Desirable features for future Railmaster Software updates

[96RAF]

I havent used it for a long time but I thought it reverted to a scroll box when there were a lot of routes, or if you clicked it it would drop down. 

[Gitter]

whilst running a loco today , a loco derailed on a point . After ,sorting that out , points started acting daft. Click on point 7 and point 4 activated  and so on. I, as per usual, jumped the wrong way , thinking comm ports mis- matched.After mucking about for 10 mins', It then dawned on me !  Clssic Mode . Reset to Standard , ok. I know this catches op's out guite often . Would it be feasable to have a "controller mode" indicator on Rm screen , perhaps below the Network acive, controller connected, opaque loco detection in top R/ h  corner . What do you think?

[St1ngr4y]

Sounds like a reasonable request, gitter. However, I would imagine it would probably need an upgrade to the firmware in the Elite as well as to the Railmaster software, in order to achieve this. However, if they do change the Elite firmware, maybe they can get it to boot up into "Standard" mode by default after a Reset has been requested by the user, instead of "Classic".

Ray

[96RAF]

Sounds like a reasonable request, gitter. However, I would imagine it would probably need an upgrade to the firmware in the Elite as well as to the Railmaster software, in order to achieve this. However, if they do change the Elite firmware, maybe they can get it to boot up into "Standard" mode by default after a Reset has been requested by the user, instead of "Classic".

Ray

 

Could this be done by Railcom I wonder, with the Elite reporting status to RM much the same as a decoder would report to the controller.

 

I have already requested HCC that the Elite should reset to Standard mode Ray, but its wait and see.

 

Rocrail includes a tick box to adjust the points addressing depending upon if you want to run in Classic or Standard mode, maybe RM could do that for us instead of insisting on it being in Standard mode.

Rob

[St1ngr4y]

Hi Rob,

Another alternative - how about if Railmaster could ask the Elite to change to Standard mode or even ask the Elite to Reset itself if necessary?

Ray

[96RAF]

@ray

the obvious solution is to have the elite reset to standard mode as this is the required mode for RM and to work with any walkabout Select past rev 1.0.

 

This is obviously possible as previous revisions would reset the elite to whichever mode it was in before reset.

 

whether RM can make an elite reset into a mode of choice I do not know.

 

the elite is a fairly dumb box of tricks.

[St1ngr4y]

whether RM can make an elite reset into a mode of choice I do not know.

 

the elite is a fairly dumb box of tricks.

But it has some sort of logic in it with a menu system, for example. Also, if RM, as well as asking the Elite to pass on DCC commands to locos and accessories, can also ask it to program loco & accessory CVs via its programming terminals, I would have thought that asking it to change modes would be simples. After all, it is probably only one bit of memory to flip 😀

Ray

[Fishmanoz]

Not necessarily so Ray.  RM uses the Elite in a very simple fashion to translate and transmit DCC commands from what comes out of the USB port  into correct data packets modulated onto the program/track DCC outputs.  No manipulation of the Elite menu system is involved in that.

 

What I would be suggesting is that Elite v1.44 firmware upgrade and beyond leaves the Elite in Standard mode on restart.  Given Classic is very much a legacy mode these days, even if some are still operating their Elite in this mode, there would seem to be no logic in having it in some way as the default.   Standard should be default.  Those insisting on Classic can always change it back, but even most of these will discover Standard does all that Classic was doing for them, and more into the bargain. 

[St1ngr4y]

The Pause Command in a Railmaster program is still available, but no longer documented in the PDF Guide. It is still recognised in a program, displaying a message box "Press Enter to continue". But when Enter is pressed the program clock jumps forward as if it had never stopped running in the background. So can the Pause command be re-instated, allow a meaningful message text chosen by the user to be displayed, and for the program clock to be suspended while the pause is in progress?

Summary: Re-instate and improve the Pause program command

 

Ray

[St1ngr4y]

What I would be suggesting is that Elite v1.44 firmware upgrade and beyond leaves the Elite in Standard mode on restart.  

