ESU Switchpilot Decoder programming in Railmaster

[Starfield]

Hope i have the right section of the forum this time. I have recently acquired an ESU switchpilot which I hope to use to automate some of the points on my layout. Let me state up front that I am new to DCC and though I have the basic railmaster setup working ok to control locomotves, this will be my first foray into accessory decoders. i have read the railmaster guide and the instructions which came with the Switchpilot but cannot seem to get it to work. I have programmed the switchpilot to set the ports to 1-4 - not sure about the pulse duration the default seemed to be 195 so left this alone. This was done via the prog connection on my elink.

I have a point configured on my track layout which functions when tested in isolation i.e the grey line moves in step with the button selected. When I connect the Swithpilot to the Track connections on the elink the led blinks and I fancy theer may be some noise associated with the point (only one physically connected as yet-  perhaps setting itself). However presiing the point buttons on screen does nothing. 

When I tried to read the Switchpilot settings subsequently (connected to prog) Railmaster was unale to communicate with the Switchpilot. That was last night. Today I tried again and Railmaster was able to communicate with the Switchpilot and the readings gave a first port number in the 6000's and a pulse duration of 16000!. Amended and saved the settings apparently successfully but when tested it still does not work and I can no longer read the Switchpilot in prog mode.

Either i have a faulty device (unlikely as it was brand new in its box) or I am doing something wrong - far more likely. Can anyone help.

Thanks

Peter 

[St1ngr4y]

Hi Peter,

If you do a search on the Forum for "switchpilot" you will find one or two threads. This one may help, for example:-

 

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/esu-switchpilot-servo-works-with-railmaster/

 

Ray

[Chrissaf]

First of all Starfield, it is pointless trying to program the ESU on the RailMaster programming track. You only use the 'prog' output for programming Hornby brand Accessory Decoders. Nearly ALL other brands of Accessory Decoders (including the ESU SwitchPilot) are what they call 'self learning' Accessory Decoders'. You put the decoder into learn mode by usually pressing a button or placing a link on the decoder circuit board. You then send an operate command from the controller on the address you want to set. The 'self learning' decoder listens to the DCC signal and recognises the 'data packet' as an Accessory Decoder command. It reads the DCC address from the packet and adopts that address for its own use. You then take the decoder out of 'learning mode'. Job done.

.

Ray's link above will take you to a detailed 'step by step' tutorial for programming the ESU 'Switch Pilot' using the method I overviewed above. In other words, there is no point in following the instructions in the RailMaster manual as they are not relevant to programming a 'self learning' decoder like the ESU Switch Pilot.

[Starfield]

Hi Ray,

Thank you for the link. The model of switchpilot in the post seems to be specifically for the servo version  whereas mine seems to be a different model but I assume the setup instructions are still valid. Sadly when I tried this method it did not work. I got as far as the part where the Led is flashing in learning mode and then operated the point to provide the 'lesson'. I rather expected that the Switchpilot would react in some way perhaps by switching off the led  or changing the blink rate but nothing obvious happened and pressing the mode button also had no effect. Rebooted everything and the switchpilot still was not working my point. 

I have now read a swathe of posts over several hours  about setting the Switchpilot via elink and railmaster and tried all the various methods described therein. I have now reached the conclusion that I am wasting my time, a view expressed by many. I may try again when I have sourced a 4amp power supply for the elink but for now its back on the shelf.

Thank you to those who contributed.

PeterF

[Chrissaf]

Having reviewed a few of the previous SwitchPilot (SP) threads to refresh my memory. One thing I noticed time and time again was posted comments that the lack of an integrated CDU makes the SP power hungry. Just replacing your 1 Amp DCC controller supply with a 4 Amp DCC one one is not necessarily the best answer. The forum members that had reported success using an SP, report that they have implemented the SP dual power supply option. The DCC connection is then relegated to just providing the control signals and a completely separate high voltage and high current power supply has been used to provide the current oomph needed to throw the solenoid operated point. Many members report using an ex Laptop switch mode power supply that outputs 19 volts DC with current ratings up to 5 or 6 Amps. These type of power supplies are relatively cheaply available on the likes of eBay, but do be cautious of buying too cheaply as these really cheap versions are likely to be unsafe Chinese clones that are reported as fire hazards in the media. I also noted in the other posts, that the SP should have a solenoid point motor attached to port 1 on the decoder before trying to program it. Is that something you did?

