GordonBigBoy Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Newbie here to RM who is considering purchase. I have looked through the thread over the past week; it is quite difficult to gauge full sentiment of users, I see some unhappy, maybe more than the content users? so I am hoping this thread might encourage a concise place to post the good, the bad and the ugly of RailMaster from the experienced users here. Please I am only looking for constructive posts - not a drawn out diatribe from those that don't really know. I am soon to invest in the Elite with Hornby points & Accessory decoders etc etc. My laptop runs Win 7 64 bit. So...... What is good What is bad What limitations are there Current known bugs When is the next version due? Should I wait? Many thanks if you can help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevecamden Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 What is good Low cost entry to computer control Makes the Elite a more powerful controller Easy to operate Easy to setup What is bad Documentation needs more work and example Limitations No sensors yet implemented. Railmaster doesn't know 'where' the trains are so timings get out of sync very quickly. Current known bugs - Don't know. Next version - don't know, but they seem to be pretty active at relaseing new bits and have stated that they will have some sensor feedback to the programme by 2013 Should I wait. No - its worth it for the non geek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregd99 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I am not a RM user and have only had a it of a play with the demo. My observation is that RM looks to be an easy to use system of moderate capability. The answer to your questions I think depends on what you want to do and what your technical capabilities/interests are. if you lean to techno geek the jmri is fantastic with almost unlimited capabilities. it is free but you will spend time setting up and/or writing scripts. This is what I use. if the idea of techo stuff puts you to sleep then something like RM is targeted at you. Once the sensor modules come available.... I wonder about something this year.... then it will start to be quite a capable set up. in the meantime it is still fun to run the trains from a pc. have fun..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I've only played with the demo too, however: - to date, versions are not separate programs but updates. So no need to wait for the next version, start now then download the update to the next version when released. - one oft reported limitation is data transfer rates. If a number of commands are issued at the same time, sometimes some are missed. A reported solution is to issue the same command twice in rapid succession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregd99 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 interesting to see "one oft reported limitation is data transfer rates. If a number of commands are issued at the same time, sometimes some are missed" mentioned. as far as I can see (after hundreds of hours - yes really) the elite has an undocumented feature where it sometimes ignores commands sent from the pc. The issue does not seem to be load related but just seems to happen randomly. if you are manually operating your layout this doesn't matter a lot as you can see when something doesn't happen and repeat the command. if you are running automatically (as I do) then missed commands are not acceptable. I built a re-try mechanism around jmri that monitors acks from the elite and retries if not received. RM must have similar issues and hopefully also includes the same sort of workaround that I mention. Hornby are aware of the issue but it is not a priority for resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old gezzer Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Hi All I also think the port recognition is a bit on the weak side the amount of times I startup RM and it don't recognise the port setting and you check in device manager and everything looks ok but it takes a few tries before things start working.and also instruction and manuals could be better. It's still better than nothing,when my layouts finished and everything is setup and decoders programmged and points and signals all work.then I can breeathe a sigh of relief and start to run the layout. Regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevecamden Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Are you powering up the Elite first and then the PC? I have never had the system not recognise the port on XP. I have had it miss commands and, as suggested, if they are 'critical' ( so to speak) then I double them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hosh Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 If you are interested in automation then you either wait until later this year or early next year, or look elsewhere. If you simply want an alternative to playing with the knobs of the Elite and a few other features then Railmaster is mostly fine. But be warned - Hornby are far from a computer savvy company. There are a lot of dinosaurs in both the hobby and this company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1943 Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Glad to see that you can change colours, but a pity they have not sorted out the forward and reverse problem that exists between the railmaster and elete, never matching. shame on you hornby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMSTim Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 There is no problem with the direction indicators. You just don't understand how the direction controls work or how they were originally implemented in signal boxes in real life. You knock the software based on a misunderstanding of how it works and how real railway operation works. Why don't you email Hornby RailMaster suppport or use the built in Help Request system in RailMaster to voice your concerns and they will explain it to you in simple terms. RailMaster allows you to set hte direction indication based on either real railway working or the more common layman's understanding of left=reverse and right=forward. If all else fails you could always read