Would it not be better if the Elite could remember which mode it was in before the reset, then re-instate that mode after a reset?

 

Ray

[TonyO]

No new desirable features wanted since March 2017? Have all you users happy been with the product as-is since then or has another topic been opened?

I would like the locomotives window (with optionally up to ten columns visible) to be separate from the layout window so I could run trains from one screen and set routes on the other (a second connected) screen. I know one can faff around and extend the RM window across to the second screen but this is hard to use when the two monitors (or laptop screen plus one monitor) are of different resolutions. In my case the laptop is 1024 by 768, the attached monitor is HD (1920 by 1080).

On the subject of higher resolution monitors, I would also like RailMaster's display resolution to be improved; when I zoom the layout down to 50% text can be hard to read.

Finally, please can the layout design program be changed to allow more objects to be imported or drawn. Examples are pictures, boxes and lines.

Thank you Hornby!

[St1ngr4y]

Amongst the sound files provided with RM, there are quite a few which can be played one after the other to form a station announcement. In particular, there are small sound files for platform numbers. Unfortunately, they only range from "One" to "Four". My station has six platforms, so I can't announce trains at platforms 5 or 6. Can we have more number sounds, say up to 10, provided the lady and gentleman who recorded the original sound files are still available !!

 

Summary: More number sound files

 

Ray

[TonyO]

Thanks for your comment Ray, that means the topic is still live!

You can always record your own sound files and save them in the "Sounds" subfolder of the "RailMaster" folder. The trouble is you would have to record them in that funny echoey and sometimes female voice!

Tony

[BadgerV8]

 I would like to have the option to eliminate the track plan window completely. My laptop with Railmaster sits on a purpose-built control bench, immediately next to the laptop screen and at the same angle is my track diagram with all the points controls and other controlling bits and bobs for lights, switching a certain piece of track between DC, DCC and Programming, etc etc.

What I would really like, is to eliminate the track plan diagram on the laptop screen completely and just display the loco controls. I currently have them selected to "two wide", but would prefer "four wide", or "fill screen", if this is possible for a future upgrade?

[RMRED]

I've only recently got RM working a few days ago, but even after a few days I have some suggestions

1) Sound - enable use of MP3 files. Rationale: MP3 duration is shown in Win explorer, this will help plan timing in programs.

1a) Sound - allow asynchronus running of commands using sound  the command should kick-off the sound file then allow the next command to run. Rationale: Can't, for example, start a train moving until a sound file has completed running, this is not realistic.

2) Multiple programs - allow several programs to be run. Rationale: On systems with multiple loops it should be possible to run multiple trains via program, after all it is possible to run multiple trains manually either with RM or with the Elite controller.

3) File locations - enable an option to specify fle locations other than the RM folder on the C drive. Rationale: Thos of us who organise theier data in some way (to keep it all together for example or to avoid using the C driv for data) would find this common feature very useful.

4) Train/Loco detection. Rationale: The user guide provides the rationale for this, re. reliance on timing where timing is erratic.

5) Allow option to not check the internet for updates every time the RM starts up. Raionale - remove frustration associated with startup times.

6) Proper installation for Win 7. Rationale: Remove the need for high evels of PC knowledge, the time taken for research, and the need to consult multiple documents and forums just to get the thing to work. And remove the need to run in supervisor mode, the need to tell Windows its OK to change the system every time the program runs, and the frustration involed in using a differet USB port then finding out you can't. And going round in circles plugging/unplugging cables if you forget to switch the Elite unit on before starting RM.

[RMRED]

Almost forgot ...

7) Allow light function F0 within a program to specify on/off positiveley - i.e. set the state of the lights, rather than a single command to change the state of the lights. Rationale: In a program, if I start by switching the lights on, I have to make sure they are switched off before running the programt which rather defeats the object. Much better to switch them on when you want, then off when you want.

