can be used is NO issue at all.

 

I decided at one point to 'upgrade' my Select to a (Wireless) Dynamis.  I bought it new but I sold it a few weeks later because I did not like the paddle control.  

 

I have no regrets at all about purchasing the Elite as a replacement.

[37lover]

This is a Hornby forum, so we are not allowed to discuss competitor's products.

Second forum rule on the right states discussion is allowed!

[Nictor]

Thanks guys. Looks like I will be going with Elite. One final question. I see that the Elite is our of stock at the moment - expected July. I know there are places you can get them but will the July model haver any differences to the present ones in shops?

[Yelrow]

Nictor, would not think so,  why change successfull model.  As i said, look on ebay. People regularly change systems. john

[Chrissaf]

The Elite supports DIY firmware upgrading via firmware files downloaded over the Internet. This means that even if a future purchased model ships with a firmware later than the current firmware level (1.43). The current Elites can be upgraded at home if required. There are no rumours at present of any plan by Hornby to completely revise the product hardware.

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Note: The Elite controller is also compatible with Hornby RailMaster, should you want to migrate to PC software control at some future point in time. Even if you don't install it straight away, you can buy a copy of RM on special offer from Hattons for £5 (normally retails at nearer £70) and put it away to use when you feel ready. Order with the Elite below and save RM P&P.

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My own Elite is now version 1.43, but started out as version 1.41 when I bought it.

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Hattons have more than 10 in stock.

[96RAF]

I can remember installing v1.3.

[Rog RJ]

Mine had V1.0 when I bought it.

[96RAF]

Mine had V1.0 when I bought it.

Hence why you were the only one with copies of the earliest updates Rog.

[Rog RJ]

Mine had V1.0 when I bought it.

Hence why you were the only one with copies of the earliest updates Rog.

 

 

Well, someone had to buy the early versions of the Elite.  Got a good deal on it too.  The dealer was just unboxing a large delivery from Hornby as I was at the counter ready to pay for a couple of small items when he pulled the Elite out.  I asked how much he wanted for it. "Don't know yet, it's the first we've had".  He had a look on his computer and offered it at a good, but not great price.  I said I'd have if he would throw in a couple of decoders and the deal was done. :)

[Yelrow]

My spare was an early one , it still says duplex, although now fully updated

[sbroger]

The Hornby Elite is also available from TrackShack.com (very good website) for £196.72 including delivery.

Roger.

[Chrissaf]

Are you sure you have posted the correct web address. TrackShack.com appears to be a general retail site in Orlando Florida and nothing to do with model railways.

[sbroger]

Thanks for your message Chrissaf, i should have written 'www.track-shack.com' , but I've just checked & they must have sold the last Hornby Elite earlier today!

Roger.

[Chrissaf]

sbroger,

You will have more success in replying to previous posts if you avoid using the 'white arrow in blue box' button. This is not a 'Reply to this Post' button. To reply, use the 'Reply Text Box' at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

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PS - I have hidden your last post that just quoted mine without any additional text being added to keep the thread tidy.

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EDIT: I see that you have now found the 'Reply Text Box'.

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track-shack.com

[Yelrow]

I think thats expensive. Ipaid about £125, on ebay. john

[96RAF]

@john

Hattons were flogging them at 210 GBP recently.

[Chrissaf]

So how come Hattons can push out railmaster at such a discount

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Nobody knows for sure. There has been previous forum debate on that topic. Some think it may be that Hattons have information regarding the future of RailMaster that is not in the public domain. Some think that it is just Hattons shifting extremely old stock that has been taking up shelf space in the warehouse. The very old stock theory is the most likely. Not that it really matters if the CD is an extremely old version of RailMaster as all you are really buying is a valid license key. You wouldn't actually use the CD for the installation as one would download the very latest version to use with the CD key from this forum site (download link at the top of the forum RM section).

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Possible options, feasibility and limitations of using multiple RMs.

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You can't physically connect two PCs to the same controller. So this means that you would need two controllers, one per PC.

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But, you can't connect two controllers to the same circuit. So this means that your layout would need to have two completely separate and isolated electrical domains, not very practicable to do this by simply duplicating and separating your control system this way.

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What you can do however, is network multiple PCs each with their own licensed copy of RailMaster via the TCP/IP LAN Networking protocol. The PC RailMaster that is directly connected to your controller is defined as the RailMaster 'Master' version. The other RailMaster PCs are all defined as 'Slaves' and connect to the Master PC via Ethernet (a LAN technology). The 'Slaves' then share the single controller by communicating to it via the Master PC.

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If you look to the left of the clock on the main RM screen you will see a matrix of small yellow oblong boxes in a grid pattern. These boxes are used to display 'Slave RM' information when this supported option is configured in RM.

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In a perfect world and ideally, the Master and Slaves will enjoy the maximum connection reliability if they are hard wired using RJ45 cables via a centralised Ethernet switch. You can purchase Ethernet switches with as few as 4 ports for very little money.

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Alternatively, instead of directly wired (recommended) Ethernet connections you could network the PC's via wireless Wifi, but this is more onerous to set up and configure, plus the WIfi must go via a Wifi enabled router (typically your Broadband router). The Wifi router does not actually need to be connected to the Internet for this to function.

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So in conclusion, yes it is doable. But is best if done using a Master / Slave configuration via directly cabled RJ45 Ethernet. Note that Master / Slave working requires some knowledge of defining an IP addressing scheme & configuring TCP/IP addresses as 'Static' IP addresses are needed to support it.

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For more information see pages 29 & 30 of the RailMaster manual.