Problems recording/programming

[Percybigun]

After my first attempt at recording i've encountered a few probs.

the controller is e-link (from western majestic set) on laptop windows 7 32bit (latest version of RM, activated).

my layout is larger (both ways) than the western majestic oval, i've tried to alter the track plan with poor results.

i recorded 3 laps (using control buttons, not slide bar, with various sounds played. The loco is bachmann midland compound with hornby tts decoder (installed on RM as hornby fowler 2p, which autofilled the correct sounds). The loco runs faultlessly and beautifully with the default tts cv settings.

i changed chuff to coast (set as on/off) on the curves, and gave the occasional blast of safety valve and blowndown (also set as on/off).

when i played it back, the on/off sounds get stuck on for much longer than i programmed, and the train finished up stopping short at the end of the 3 laps, about 6 feet too short.

any ideas?

also how do i delete recorded programs?

[St1ngr4y]

Hello Percy,

When it comes to using programs in Railmaster, a lot of patience is needed. Firstly, when you stop the recording, you are asked by RM if you want to view the recorded program, and if you answer Yes to this, you are taken into the Program Editor window. This editor allows you to adjust and tweak the recorded steps so that re-running the program reproduces, as closely as possible, the actions of the train that you want in a consistent manner. It goes without saying, of course, that if a program involves starting a train and running it around a layout then stopping it, the train must be positioned in exactly the same spot at the beginning of its journey every time you run that particular program. Getting a program to work consistently involves returning the train to its start point, tweaking the timings in the program, and trying it again. The more you do this, it becomes a lot easier, but as I say, a lot of patience is needed.

When you save the program in the editor, you need to give it a name, and this creates a file of this name, in your Railmaster folder, with a suffix of .PRG. To delete such a program you can find the file in Windows File Explorer and delete it from there. There is also a facility in the Program Editor to delete a program, but I think (and others will correct me if I'm wrong) that you need the ProPack add-on to have this facility.

Ray

[RDS]

Percy,  I would support everything that Ray has told you and in fact I would guess he has as much RM programming experience as anyone on here and lots more than most.  I usually back my Trains up very slsowly against a buffer to ensure the same starting point each time and they do tend to finish extremely close to where I intend them.

[Percybigun]

Thanks for that, so its just a case of going back and editing the program/recording. with a quick tidy up i've got this program alot more accurate. RM had failed to register all the "off" inputs i made in the "on/off" functions so i added them in manually.

now i'm starting to see the real benefits of going dcc!

can i also include station announcement sounds within the program/recording?

[Chris Surrey]

Hello Percy

Yes you can include the Railmaster announcements and sounds in a program. You can also add your own sounds as long as they are in .wav format. These can be your own rocordings or sounds from the internet. If you want to create your own sound files, Audacity (which is free) is a great program to use as it includes many sound effects and can save the results in many formats, including .wav. 

Chris