Can i control hm dcc decoders with a physical controller

[William-371849]

I have got a 2 year old tablet and have been battling with the system for the last two nights and i am sick of it tbh. I have tried all the trouble shooting solutions and nothing works, my connection drops out all the time quite often i only get half way through the first whistle before the loco moves and then it disconnects and reconnects. I really want this to work but it just doesn't, would a physical controller be better/more reliable. I am really fed up

[SteveM6]

Back to basics:

What power supply are you using?

Which tablet and operating system (and version number) do you have?

TT or OO?

Are you describing a problem where it cuts out after you have successfully

loaded a sound profile?

Have you loaded version two profiles?

Have you switched on all permissions on the tablet?

Is the track clean?

Ditto wheels and pickups.

[LTSR_NSE]

@william - simple answer is yes, HM7000 decoders are fully compatible with DCC controllers that possess manual controls - but they obviously use DCC not Bluetooth.

Couple of additions to @SteveM6’s comprehensive list of questions:

Did the loco come with the decoder factory fitted or did you fit it yourself?

(If fitted yourself) Which variant are you using 8pin, Next18, or 21pin?

(If loco is OO) Did you perform a ‘stall test’ to check the HM7000 decoders are compatible with your loco?

[HST Mainline]

(as requested by the mods)

You can always run it with a standard DCC controller. Just remember to put the loco in DCC mode in the app under the locomotive's settings.

I would suggest though, that you check if you run Standard or Legacy Bluetooth Control Method (under General Settings -> Bluetooth Settings). Changing to the other mode than the one selected sometimes can help depending on your device.

You should also check the device incompatibility list to see if your device is listed as incompatible. You can find it here: https://d63oxfkn1m8sf.cloudfront.net/7216/8736/2955/HM.DCC_and_HM7000_-_Incompatible_Devices_List_1.pdf

[William-371849]

Thanks for all your help guys, i have spent all day trying all of your suggestions and on the phone to hornby, i still cant get it to work. I am going to take all the decoders out and run a straight dc system and come back and try again later, rather than getting fustrated.

[SteveM6]

Answering the questions posed in post #2 & #3 may have provided more suggestions.

Actually I will add another - how many decoders do you have and are they all linked to the tablet and set to ‘active’?

[Rallymatt]

Steve M6 hinted at this in his first post, have you checked the tablet you have is compatible with HM DCC? Some brands, despite being recent releases are not. There is a list in the stickies and you can email Hornby for clarification if your brand name isn’t listed.

[ColinB]

What might be a good idea is to fit a Powerbank to the HM7000 if you haven't already. I found this helps a lot. Try it on one and see if it improves it. You don't say which locos you are using it on. Although I am not a great fan of the system I did find it worked alright for me. I did find it is extremely susceptible to dirty track although version 2.0 of the profiles seems to improve it.