Cheaper Walkabout for Elite?

[kw555]

I am hoping to set up my first model railway but not break the bank!

I am looking at buying a Hornby Elite DCC controller, but it would be nice to have a second controller for friends to use to control a second train.

Hornby Selects can apparently be used for a second controller, but they would cost almost the same as a second elite!!

Which dumb walkabout controllers are compatible?

-KW555

[96RAF]

None that I know of, but in theory any unpowered controller that uses Xpressnet protocol should work, but if you damage your new Elite trying it out don’t blame me. All advice must be regarded as speculation and taken at your own risk.

 

You mention second Elite - you cannot link a second Elite as a Walkabout, only a Select.

 

Second hand Selects without a power supply often appear on fleabay at cheap prices. Add on a few quid to have the firmware updated and you get a cheap Walkabout. Some folk even have several Selects rigged as Walkabouts for the kids to play on.

[Howbi]

Major retailers offer the Select for £98 and the Elite for £215.........big difference............HB

[Chrissaf]

Note that using a Select as a 'Walkabout' with an Elite as the 'Master' implements additional limitations that you should be aware of before deciding to spend money buying and/or firmware upgrading a Select as an unpowered 'Walkabout'.

.

Only DCC addresses that are inherently supported by the Select can be controlled by a Select in walkabout mode......even if those addresses can be controlled by the Elite.

.

The Select supported addresses are:

.

1 - 59 for DCC Loco addresses

60 should be avoided

61 - 99 for DCC Accessory addresses.

.

So for example, if you have a loco with DCC address 75, then that loco can only be controlled from the Elite. The Select will not be able to control it.

.

Conversely, if you have DCC controlled points that start at Accessory address 1. These also can only be controlled by the Elite and not the Select.

.

TIP: As this is your very first post, 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.

.

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/

.

[ellocoloco]

Surely if the Elite is XpressNet compliant you could plug in a Roco Lokmaus 2 or Multimaus as a cheap extra controller.............or not.

[96RAF]

Surely if the Elite is XpressNet compliant you could plug in a Roco Lokmaus 2 or Multimaus as a cheap extra controller.............or not.

I didn’t say it was compliant. I only know it uses Xpressnet protocol to talk to its Hornby brethren..

Plugging any alien controller into any other controller (Hornby or other make) is at your own risk. There is not enough information in the public domain about Hornby kit to be able to make a definite and thus safe assumption on connectivity..

[kw555]

@howbiman

In the used market on ebay there seems to be a lot of cheaply priced elites