Reflections on HMDCC after 6 months

[Bighandz]

Well that was an  interesting read. When I first heard about the HMDCC app I was overjoyed at the possibility of operating my lay out from my iPad Pro 12.9”. (No I didn’t think the bigger screen would make it work better.) I am visually impaired so reading the screen on my elite is a little bit challenging. So I immediately downloaded the app. The next question was how was I going to get it all to work? Didn’t really fancy re-chipping all my locomotives with the new HM7000 chips. And then Hornby announced the answer to my dreams (which later turned out to be my worst nightmare). The Legacy Bluetooth Dongle. Brilliant, so I put one on pre-order. After several release delays it finally became available after I’ve had the app sitting on my iPad for 12 months. But it eventually arrived so let the fun begin. Plug the dongle into my Elite and set up the app. Then start adding my locomotives to the app. So far so good and just so easy. Then I stumbled across an article that made me wonder whether this dongle was all it was cracked up to be. The dongle won’t operate my point decoders. You can’t make a conscious, and apparently you can’t even program a new non-HM 7000 decoder using the dongle. I have to use my Elite to operate my accessory decoders. I have to use my Elite to programme my legacy decoders. Big news, I was already doing that before Hornby conned me out of £40. Mind you these are the same idiots who put in the tech specs for the Platinum Jubilee train pack that an 8pin decoder was required. No it wasn’t it was a 21pin. If they can’t even get that right they will never get the dongle to work properly. So the upshot is that I have removed the dongle from the app and my elite and stuck it in a drawer. I have deleted the app and made some space on my iPad and I am now on the lookout for an alternative to my elite controller. Hornby were in danger of destroying my love of my hobby, but all I’ve achieved is they have destroyed my trust in them. Absolute amateurs. 

[dBerriff]

I like the system including the Dongle, but then I have no intention of using DCC to control accessories.

The roll-out is a bit puzzling - where are the stay-alives? They are the least high-tech component. Also a non-HM7000 decoder will have to be used in my TT:120 Class 08 on a DCC layout.

But overall a thumbs-up from me, especially for OO locomotives.

As for being conned, under distance-selling laws you can return the Dongle for a refund. Hornby support is excellent.

Edited May 1 by dBerriff

[Bulleidboy]

I stand to be corrected, but I don't recall reading that the dongle would operate point motors - may be in time?. I have been using HM7K for sometime, and combined with my Hornby Elite and iPhone 8 have not found any serious problems at all. It took a little time initially to get my head around it, but I now have about a dozen loco's operating via my phone and three via the dongle - very easy to set up, took just a few minutes. I can use my Elite for point operation (Cobalt Digital iP's), but tend to use toggle switches (layout wired for both). I appreciate some have had problems when using Android equipment, but using an iPhone I have found the system first class. I am still contemplating getting an iPad🤔

Edited May 1 by Bulleidboy

[SteveM6]

Traditional DCC has taken many years to evolve to the level we see today. I suspect many users expected HM7K to be a fully developed system from day one and fail to appreciate that such a radical change cannot realistically be delivered fully formed.

Yes BB, Hornby never said it would allow control of accessory decoders from day one, not did it say that programming via the dongle would be possible, but did indicate that it was on the development list.

[Yelrow]

You can please some of the people, some of the time, but.    .............. 

[Loewietje]

I am one of the happy few/many, that wouldn’t trade for anything out there. It ease of using, and play value is what won me over. Previous experience was with my father’s Lenz system on his LGB Garden layout, RM with eLink and Roco z21. The latter I stil use for programming non BLE decoders, or when my phone is charging/downloading a new profile. Making the function maps, exporting them and using them for other class members is also a big added value to me. I have done some far away from home, and assigned them later. Another is the fact that the layout is so simple that even with longer periods without time to operate, or even to look at any model trains, you just can’t forget how it al worked. And don’t get me started on changing CV’s on TXS decoders, no need to write down which CV does what, it’s in the app!

of course, there are some negative points. I started it on an Android phone (an old Nokia, I mus lt admit) and it was slow, often loosing connection, to the point that I bought some stay-alives (before they were quickly sold out, another negative point) but of course this didn’t change anything. Not until I got a IPhone 12 (my wife’s hand me down) just in time for the holidays, and that really kick-started my appreciation for HM7000. No more connection loss, quick sound profile loading times (quick enough to do some funny combo’s…) Other lesser points are the long waiting times for about everything, from the dongle to non-sound decoders, and the not always clear communication from Hornby, apart from the great but almost never read manual. And I still haven’t forgotten the cancelled TTS profiles!! 

