Who else is yet to have an HM7000 problem?

[Fishmanoz]

Thought I’d take a different approach which has been so far, so good.

And did you like the alliteration in the title?

Edit: see my next post in this topic advising the alliterative content in the title has now been removed.

[pee trust]

HM7000 comes second only to the invention of sliced bread.😉🤣🤣

[ColinB]

So what is the point of this post? By the number of posts in the forum it appears some do, in my case it worked eventually after Hornby had corrected the fault they created by giving me a QR Code that pointed to the wrong app. I assume for most people it works ok, it did for me. It is not as fault tolerant as many other sound decoders but then they cost considerably more.

[BritInVanCA]

I hope I’m allowed to express the opinion that this is a ridiculous post. We all understand that some people maybe have had no issues but that isn’t the point of this forum. I hope that this is a subjective place to celebrate the hobby and use a talented hive mind to solve issues. We are not the Hornby marketing department.

The number of technically competent people that have had issues (IT industry experienced and/or model railway experts) suggests there are more issues than there should be with a market ready product. Are they insurmountable? No. Is it still a great piece of technology when it works? Yes

i love to know how many people plugged everything in, updated software and from then on everything worked perfectly. I’ve even seen experienced experts throw their toys out of the pram because things suddenly stopped working.

just to be clear I am NOT one of the statistics you are looking for but I will persevere.

[96RAF]

Having been in on this project from very early days, there have been problems and there have been good times when it felt as if the job was finished, to be followed by periods of woe again - rinse and repeat until the product was considered to be good enough for release to market, but then as the wider audience got their hands on it using different bits of support kit more niggles were found and the process of improvement iterates. We are getting near the end, but then we expect smaller components will be sourced and Gen 2 decoders will repeat the process.

So yes I have had problems, which I expected but then everything has gone smoothly at other times. As ever with social media you see more brickbats than bouquets no matter what the subject of the forum.

[ColinB]

I totally agree, it annoys me when people belittle people because they are asking for help. The post is probably directed at me because I was one of its fiercest critics, selling a product that part of the community cannot use for 3 months sums it up for me. I bought the product, waited 3 months for the App, tested it and it works after I had to send it back to Hornby to fix the fault caused by their duff software. There are a lot of "gotchas" with it, like on mine it took nearly 30 minutes to load the profile which is far too long and dangerous (people tend to get fed up and terminate the app) and if you watch Sam's video on it, he is basically right.

[Rallymatt]

I’m always amazed at ‘IT experts’ who don’t check what they are doing.

I have to say, I did the QR code scan, saw it was HM6000 and thought, that’s not right and went no further until the correct App was available. I bought my HM DCC decoders on the understanding that the Apps were not released but they would work as regular DCC decoders. As I already had DCC decoders in locos there was nothing to be gained so I waited. Maybe it’s because I have a background in high performance engineering where it’s all about checking, checking again and getting it right. 😁

[ColinB]

I used to be a software engineer and I suppose I am the opposite, I am so used to installing software packages I just assume that it is right, in development we used to sometimes get it wrong but a major release. I must admit I saw it pointed to an app so I assumed it was the right one, I just assumed there was some special command to get it to work (been there many times). The other thing that annoyed me, was sure I have made mistakes in software but that was really serious and the so called testers weren't particularly bothered, "its Hornby put up with it". Even worse I don't always read the documentation but in this case I read what little of it there was and did exactly what it told me to do. I used to buy a lot of Hornby TTS decoders but the saga has left me with an unpleasant experience. I notice today the testers are saying to some unfortunate person that there is a bug and Hornby are trying to sort it out, so obviously not a very mature product. So I don't know if this thread is a case of someone having a moan, either way it is lost on me.

[Daedalus]

Oh come on! A software engineer that never saw a bug in a major release!

You obviously didn't work for Apple Inc.

[Fishmanoz]

Well …. That went down like a lead balloon.

I was simply trying to put a different view based on my so far fault-free experience. And no, I was not directing it at anyone. And yes, I know that a number of members here come from software or engineering or similar backgrounds and find their Hornby experience sometimes different to their professional experiences, but again, I was not directing this at anyone. And no, I’m not from Hornby Marketing, unlike two stooges who used to post in the forums many years ago.

