Fishmanoz Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 eLink hardware upgrade?To achieve what exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 eLink hardware upgrade?To achieve what exactly? To provision an Xpressnet port and enable comms by firmware update. This would allow use of the 7040 dongle. It would require a return to works or a new Bluetooth module (under consideration). This is my DIY module trial fit stymied by lack of firmware release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 That’s what I figured. Not convinced it would be worth it given you can continue to run legacy locos through RM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechImp Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Thank you RogerB, you beat me to it, and no I am not reassured at all, which was my whole point.Hornby have done the right thing by making the new decoders compatible via C12 but need to come clean about the future of RM instead of leaving us in limbo. From my perspective fitting a dongle to e-link is unnecessary when RM could easily be modified to access the wifi that is already in most computers. If not it can easily be installed.A wifi macro/routine must be almost standard and should require very little effort/cost to update. Would that not be the perfect solution where the new replaces the "legacy" painlessly over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 RM already has handheld phone/tablet versions for most OSs using wifi. I already have such a handheld licence so see no need for a dongle and, from the various recent thread content, don’t see RM disappearing anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechImp Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Interesting Fishman, so it would not be a problem at all to have RM imitate the new app. The question still remains, will Railmaster become a "legacy" system? It would be a dreadful shame if that were to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Correct me if I am wrong but WiFi and Bluetooth Low Energy Mesh are totally different comms protocols so the existing RM hand-held cannot talk to an HM7000 BLE device. There would have to be new code written into RM to do that. Not every PC has BT capability, and to fit such a card to my train-PC would be just as costly as buying the 7040 dongle.With HRMS being a sub-contractor of Hornby it would make more sense to pose the question to them about if they intend to support HM7K or not. If not then they write themselves into the history books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 @96RAF - perfectly correct regarding WiFi & Bluetooth being completely different comms technologies.It would make a lot of sense for HRMS to add Bluetooth compatibility into Railmaster & even more sense if it utilised native PC Bluetooth drivers. Although this would require the user to have a Bluetooth card/usb dongle in their PC (wireless keyboards & mice already use this) the advantage is there would be no need to modify/update the eLink.With Bluetooth compatibility added, Railmaster could communicate with HM7k chips wirelessly. Hornby & HRMS could also enable compatibility/communication between Railmaster & HM7k app.The expressnet dongle (that Hornby are already producing for select/elite) could then simply be used by those who wish to use the HM7k app (to control non-wireless decoders) without a PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Can’t see RM being history just yet. Remember, RM can control everything and run programs. The App can only control Bluetooth loco decoders so far and apart from with the dongle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 @LT…Providing the BT protocol in the PC supports Mesh connectivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Agreed 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 And not without a PC as it is needed to run BT and RM so the App has access to the lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 So far the HM7K app only works on Apple and Android devices, not Windows or Linux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpjallan Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 So far the HM7K app only works on Apple and Android devices, not Windows or Linux. Keep in mind that most iOS apps can run on the new Apple silicon based computers as they use the same architecture. I have about 6 apps installed on my Mac mini.Also, in the coming weeks I intend to install the ARM version of Windows 11 on my Mac mini to see if it will run Railmaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechImp Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Apologies for confusing bluetooth with wifi, but the principles remain in that either or both can be easily utilised via RM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goathland Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 @LT…Providing the BT protocol in the PC supports Mesh connectivity. In that case presumably your android (or Apple) phone/tablet would also need to support Mesh Connectivity? How do you check this? If you are buying a cheap tablet to control your locos under HM7000 how do you know if it will work before completing the purchase? Fo PCs/Laptops I would assume that one could buy a Mesh compatible Bluetooth dongle complete with protocol drivers if your machine does not already have this capability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 See here https://www.bluetooth.com/learn-about-bluetooth/recent-enhancements/mesh/mesh-faq/Looks like BT v4.0 or better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechImp Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 BT v4 appears to be the requirement for mesh, but having just checked my Windows 11 laptop and Android V9 phone I can see no specification for bluetooth so this becomes a bit more confusing. More reading Mesh Networking | Bluetooth® Technology Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Looking at Apple specs on their own website - the first iPhone to support Bluetooth v4 was the iPhone 5 (apparently released in 2012).Whilst making generalisations/assumptions is usually inadvisable…Since Hornby have already recommended devices that are 5yrs old or newer (providing that Bluetooth v4 or newer is the only requirement for Mesh compatibility) there shouldn’t be too much of an issue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 iPads are the same - Bluetooth 4 supported since 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 In that case there is more to it as although the app installs on my older iPad Air it will not load and run correctly yet. It is however one of the devices listed by Hornby as not yet sorted. There is a link to the full list from one of the videos about HM7K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 IIRC, BT4 LE has shipped with Android since ver 5 or 6. So quite a while ago. I remember having to upgrade my phone from Android 4 to Android 6 in order to use an App that utilised BT4 LE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechImp Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 It appears that since 2010 most/all devices seem to have BT V4 and able to operate the "mesh". This means we need a mesh device/dongle to create a comm network or is the normal BT transmitter in all bluetooth devices sufficient? This sort of implies that the Hornby app incorporates a mesh interface - is that right?If yes, then any BT V4 device can potentially be updated and used.There are wifi light bulbs available, followed no doubt by BT - technology is taking over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBerriff Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Don’t forget Zigbee - I think our Hue smart lights use that. The Internet of Things, or Home Automation is a bit of a minefield. When Hornby gets their app working it looks as if it will be independent of all the other systems out there and a jolly good thing too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 The DCC app scans for all BT devices and currently provides a developers tool to see them all or filter out those not applicable to the app, thus it may be possible to find and link to alien devices, but likely if that were to be taken up it would be at a later date. Getting a working version of the app on the streets is the target for now. The DC app has the filter on as default so these other devices are not in view.You would be amazed at the number of BT devices that are picked up - I have had up to 50+ devices detected in my immediate area, from TVs, sound bars, fitness devices, speakers and other hive/echo type assistants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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