All in all, a good system, with everything in it to become great. Don’t forget, it’s only on the market for a year and a half, and most of the initial problems seem to be gone. Now just hoping for more sound profiles, and if anyone from HH is reading along, there is quite some interest from this side of the channel, so don’t wait to long…

 

[Bighandz]

OK, I realize that some people who have commented since I posted may have missed an important point in my post.
I am actually registered blind, so the idea of having a system that I could use on my iPad was absolutely brilliant.

but a system that allows me to do less than half of what I need to do to run my layout on my iPad. It’s pretty useless. I am back to squinting at the tiny display on my Elite which is exactly where I was before I ever heard of HMDCC or the dongle.

and yes, I totally agree. Hornby might actually get round to updating the dongle which is why I haven’t thrown it away. It’s in a drawer in the hope that it might actually work properly by the time my 10-year-old grandson grows up because unfortunately I’m not sure. I’ll live long enough at the speed. Hornby are going. 

Edited May 1 by Ratch
Banned word deleted

[96RAF]

You can operate points direct from the app by way of bluetooth HM6010 modules which are essentially the same as R8247 acc decoders.

The dongle is points capable, its the app that needs updating to provide the user interface and give the choice of new vehicle - loco or accessory.

All this is being worked and will be available in the fullness of time, however for now feel free to have a good rant about it.

[Loewietje]

Calling the people who work on this amateurs and idiots will surely speed up the process. 

[dBerriff]

How many people do we think there are in the world who could develop this software? DCC has evolved into an awkward set of protocols as the original concept was extended. The Bluetooth LE specification runs, I am told, to a few thousand pages. It is a small market. I doubt there are ready trained developers you can hire on contract. Ok, Hornby chose to enter the market. The reality is that things will be ready when they are done. But amateurs? Be thankful that this has been done at all. And in the UK. 

[BritInVanCA]

I still find it flaky but the app control is way better than the interface on my Select. 
Two main things that annoy me

- Things will suddenly start misbehaving. For example I haven’t used DCC control for a few months but just for fun I try it. One loco moves but no sound and the other loco won’t respond at all  I’m not going to bother trying to solve it right now because I don’t want to spend a couple of hours being frustrated 

- The reset frequency and time on Bluetooth. Freshly cleaned track that has no problems on DC still causes a decoder reset sometimes on a straight piece of track. A reset takes 30 seconds so makes for very intermittent running. Doesn’t happen very often but perhaps once every 10 circuits. A stay alive has solved it in one locomotive even though many people say this shouldn’t be needed in a TT120 A4

Do I like it, yes. Am I totally satisfied, no. Am I willing to give it time to improve, yes. 

[dBerriff]

That matches my experience.

My initial problem with switching to DCC was not realising that using long addresses in the app does not set up the CVs for DCC to work with long addresses. Easily solved. 

The decoders are susceptible to momentary power loss. At least a stay alive will fix this, if you can find one and find space for it (TT:120). We need a smaller, reduced capacity stay-alive for smaller locomotives and the realities of less than perfect track (speaking for myself). 

Edited May 2 by dBerriff

[BritInVanCA]

@dBerriff I’m running a Select as stated above so no using long address. It’s not that

[dBerriff]

Sorry, I cannot offer a solution but only describe my own experience. I have not tried using my Select with the App set to Select, but only my Elite. I need to read up on this in the famous manual. 

[96RAF]

The Elite-Select switch determines how function commands above F12 are handled by the controller with a dongle in use as the app interface.

As previously covered in the forum, long and sometimes short DCC addresses can be lost especially when a new profile is loaded as this effectively carries out a CV8 to value 8 reset thus putting the short/long address to 3/100. Making sure you overtype your address even if it is showing in the app and synching the CVs in the editor normally sorts that out.

[Pendragon Sailing]

As the originator of this post last September, I thought it would be useful to provide another update of where I’ve got to with HM7000, a year on from its original launch.

I now have 34 locos fitted with HM7000 with all running smoothly and (mostly) behaving themselves out on the track. The one thing that upsets them is either a dirty piece of track and/or a dodgy point. The Bluetooth signal can’t cope with even a momentary loss of power and has to reset itself when this happens, which can take up to 30secs or so, depending on where the loco is listed in my ‘Engine Shed’. However, that’s the nature of Bluetooth, and in my opinion, its advantages for outweigh its disadvantages.
This connection issue aside, I’m absolutely delighted with the performance and reliability of my 34 decoders. I’ve no doubt that I’ll be adding more over time (particularly when the 6 pin version is released).
Furthermore, I have switched a lot of them from loco to loco and uploaded new sound profiles on many of them. The process is now second nature to me and rarely takes more than 10mins from start to finish.

I don’t use the Elite or Select, therefore the Dongle is not an option, but that’s fine with me. My non-HM7000 locos run off my Digitrax Controller alongside the HM7000 on my iPad Pro. Everything runs seamlessly.

Yes, the App still has a few little foibles that need to be resolved (Hornby is on the case), and of course we can never have enough sound profiles to choose from, but these small things aside, I count myself a firm supporter of the system and will continue to use it alongside my other, much more expensive, decoder solution (ESU LokSound).

I look forward to further expansions of the system that will no doubt come in time, and in the meantime will enjoy what HM7000 currently has to offer.