But as my title has seemed to upset some, I will now amend it by deleting the “.. despite all the Doomsdayers, Naysayers and TT Snake Oil Purveyers” (content included here so subsequent readers get a sense of what caused the fuss).

My limited TT:120 and HM | DCC is much like the the man was heard to say passing the third floor of a building, having fallen from the seventh floor - “well, so far, so good!” With apologies/acknowledgement to The Magnificent Seven.

[96RAF]

Spot on Rallymat. Common sense even.

Fishy by removing that bit of the title I think you have kowtow’d to that exact group.

Well Colin the case you have pled is in my mind akin to shooting yourself in the foot whilst standing on your tie - right to the point, but please have the last word.

[SteveM6]

I can safely say that I have had no real issues with HM7K at all. But then I did watch and learn from the early iOS users and read the manual and used approved equipment.

As one of the extended Android test team I sometimes suffered from imposter syndrome as I found it almost impossible to break and any glitches (apart from one 🙄) were traced to operator error.

Even now I can just turn on the layout and it will just go and do as it told. My only issues are the occasional no go at start up (fix imminent) a preference for static PB charging (fix imminent) and writing cv values across to the decoders (fix bring worked on).

Can’t ask for more.

[ColinB]

I suppose the issue is Fishmanoz that probably you have got the good ones, so you have no issues. My one, last time I checked worked perfectly ok, it could do with a power bank to make it work better but it runs ok. I don't use it that much as it is in the purple Queen Elizabeth that doesn't get run much plus as I have said it is not very tolerant of dirty track. Now if it was the latest Evening Star that I run a lot that is fitted with the latest Zimo MS sound decoder I would notice more. There again I have over 20 if not more TTS decoders, most are ok once I realised that their heat dissipation was suspect, but I did have one or two that had obscure faults. Even more annoying these faults disappeared when I moved them to another loco. Trouble with software it is really easy to write a program, the difficult bit is making it work reliably 100% of the time. My big gripe is Hornby don't seem to have a DCC strategy, their product range is littered with products, they have the Select, Elite, Electro (what ever it is called), Railmaster and now HM7000 which they support. They would be better off deciding on one and have a decent upgrade path for it.

[SteveM6]

Select - Elite - eLink (?) - Railmaster.......sounds like a reasonable progression and upgrade path to me.

And as we have been told, HM7000 has the potential to cover and surpass the entire spectrum of existing products and functionality as the system is developed.

[BritInVanCA]

No matter how much I try to be balanced it seems certain frequent posters are not willing to meet me half way and admit there are problems with this product and it’s not all the users fault. I’m just going to give up on this subject and take away as a positive that these same posters also sometimes provide useful guidance which I appreciate even if it can be wrapped in condescension (wink). Thanks for the help. I do understand answering the same question multiple times can become tiresome! Let’s move on

[Fishmanoz]

Fishy by removing that bit of the title I think you have kowtow’d to that exact group.

 

 

Possibly Rob but, being someone who usually admits when I’m wrong, and apologises, I thought I’d give it a try. But seems I’m wrong again.

[Rallymatt]

Fishy, there is nothing wrong with being wrong when you rightly know you were wrong and own it, that’s the right thing to do. It’s wrong to think you were right when you were in fact wrong and you rightly knew you were wrong but still wrongly maintained you were right.

I hope this clears things up 😁

[ColinB]

Sorry 96RAF I haven't a clue what you are on about.

[Fishmanoz]

Perfectly clear RM, thanks for posting.

[LTSR_NSE]

Anyone who encounters difficulty and asks questions/seeks advice should never feel foolish - since the only foolish question is the one not asked!

Certainly I would never blame someone who is experiencing difficulty, but nor would I blame a creator/developer. Blame fate/tech-in-general for not possessing more intelligence than yourself (or its creator) & therefore being unable to predict & prevent any/all possible problems!

Any IT ‘expert’ who assumes technology should always work - is either unbelievably fortunate, or possibly naïve. Those who work in any Tech Support role know that problems/failures are inevitable. They spend the majority of their time attempting to convince their clients to expect issues, and be grateful on the occasions it actually works!

To answer @Fishy’s original question - I am one of those fortunate yet to encounter an issue (am expecting a visit from Murphy any time!)

[Fishmanoz]

Almost guaranteed it by talking about it openly, haven’t we LT?

[LTSR_NSE]

Yep! 🤦‍♂️😂