.

I also noticed in the reviewed posts that to successfully configure the SP, you have to have the 'Mode' switch set in the 'User' position. Is that also something you did?

.

I also seem to remember that it was reported that the programming was unsuccessful if the DCC Track A & B connections were reversed (theoretically and A & B reversal shouldn't make any difference, but it was reported by users in posts that it did). Did the Track A ouput of your eLink go to the Track A input of your SP, similarly for the B connections as well?

.

Just in case this is a previous post that you have not previously reviewed yourself, it seems to have a set of simple instructions for programming the 'Self Learning' address on the SP solenoid point motor version. Granted this user was using the Elite not eLink, but that should not make any difference as long as you have a correctly configured point icon placed on your RailMaster track plan.

.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/switch-pilot-decoder/

.

[RDS]

Hi Starfield

I don't have my layout set up, or available, at the present time to make any checks but I have 5 of those ESU Decoders and I am delighted with them.  Chris refers above to some members needing to use a separate Power Supply and I am one of them. 

The ESU allows the point motors to be powered separately to the track and that was the option I chose, using an ex laptop (Sony) PSU.

Once set up with the Laptop PSU, the Decoders functioned perfectly every time.  My point motors are all (32 in total) the Hornby Solenoid ones.

[Starfield]

Hi Chris, I take your point about providing a separate higher power connection to the Switchpilot as distinct from increasing the elink power supply - makes eminent sense.

"I also noted in the other posts, that the SP should have a solenoid point motor attached to port 1 on the decoder before trying to program it. Is that something you did? "    Yes 

."I also noticed in the reviewed posts that to successfully configure the SP, you have to have the 'Mode' switch set in the 'User' position. Is that also something you did?"     Yes

"I also seem to remember that it was reported that the programming was unsuccessful if the DCC Track A & B connections were reversed . Did the Track A ouput of your eLink go to the Track A input of your SP, similarly for the B connections as well? "      Yes

Re: https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/switch-pilot-decoder/  Thank you for that link I had not found that particlar post but I had already tried (unsuccessfully) to use that method based on other posts.

I have given all programming methods one further try without success and I dont feel like wasting any more time on it. I think my best plan is to go for the Hornby decoder when funds allow. There is a show at Calne this weekend and possibly I can pick one up there. Its not a critical requirement - lots of other work to do on the layout before automating the points. I only digressed into trying the Switchpilot because it came my way very cheaply (what a surprise) a few days ago and I thought I would see how easy it was(n't)  

Thanks for all your help.

PeterF

 

[OssieB]

@Starfield

I had similar problems some three years ago trying to program the ESU Switchpilot. However, after reading a post by MichealA, I did manage to achieve the programming on the third attempt. This is the link to that post and my reply:- https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/esu-switchpilot-programming-via-e-link-amp;-railamster/?p=2/#post-92774. The method is similar to the one you have already been given, but perhaps worded slightly differently.  At that date I was using an Elite and the SP was connected to an isolated section of the DCC bus. I have just recently had to re-program the SP due to it lossing it's addresses. This I did by the same method, but this time using RM and eLink, and had success first time.  As Chris has stated, make sure that the SPis set to "User" mode (for solenoid point motors) and that you have a load (point motor) attached to port 1.

I hope you finally have success.

BarryO

[RDS]

@Starfield

Please use the white text box at the bottom of the screen, rather than the Blue square with white arrow.

Your resulting entry will then appear on a white background rather than a yellow one, as that is associated with a previous post.

If you do need to quote part of a previous post (by using the Blue Square), you can edit the unwanted words out before typing your new entry in the white area below the yellow background.

[96RAF]

If you want a simple way to break into the yellow box try this.

Reply using the blue arrow to get all the previous post into the edit area in its yellow box, then click on a para you dont want and then press the quote (66) icon. This para will drop out of the yellow box breaking the box up. You can then delete this white text and replace with your own Comments. If you only want to delete a sentence then put line breaks into the yellow box text , then select that sentence as before.

This works on an iPad where selecting bits of text using the lollypop text markers is a pest. Haven't tried it on a pc yet.

You can break a large yellow box up this way into individual boxes, that you can comment upon individually.

Rob