Select costs and upgrade

[0b1kob]

Hi Guys

I have an older select and was wondering whats the cost of having hornby ungrade it dose anyone know? I think 16.1 is out now, also how would i know what firmwear mines running the manual i have that came with it is quite behind the time looking at the one on Hornby website.

[Chrissaf]

....also how would can I tell what firmware mine's running.

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Look at the LCD screen of the Select as you power it up. Three numbers will briefly appear sequentially. XX followed by 30 followed by 03, where XX is the installed firmware version. If XX is 11, then that is firmware version 1.1 through to 15 being firmware version 1.5

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I think 16.1 is out now.....

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It is version 1.6 not 16.1 it is reported by forum members that Hornby are installing 1.6 firmware when performing firmware upgrades, but this is not confirmed in published Hornby documentation as being the Hornby default standard policy. You have to arrange the upgrade by contacting Hornby Customer Care [HCC telephone number in the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page].

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I have an older Select and was wondering what's the cost of having Hornby upgrade it.....does anyone know?

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Since the firmware upgrade is a 'return to Hornby' upgrade. Then you can confirm with HCC during the telephone call you need to have with them to make arrangements and get a 'returns' number, what firmware revision will be installed and the current cost. Previously, the Select upgrade cost was £15 plus your shipping cost to send the Select to Hornby. However, it is not known if this charge will still apply to version 1.6 firmware, as this firmware release provides significant product improvements and transforms the Select to a much higher level of functionality.

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[james_nelmes]

 I recently had mine upgraded to 1.6 and it was £15.

Process is:

Ring the hornby number and select repairs - option 2 (I think).

They will give you a reference number and the address to send it to.

Post it to them - make sure it is adequately insured in the postage method (and tracked) and quote the ref number on the parcel. Put in a cover letter with address, e-mail, and phone numbers etc.

They will upgrade it and then call you to collect payment. They then send it DPD back to you as part of the cost.

[0b1kob]

Hello James Thankyou for your input 15.00 sounds good.

Regards

Ian

[flopper]

Hi James lots of info thanks 

[flopper]

How long did it take? 

[Chrissaf]

Before Coronavirus it used to take about a week. Now in 'lockdown' it will probably take longer, but it is anybody's guess. Most of Hornby are either 'working from home' or possibly in furlough.

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I am led to believe that it is now charged at £15 plus VAT (£18) as you have resurrected a year old thread and any information in it is a year out of date.

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Just for information, your second post was only 1 minute after your first. This has wasted your Newbie 2nd post as you could have just edited the first post to add the extra question. You can edit a post for 10 minutes after it has been published.

 

TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

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See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/

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[Seacommander]

Just had my v1.1 Select upgraded to v1.6. Despite current restrictions it was all done within the week and only cost £15 inclusive of VAT - so even better value than the £18 suggested. Great value Hornby.

[Bulleidboy]

As I've said before - "Posted my Elite for upgrading on a Tuesday afternoon and DPD delivered it back Friday morning" - brilliant service.

[Exec]

What would be the benefits of using a Select as a walkabout with an Elite ?  I did think about putting the Select in Part exchange but considering keeping it.

[Chrissaf]

What would be the benefits of using a Select as a walkabout with an Elite?

 

The 'Pro' is that the Select gives you a third control knob to assign to a Loco. Plus 'subject to the length of the R8266 connection cable' the ability to move around your layout with controller in hand. The 'walkabout' Select gets its power via the R8266 connection cord, thus it is not tethered to a wall mains socket, this makes it a little bit more mobile.

 

The 'Con' is that the Select in 'walkabout mode' can still only control DCC devices in its standard normal supported DCC address ranges i.e Locos 01 to 59 and Accessories [points] 60 to 99. This means that if, for example, you had Locos and Accessories that are addressed outside of those supported ranges, then they can only be controlled from the Elite, which would rather make the Select walkabout a bit superfluous & redundant.

[Exec]

Thanks for the reply Chrissaf, are there differing lengths of  R8266 cables (Hornby) then or do you just make your own ?

[Chrissaf]

Hornby have discontinued their own R8266, but there is a seller on eBay who is making custom lengths of R8266 up to 20 metres, that he is certifying as being R8266 compliant to the official Hornby technical specification [click the link above].

 

The R8266 is a special cable and not like other commercial eXpressnet cables. The R8266 uses 'balanced twisted pair' wiring, whereas other similar cables use parallel wires in a flat sheath. Hornby found that these early flat cables had 'excessive crosstalk' and caused communication problems over the longer lengths. The R8266 cable ('balanced twisted pair' specification) was developed by Hornby to reduce these 'cross-talk' issues. Therefore I advise buying the eBay ready made versions rather than making your own.