[RDS]

Hi RMRED and welcome to the Forum

I think you have some reasonable suggestions there and well thought out and described. 

A couple of comments on you suggestions:

Item 2, It is possible and very simple to run multiple trains using programming in RM.  There is no need to be able to run multiple programs in order to achieve this.

 

Item 6, I don't personally run W7 but I would be surprised if there is a need for any of the actions you describe.  Some of them can be satisfied by your own procedures for start up, for example, always power up the Elite first and use the same USB port.  The others are probably able to be sorted with a settings change in Windows.

 

The Loco Detection ssuggestion is something we have been waiting a long time for.  There is even a sweep on the Forum for members to guess when it will be available.

[St1ngr4y]

Almost forgot ...

7) Allow light function F0 within a program to specify on/off positiveley - i.e. set the state of the lights, rather than a single command to change the state of the lights. Rationale: In a program, if I start by switching the lights on, I have to make sure they are switched off before running the programt which rather defeats the object. Much better to switch them on when you want, then off when you want.

I think you will find that this one has already been suggested. In fact, the same rationale applies to all "latching" functions which require "on/off" in their descriptions, not just F0.

 

Ray

[Chrissaf]

2) Multiple programs - allow several programs to be run.

.

That's precisely why HRMS included the "Merge" command. To allow multiple programs to be merged together into a single program timeline.

.

5) Allow option to not check the internet for updates every time the RM starts up.

.

Personally I don't see any significant start up delay on my system. If you disable the 'start up' check you will miss out on the loco & decoder database updates that occur silently at startup. It is not just new versions of RM that the start up check is looking for.

.

6) Proper installation for Win 7.

.

This would require RM to be completely re-written from the gound up using the latest Windows application writing tools. RM was originally written for XP and has only been tinkered with (in my opinion) to get it to run on later Windows versions. Precisely why the RM configurations need to be tailored and .INI files editied with the current version of the application.

[zeroOneman]

i'd be interested in hornby releasing details on the loco detection interface - what I'm thinking is that if I could knock up a raspberry PI with some reed switches connected I could at least use inputs from these reed switches to set & clear signals, which I already have connected to BM1 modules....

[96RAF]

There is a load of coverage of the proposed but yet to be seen LD system on the RM forum, including a list of components at the time, which was essentially a small 3mm diam sensor linked to a collector and processing box which was connected by USB to the PC. What we don’t know is how RM uses that USB data flow, nor what that data comprises.

 

As it is proprietary to Hornby there is no way that information will ever be released even if the product failed to reach market in whatever form. It will be a case of if it does reach market then someone will back engineer it and come up with an alternative system that works.

Rob

[96RAF]

Deepfat.

I don’t think I know of any open-source software that is subscription supported. Kind of defeats the open-source logic. Donation supported yes.

 

I do know that if RM went to a subscription service I would ditch it immediately, same as I have dirched all other applications that have tried this drip feed ‘pay for me‘ method. It reminds me too much of those never ever car purchase schemes, pay up front, pay for years and pay at the end. Definitely not for me.

 

Rob

[David12]

Deepfat, I'm with you. It seems clear to me that Railmaster currently suffers from under-investment. The amount of unattended bugs is bewilderingly numerous, with some of them going back years. When I have challenged HRMS, I have received the polite reply that is "a complex matter and needs several hours investigation. We will advise when we have looked into it." But we see no improvement, only (v1.68) new locos added to the database. The software house responsible for RM (Invicto) is not a charity, it needs cash to address the outstanding problems, giving an incentive to turn attention away from other applications, such as Point-of-Sale terminals.

[St1ngr4y]

..."a complex matter and needs several hours investigation. We will advise when we have looked into it." 

 

... and I thought I was the only one who received replies like that ...

 

Ray

[Fishmanoz]

The thread is getting off course, it is supposed to be just a list of desirable features, not a discussion thread. But I must demur from little take up of ProPack.  Many on here report having it, and then there are a few who don’t. Depends whether you want the ProPack features doesn’t it?