Elite Controller no longer in production - (according to Hattons)?

[RDS]

Any Select can be connected to the Elite using the Walkabout cable.

The walkabout Select is exactly the same as a normal Select, it just does not need its own Power Supply, so it probably contained a walkabout cable, rather than a Power Supply.

The Select in Walkabout mode must not be plugged into a Power Supply as it gets its Power from the Elite.

[DarkRedCape]

I asked Hornby that question and it’s in a mountain of emails, but RDS’s answer is pretty much exactly what they said. The actual controller was the same, but they had different cables.

[ColinB]

I can now understand why Hattons cancelled your order. If you ordered it at £250 and the current price is £326, then that £76 is probably their profit. It will interesting to see if Hornby make any more.

[Bulleidboy]

Many thanks for the quick answers. I might add a Select to my Elite.

[Yelrow]

Barry, they work a treat, either as a walkabout, or placed next to Elite, as another controller. I have 4. Just bought the last one for 40 quid, brand new, unused from Leboncoin, the french version of Gumtree. Cables available via amazon. The guy makes them up, whatever length you want. I have a 4 metre and 2 metre on. Just about to add another.

[96RAF]

Just be aware if using a Select (walkabout or stand alone) that all locos under its control must be addressed within the range 1-59. If you currently run a fleet of long addresses then give them each a suitable short address and flip twixt the two via CV29.

[Brew Man]

I can now understand why Hattons cancelled your order. If you ordered it at £250 and the current price is £326, then that £76 is probably their profit. It will interesting to see if Hornby make any more.

 

 

Not really. Hatton's price was around £270, quite a bit lower than Hornby's projected price, so not much profit.

[ColinB]

Yes, Brew Man but at the new price of £326 Hattons would normally charge 10% less so that makes it £294 not £270. It is a reasonable device but not worth that sort of money. There are better ones around for not much more and some even less. There is the other point Hornby has an arrangement with their retailers that they are not supposed to offer discounts above 10% so £250 completely blows a hole in that.

[Brew Man]

I know that Hatton's still had it up for £270ish before they withdrew it, so don't know.

I'm getting the feeling that there has been some sort of altercation between them for Hatton's to suddenly withdraw it.

[96RAF]

I am assured by Hornby that there is a batch of Elites already on the boat, but without an ISO-container number there is no way of tracking their arrival.

I would say definitely here in time for Xmas. I have no idea of the planned retail distribution for them, but the very large quantity I was told were coming means there will be plenty to go round.

[Bulleidboy]

Thanks for posting that information Rob - I'm sure it will be good news to some!

[P-Henny]

Confirms that Hatton's either made a bad interpretation of the information given to them or decided to massage the information to suit their business aims.

[DarkRedCape]

I have a sneaking suspicion it may pop back up on Hattons website with a higher price tag. I’m not mad about this, they’re a business and are in it to make money.

Still, can’t help but feel I may have been fobbed off a little so they could get out of my pre-order price.

[Brew Man]

Confirms that Hatton's either made a bad interpretation of the information given to them or decided to massage the information to suit their business aims.

 

 

Doesn't seem to make much business sense to me. Interestingly, Hatton's don't appear to have any DCC controllers on their site at the moment, unless I've missed some. I'm inclined to agree with DRC and that Hatton's will re-stock when they arrive. That is of course if Hornby lets them have any.

 

 

[DarkRedCape]

I messaged Peter’s Spares about this a while ago and although they gave me no restock date, their 2022 price was £290.

[96RAF]

Second hand Elite for sale in my local model shop - £125

https://www.facebook.com/groups/627539614510187/permalink/1218916758705800/?fs=e&s=cl

Give them a call.

They also have a cheap eLink and a £50 Select.

I don’t think they post overseas though.

[Yelrow]

Rob, do you not have to be a Facebook member to open this link.

[96RAF]

Rob, do you not have to be a Facebook member to open this link.

 

 

No idea John, but you can simply ring their number +44 (0)1603 431457 and talk to them.

[DarkRedCape]

I got a reply from Hornby and they have confirmed that the Elite has not been discontinued and is still in production. The global chip shortage has just delayed things and they have no time line on when they’ll be released.

I’ve been waiting ages anyways so that doesn’t bother me. I’m just happy they are still going to be released at some point.

[DarkRedCape]

Something mentioned in this thread piqued my interest. How does connecting multiple Selects to an Elite work? And what is the purpose or benefit of having more than one Select?

[P-Henny]

Download the Hornby Select manual from here:

https://support.hornby.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016160699-R8213-Select-DCC-Controller

Then read pages 20 to 23.

The upside is:

Basically you can connect up to 7 Selects to an Elite. This then gives you a total of up to 9 individually DCC address assignable control knobs (one on each Select plus two on the Elite).

The downsides are as follows:

1) ALL the Selects are powered from the Elite PSU. Thus less current is available to operate locomotives. Each connected Select IS NOT powered by its own PSU.

2) ALL the locos need to be in the 01 to 59 address range if they are going to be controlled by the Select knobs, similarly ALL accessories need to be in the 60 to 99 DCC address range. DCC addresses outside those ranges can only be controlled by the master Elite.

3) The Elite scans the attached Selects in a round robin format looking for DCC commands to insert into the DCC packets sent to the track. Therefore only one of the 9 control knobs can actually be active at any instant in time. The switching between the various Select control knobs are handled dynamically by the Select / Elite firmware, but the two knobs on the Elite require manual switching by pressing the control knob first before using it. Only the Elite is actually connected to the track and accessory decoders.

Note that the schematic on pages 22 & 23 only shows 1 to 5 Selects being connected, the same cascade connection methodology is used to expand the tree to connect Selects 6 & 7.

[Bulleidboy]

I thought on the latest Select upgrade, loco's could be programmed with four figure codes? I may have mis-read?

I have just checked back, and I was wrong.

[P-Henny]

@DarkRedCape

Have you seen my answer to your question at the bottom of the previous page 7 of this thread?

P-H

[Yelrow]

P Henny, bit confused about the only one knob bit, as on mine with 3 selects and Elite, you can run 5 quite happily controlling any 2 at any time from Elite.

[96RAF]

I thought on the latest Select upgrade, loco's could be programmed with four figure codes? I may have mis-read?

I have just checked back, and I was wrong.

 

 

Select at any revision has only ever been able to handle loco addresses in the range 1-59 and points 61-99. You may be getting confused with being able to write to CVs 1-255 for any value 0-255.