eLink vs Elite

[Chrissaf]

Hello to you all,

I am a complete novice to Model Railways, that is if you don’t count my little Hornby 0-6-0 tank loco with two wagons and a circle of track which I had when I was 10 years old. I have no idea what happened to it. Now at 76 years old I have perhaps foolishly, decided to build a layout in my loft. It will be basically three loops, with approximately ten motorised turnouts to allow trains to change from one loop to another, and a small fiddle yard to give me something to do other than watch the trains go round! I understand about DCC principles, but my dilemma is, what exactly do I need in the way of control? The e-link seems a good idea – relatively cheap and I love ‘messing around’ on my laptop, so using the e-link with Railmaster would suit me fine. Alternatively, I have considered the ‘Elite’ system. More expensive and no option to ‘program’ train movement.

If I went for the E-link and Railmaster, what else would I need? Another power supply for the turnout motors, decoder unit for the turnout motors? What about the Elite option? What else would I need to buy, if I chose that system? I live in France where Model Railways are not high on the list of hobbies, so no clubs. My nearest Model Railway shop is over 300 km away, so not easy to go and ask. I have searched the internet, and although there is a wealth of technical info available, it seems that my question is too basic for anyone to publish an answer.

Any help anyone could give me would be much appreciated.

Brian P. 

[Chrissaf]

....with approximately ten motorised turnouts to allow trains to change from one loop to another, and a small fiddle yard to give me something to do other than watch the trains go round!

.

If you go for RailMaster / eLink, then point (turnout) operation becomes a doddle. Your layout is represented on screen as a logical schematic. You click the point icons on screen and the points on the layout change.

.

If you go for Elite as a stand alone controller without RailMaster (Elite works with RailMaster too). Then changing points can be a bit of a faff. You would need to memorise your point DCC addresses or have an aide memoir sheet. Then with the Elite it is several button presses that are required to actually change the point.

.

So in this scenario, it might be easier to have the Elite just controlling locos and trains, and use traditional DC Analogue to operate the points (physical switches and/or press buttons to operate a point).

.

If you chose the analogue method, then you would need a separate dedicated power supply, preferably a CDU (Capacitor Discharge Unit), physical momentary acrtion change-over switches. This assumes Solenoid type point motors.

.

If I went for the eLink and RailMaster, what else would I need? Another power supply for the turnout motors, decoder unit for the turnout (point) motors?

.

If you choose to operate your points (turnouts) using RailMaster and/or eLink / Elite then you won't need a separate dedicated power supply nor a CDU nor physical switches. But you would need Accessory Decoders to convert the DCC commands from the controller into electrical pulses to operate the Solenoid points.

.

Note however, that the eLink ships as standard with a 1 amp power supply, whilst the Elite ships with a 4 amp supply. The eLink power supply can be upgraded to 4 amps at additional cost. The 4 amp power supply is very beneficial and worthwhile even on a relatively small layout.

.

You could use Hornby R8247 Accessory Decoders to operate your Solenoid points. For 10 points you would need three R8247 decoders as each has four ports. However if some of your points work in pairs [cross-over between loops for example] then two motors can share a single port. Thus you might get away with two R8247s.

.

However, the R8247 from Hornby is 'long in the tooth' and uses old outdated technology. More modern non Hornby branded decoders are 'self learning' and easier to set up. I suggest that you research point operation options in far more detail first, before jumping in with both feet. There are 'slow action' point motors that you could use rather than Solenoids. All the major Accessory Decoder brands will work with Hornby eLink / Elite controllers.

.

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.

.

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/

.

 

 

 

[Yelrow]

Hi, welcome. I also live in France. I have Both Elink, Elite, Railmaster, and computer control.  Would be happy to help, outside the forum, once you have received all advice from experienced members. we cannot pm, or exchange info on this forum, so  if you  are interested, can give you a  site where  this is possible.. 

[RDS]

I also have RailMaster and Elite but not eLink.

 

I chose Elite because it allows control of Loco's using the control knobs or it can be used in conjunction with RailMaster.  I have 35 Motorised points on my layout and I have never operated any of them using the Elite, due to the reasons Chris mentions above, because with RailMaster it is simply a matter of clicking an icon on the screen.

 

I power my points using a separate Power Supply because the Points Decoders I use, allows the Power to be either taken from the track, or separately.

[96RAF]

I use everything seen above, see my signature block for details.

 

My points were (and will be once I have updated the system) operated both by manual switching and by DCC, direct from a controller or via a screen. 

 

Manual and screen switching are much more convenient.