Elink/RailMaster or not

[BadgerV8]

 Hi Rob, you've awakened my curiosity!

Would there be anything to gain by replacing my eLink with an Elite, but still maintaining control via Railmaster?

Sorry if that's maybe a stupid question, but I really don't know - I was always under the impression that eLink was simply the electronic control side of Elite without the physical buttons or display....

[Chrissaf]

I, as do many others use Elite with RM, although to be honest I do tend to use RM for control most of the time.

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Here are some advantages of using this set up over just the eLink.

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1. If you just want to test something quickly or just have a quick play, perhaps just to show off your layout to a visitor. Then you can do that from the Elite without having to fire up your PC and load up RM which adds significant time. Particularly if Windows has just started and decides to do its Microsoft housekeeping tasks i.e check for updates and HDD defrag etc, just when you really want it to focus on running RM.
2. The Elite supports CV writing modes that are not supported by eLink. Thus when you have a problematic decoder not accepting configuration, you have more options open to you to try and resolve the issue.
3. If there are young children. They can use the knobs on the Elite controller, whilst you monitor what is happening on RM. When controlling a loco from the Elite the knob positions are fed back into the RM slider [needs Elite feedback=1 in the .INI file for this feature to work]. You can then also take control by hitting the stop loco button on the loco RM throttle to advert a disaster or modify its speed if the child tries to run the loco too fast. As an analogy, think of it as driving school dual control cars.
4. If you have Elite as Controller A, you can still use eLink as Controller B and dedicate the eLink and its 1 amp power supply to operating points and accessories. This in itself has several benefits. The Accessory Decoders are protected from damage from 'short circuits' that happen on the track [the eLink will have a completely separate DCC output from the track one connected to just the accessory decoders]. Even though a short might trip the Elite, the eLink can still be used to operate points to remove the short circuit condition. Plus, ALL of the Elite power supply current is available for running locos.

[96RAF]

Badger

As Chris has already said you can keep your eLink as RM controller B and use the new Elite as RM controller A. That is how I use them.

 

Also as Chris pointed out the Elite can use programming modes not available to te eLink through RM, i.e. POM - programming on the main where you can change accel or decell rates or sound volume on the hoof without having to go back to the programming track.

Rob

[Chrissaf]

Also, Paged Mode & Register Mode programming. POM mode is termed 'Operate Mode' in the Elite manual. The default programming mode for the Elite (and used by the eLink) is Direct Mode.

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Direct Mode, Paged Mode & Register Mode all require the loco to be placed on the programming track. Only 'Operate Mode' functions on the main track.