Hornby Elite Controller

[garryc]

Hello, I'm thinking of buying a Hornby Elite DCC Controller. As I use an Apple Mac I won't be able to use the Mac to update the Elite with any bug releases / firmware updates and wanted to ask how much of an issue this might be, also if anyone knows if there is anywhere offering this service (mail order maybe) if it became necessary? Are updates released very often and how importanat are they usually - probably not a fair question but maybe someone can give an opinion. Should I just go for another manufacturer and not buy Hornby becoause of this..?

Thanks for any opinions.

Cheers

Garry.

[RB51]

Hi Garry - welcome to the forum.

 

You can always return your Elite to Hornby for updating for a small fee (not sure how much that is currently). I can't find anyone providing that service elsewhere and I would be cautious about sending mine off to anyone I didn't know or who was vouched for.

 

I guess to some extent it depends on whether you think you might at some stage move towards PC control via Railmaster. If so you will need a Windows PC for that and many of us have one entirely dedicated to that purpose. More expense I know. The Railmaster software is currently available for £5 from Hattons (more than 10 in stock at the time of writing).

 

Updates to Elite firmware are not frequent. Can your seller tell you the version that the one you are looking at is on at the moment?

 

R-

[96RAF]

Welcome Gary

You can always send your Elite back to Hornby to get it updated or ask a friend with a Windows machine to let you borrow time on it to do any firmware updates. The process is simple, reliable and well proven on any version of Windows. In fact for a bug check request today I loaded every version from v1.1 up to the latest version in turn using my old XP laptop without any problems.

 

You ask if the updates are necessary and how often do they come out. How long is a piece of string. Each update introduces bug fixes and these appear as they are discovered and fixed. Early updates changed the way certain operations worked such as functions and points control, etc.

 

Some folk run their Elites at early, mid and late revisions, as these seem to suit their particular operational scenarios. I.e. They have no need for this or that newer facility. Look at some of the members signatures on this forum for the range in use.

 

A lot depends upon what the firmware revision state of the Elite is when you buy it. It may be at the latest revision state or if second hand or old stock it could be at any other revision state.

 

Other things to consider are can other manufacturers devices be update and/or can this be carried out on a Mac.

 

The Elite suits my purpose and pocket so I heartily recommend it. Other makes are more or less capable, can cost more or less and may have better or worse support so it's a case of doing your homework and going with the results.

 

Rob

[garryc]

Hi Roger

Many thanks for such a quick and positive reply. I was hoping it was the case that I could return it to Hornby for updating if it ever became necessary - its very good to have that confirmed. I've recently started a small layout and am only just coming to the point where I have something to connect a controller to - so I don't have a specific supplier in mind for the Elite just yet. I'll be sure to see if I can get the software version confirmed before I do buy now though - and check back here for the latest version no. to compare..

I won't be going down the 'PC control' route as I prefer 'controller' type operation...

Thanks again.

Regards

Garry

Hi Rob.

Seems I can only post twice a day on here - so I have edited htis one, you replied as I was replying to Roger.

Many thanks to you as well, good to hear such positive comments again. I've just noticed that I could buy direct from Hornby on this site - do you know if I did so would that guarantee the Elite would come with whatever the latest firmware or update was at the time of ordering?

Regards and thanks again.

Garry

[96RAF]

Gary

Hornby are saying the next batch is due in July on pre-order and these would be at version 1.43 which is currently the latest update.

 

Be aware that prices vary quite a bit depending upon retailer, but beware of second hand as people have bought problems this way.

Rob

Roger snuck in whilst I was typing up my saga.

[choralc]

Parallels on the Mac has helped but I ended up using an old Vista O/S laptop for my RailMaster operations.

[96RAF]

I asked the question of Hornby Support and they said that if the Mac can be set up to see RM (eLink/Elite) on a USB port using Parallels, then it is possible that you could update an Elite on a Mac again using Parallels, although they firmly stressed that they have never tried to do this before as the Elite update app is based around the Microchip library (Microchip make the USB PIC hardware used in the Elite) and it is presumed Microchip do not have a Mac version of their core code.

 

I would be interested to see if someone who has managed to get RM running on a Mac (and with the backup of a Win PC in case it doesn't work), would like to risk trying to update an Elite on the Mac. If it falls over then you would have the fall back of being able to reload the firmware on the Win machine.

 

I would try it myself and then document the procedure if it worked, but the only Apple kit I have is the iPad and it falls down on the USB port side of things and doesn't seem to like .exe files either.

 

Rob