Railmaster with eLink, Elite and Select?

[jaguar12]

I have recently been dabbling with Railmaster on my new Windows 10 laptop.

Its working well, plugged into my Elite controller (with the latest firmware).  I quite like the idea of still having the two knobs on the Elite, in addition to PC control.

I also have a new eLink and a Select controller, which has come back from Hornby with the latest 1.5 firmware.

First question, would it be OK to use the Elite to control the locos and the eLink for the points/accessories? Railmaster seems to allow for this?

I have also been thinking about buying an R8266 Select walkabout lead and having the Select plugged into the Elite (no power required I think?).  Is this setup, a definite no go with Railmaster?

Thanks

[96RAF]

The only restriction with a Select Walkabout is having to restrict your loco addresses below 60, and RM works fine with Elite/Select as Controller A for locos and eLink as Controller B for points.

 

If there is a snag it is RM and the Elite/Select can get their function indications out of synch as RM was designed to use the controllers as a pass-through rather than additional throttles, although they do that as well and providing you set your RM configuration correctly there will be feddback between the two such that Elite and RM throttle indicators match.

Rob

[Chrissaf]

Everything you have outlined is doable, with limitations.

.

If you do add the eLink as Controller B for the accessory decoders.

Then be aware:

.

1. The outputs of the eLink (or Select Walkabout) must NOT touch any part of the track circuit.
2. The 'PROG A&B' output of the eLink will have NO functionality, all PROG track activities must be done through Controller A (Elite).
3. Your "railmaster.ini" file will need to be amended to add "Alternative comms2=1" and "Check controller2=1" entries to supplement the "Alternative comms=1" and "Check controller=0" entries that should be present for the Elite. The file should also have "Elite feedback=1" to enable the throttle positions on the Elite to be synchronised to the throttles in RM.
4. The Select(s) being used as 'Walkabout(s)' will not feedback throttle positions to RM, only the Elite supports this feature.
5. If you use the eLink as Controller B for point control. You WILL NOT be able to operate points from either the Elite or Walkabout knobs and buttons, as they cannot access or control your Controller B (eLink).

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Make sure that the Walkabout lead that you purchase is a genuine R8266. A genuine R8266 will have a round (NOT FLAT) cable.

[jaguar12]

Thank you very much for such comprehensive replies!

I cannot seem to obtain anywhere, a genuine R8266 cable, but there is one compatible cable available on a popular online shopping website and one on a popular selling website, that perhaps its worth a punt on?

I know the rules are Hornby only, but its obtaining one thats the issue!

[Chrissaf]

By genuine... I meant a cable that is round and not flat. There are many sellers, selling R8266 clones on ebay (I assume that's what your post refers to). There is nothing wrong with them as long as they do not use flat cable between the plugs. There are many old posts on the forum discussing the differences between the flat and round R8266 cable types and how the two different types came about. Many of those old posts have links to the ebay listings.

[jaguar12]

Many thanks indeed.

Got a 1 metre and 3 metre lead from Amazon.

I preferred a black cable and the ones that have arrived are round cables.  Work very well indeed. No power of course needed to Select.

Is it ok to leave this lead permanently plugged from the Elite into the Select all the time?

When I power my Elite on, I see HC on the Select whilst the Elite goes through its start up.  Very useful to have three control knobs.

Next job is to try it all with Railmaster.

[96RAF]

You can hot plug/unplug the Select or leave it connected all the time.

 

When you see HC that means handcontroller and it expects you to give it a number (in case you had more than one walkabout attached), just say 1 and pres Select button and it wont bother you again.

 

If you go back to Stand Alone mode (power plugged in and RJ cable disconnected) it will show CS - for command station. Its all in the manual.

 

it works fine with RM, just remember RM was designed to use the controllers as pass thru devices and you can easily confuse them and get the function indications in particular out of synch.

 

Rob

[RDS]

I have the Select as a walkabout to the Elite and I leave it plugged in all the time.  As Rob has said above, you need to keep loco addresses below 60 and although this stops me using all my Loco's from the Select, due to the numbering method I have used, I (personally) think it is worthwhile to have the Select as a Walkabout.  I have not had any problems (not that I have noticed anyway!) with Elite, Select and RM and my Select is still at the original issue of Firmware.  I don't have eLink.  

 

I could control my points from the Elite, but don't ,as I find it far easier using RM with it's layout diagram.  

[96RAF]

If you are using the Elite/Select as your only RM controllers (i.e. controller A) and hence using them for manual points control in addition to the screen, please note that the Select in Walkabout mode can offset the Elite/RM points selection by +3, depending upon Select firmware revision state. A throwback that caused Elite to introduce Classic and Standard modes, the latter being necessary for RM.

...all very complicated....

Rob

[jaguar12]

One thing I've noticed, is that despite the power being completely off overnight to the elite and the select controller, the select controller remembers the last locos I used yestersay and you can happily cycle through these locos using the select button. It is quite handy actually, as the elite doesn't do this!

[96RAF]

correct and a pity elite doesn't