the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerhols Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Just to say that Railmaster is amazing, you really do need to have it. Its not the most robust software, and it is v odd that it works much better with old fashioned XP than with win 7. However its a fab way to control a railway! Go and buy it, and experiment (get a touchscreen too). Keep looking at this forum, the guys on here have given me really invaluable help over the last 18 months. cheers now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonBigBoy Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 summerhols said: Just to say that Railmaster is amazing, you really do need to have it. Its not the most robust software, and it is v odd that it works much better with old fashioned XP than with win 7. However its a fab way to control a railway! Go and buy it, and experiment (get a touchscreen too). Keep looking at this forum, the guys on here have given me really invaluable help over the last 18 months. cheers now Thanks Summer Hols and to everyone else who has helped me make up my mind. I have decided RM really is a must for linking up to the ELITE. I have decided to wait until next year though to see if a new version is published around the end of the year (as suggested to me elsewhere). I also intend to go for the touch screen. Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 GBB, as I think I said earlier, a "new version" will just be a downloaded update, no need to wait - buy once, download updates free. That said, my intentio nis to get my layout operating first with the Elite, then buy. Will certainly play with the free trial though. It updates itself to the latest too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMSTim Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I agree. There's no point in waiting as all updates download automatically. Yes, the free evaluation version also updates to the latest on itself and it gives you up to 2 locos and four points and signals to play with so you can test it well before comitting. Mind you for me the big deal is all the locos already built in and the scale speed operation ... and of course the programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonBigBoy Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 I have just been watching loads of YouTube at Styal - really excellent couple of videos demonstrating RM. It really does look a good piece of kit. At last the penny has dropped.... I think I now know where/who these video's come from....lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old gezzer Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 stevecamden said: Are you powering up the Elite first and then the PC? I have never had the system not recognise the port on XP. I have had it miss commands and, as suggested, if they are 'critical' ( so to speak) then I double them up. Hi Steve I start the elite then the pc,I am running win 7 64bit I wonder if thats the problem as I have read quite a few replys saying no problem with xp? regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsclass87 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I have no problem with my windows 7 64 bit computer. follow advice from hornby and you should have no problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_G Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Hi Just watched the vidio I have not been able to get my layout to work as good as that problem with timing My layout is basicly a out and back ( return loop ) i have tried to automate the passenger service using 1 2car EMU leave station - run out into hidden yard -- wait 10 mins --- run back to Station -- stop -- wait 10 mins --- repeat problem is that it does not always stop at the same point in the hidden siding and does not always stop at the same point in the station if it was just by a small ammount then no problem the station platform is 4 carrages long the hidden siding will hold 5 some times it stops short in the siding blocking the other track sometimes it overruns the siding into the return loop same at the station end sometimes stopping short of the platform sometimes running into the buffers at the end have played withthis for days cant get it to repeat the same each time so were am i going wrong ????? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevecamden Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 You are not going wrong! The timings get out of sync very quickly - all you need is a loco to move a bit slower or a bit of dirt on the track. Until there is some detection that can 'feedback' to the programme it will always be approximate. But it still can give a nice impression to the uninitiated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregd99 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 There is also a feature of the elite that it occasionally "misses" commands that are sent from the PC. This has been discussed din a number of threads with the simplest workaround to send each throttle command twice. an alternative (which I do not like) for an out and back layout is to slow the train and then, at very slow speed, run into the buffers. This gives a known position for the loco. without some sort of means - buffers, loco detection... - distance errors will accumulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregd99 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 oops "without some sort of means - buffers, loco detection... - distance errors will accumulate." should read "without some sort of means of accurate location detection - buffers, loco detection... - distance errors will accumulate." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hosh Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 stevecamden said: You are not going wrong! The timings get out of sync very quickly - all you need is a loco to move a bit slower or a bit of dirt on the track. Until there is some detection that can 'feedback' to the programme it will always be approximate. But it still can give a nice impression to the uninitiated! The manual suggests, laughably enough, that you can use bump stops to continually recalibrate the train. Also, using bemf should yield better results - should be more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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