Accessory control

[papajulietdelta]

Hi, my first post.

 

I am trying to decide whether to convert my partly built layout from ZTC to Hornby control.

 

I have purchased an Elink and have loaded an evaluation copy of RailMaster.

 

I can drive two sound locos and am impressed

 

with the interface.

 

I have drawn a small track plan with two points (addresses 10 and 11) and one semaphore signal (address 51). The points are connected to a ZTC 304 decoder and the Dapol signal to a Train-Tech decoder. All work perfectly with my ZTC

 

511 control box.

 

When I click the RailMaster track plan, the items move on the plan but they do not physically operate, despite power getting through. I have tried the various decoder types on the drop down menu on the plan edit screen.

 

From

 

reading other posts, I see that others have successfully used the ZTC 304 decoder, even posting a work round for programming. My decoders are already programmed.

 

I understand that in evaluation mode, only four points/signals can be operated. Do they

 

have to have addresses 1 to 4?

 

I would appreciate any assistance. I do not want to register Railmaster until I am satisfied that I shall not have to fit replacement decoders.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

Hi PJD, you seem to know what you are doing but can I just ask a few questions to confirm.

 

You say your signals are on ports 10 and 11 so I assume your ZTC is set with port 1 at 9 and your point motors are on the 2nd and 3rd port. Am I correct?

 

What

 

decoder type have you used? Clearly it has to be one of the 4 port types. Whichever you have used, I'm assuming you have then set the first port to address 9. Am I still with you?

 

Now on your layout, I'm assuming you have right clicked on your snapped

 

in point lights, given them the addresses 10 and 11, and the decoder type you set your ZTC as?

 

Have you done all of that and they still don't work? And you've tried more than one decoder type, and still nothing? Assuming that, the best thing would be

 

to email RM Support from within the Help window of RM and explain all of this to them. They are very good and responsive and, when you email them, they receive a lot of information about your setup to help them find a solution for you.

 

With the signal,

 

I'm going to assume you've done something similar to the above, except you will have had to use the single port NCE decoder as the one you have set to 51, then put that number and decoder type when you right clicked on the signal on the layout to set it up.

 

Again, if all of that is done and no joy, ask RM Support about this too.

 

And by the way, there should be no problem with registering your RM because you can then deregistering it again later if you need to to return it. And I don't think there are

 

address limitation issues in evaluation mode, just the limitations as you say, and the 90 day trial period limitation.

[papajulietdelta]

Thank you Fishmanoz for a quick and precise reply.

 

As both the ZTC 304 and Train-Tech decoders were programmed with my ZTC 511 and work correctly when the ZTC unit is connected to the layout, I assumed that I only needed to put their addresses into

 

the track plan and they would work when the Elink was connected in place of the ZTC 511.

 

Are you saying that I have to re-program the decoders using RailMaster so that they are registered? Or is there an accessory schedule that needs to be set up?

 

I

 

shall experiment further tomorrow with the elink connected to a spare ZTC 304 but not the layout.

 

I want to make sure I can use my existing decoders before I invest in further Hornby equipment such as an Elite and boosters.

 

Regards

[Fishmanoz]

You don't have to program the decoders as such but I do believe you still have to tell RM that they are there by the method I suggested. But do check with RM Support.

[papajulietdelta]

Post a new reply...

[papajulietdelta]

I presume you mean; tell RM that the decoders exist; by detailing them on the track plan.

 

Anyway, I have spent all day trying to get them to work. I even authenticated my copy of RM!! Also exchanged the original 1A power unit for a 4A I had purchased.

 

I

 

thought I had cracked it as points 10 and 11 worked by not the semaphore on the Train-Tech. Then I drew the track plan for the rest of the layout. Points on one decoder (addresses 9 - 11) worked perfectly. But there was no response on those on two other ZTC

 

304s (addresses 5 - 8 and 12 - 15). All points and signal work perfectly when the ZTC 511 is connected in place of the Elink.

 

Then there was nothing except power getting through to the track (carriage & buffer lights on). No loco control. Tried rebooting

 

my Windows 8 machine and it could not find the Elink. Device Manager showed unknown USB device.

 

Even tried it on an XP machine with an evaluation copy of RM. Again un-recognisable USB device came up.

 

Seems that I may have a faulty Elink. I have

 

tried a different USB cable.

 

I do like driving trains from the computer. I think I shall get an Elite and see if that is more stable than the Elink.

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

Definitely your next step should be to email RM Support from within the Help window of RM. They are very good and responsive 24/7. They make the point that the fast majority of users are not having problems, which is not to say they can't solves things

 

for those who do. Some seem reluctant to contact them, I'm not sure why as they are good.

 

Don't give up on eLink yet. From what you say, a faulty one is a possibility they will be able to confirm for you, or a faulty cable. If you have another USB

 

cable, it is worth giving it a try.

[papajulietdelta]

Some success today!

 

I removed some devices from both my XP and Win8 machines to free up some com ports. After firing up RM and then plugging in the Elink, I was pleased that it was recognised, unlike yesterday.

 

Using "device manager" I redirected

 

the Elink drivers to com2 and then reset the DCC Controller port under system settings.

 

Amazingly, the XP running an evaluation copy of RM could now operate the two points on the cut down diagram.

 

Moving the Elink to the Win8 machine, running

 

a registered copy of RM, I repeated the above to use com2. This has a diagram of my layout to date and I was able to work points 9 - 16 but not 5 to 8. The signal was not working either.

 

Original I had set up the Train-Tech SC3 decoder in Signal Settings

 

as a type NCE Snap it single port decoder (it has two ports). I changed this to a Lenz LS100 4 port decoder and low and behold the signal on address 51 worked.

 

I then removed the ZTC 304 decoder that was not operating with the Elink (but did under ZTC

 

control) and replaced it with another. I programmed this by pressing the small button so that the red light flashed, operating point 5 n my layout diagram and pressing the button again, to take it out of programming mode. I now had control of points 5 to 8.

 

I am also using Lenz LS100 4 port decoder as the type for my point settings.

 

What have I learnt:

Completely powering down the computer and Elink seems to clear problems with recognition

Using a low com port (1-4) seems to make a difference

 

 

What type you use for decoders in signal and point settings is important

Some ZTC 304 decoders, while working with a ZTC 511 control unit, do not respond to an Elink.

 

What next?

I am very impressed with driving trains from my desktop, so I shall

 

perservere with Hornby.

I still have 20 or so points to lay, with ZTC 304 decoders in stock. I shall investigate the CVs of these to see if resetting to ZTC default will make them operatable from Elink.

I shall buy an Elite to see if this works better

 

than Elink.

I shall investigate networking two PCs so that I can have control at both ends of my loft - may need some help with this!!

 

Finally, I find that locos with various makes of decoder, run much smoother than under ZTC control. No run aways!!

 

 

 

I hope this is some help and encouragement for others that may be struggling.

 

[Fishmanoz]

You sure seem to be getting there PJD. I think all is now working so far? Tells us if not, or tell RM Support as I described above.

 

One thing you have learnt is exactly as recommended - use low com port numbers and if you have problems, do check

 

that the PC hasn't reallocated to a different com port without telling you. Do this if it fails connection initially.

 

Networked PCs is another ball game. Your RM licence will only work on one PC at any time. So unless you intend to control the one

 

copy remotely from the other PC, you'll need 2 licences. Then if you have a handheld device, you can purchase a handheld app for only £10. Take a look at Latest News in the RM Help window, and you'll need to scroll down to the bottom of it to find the detail.

 

Or there is a handheld manual on your desktop. The advantage with the handheld is that you can toke it anywhere around the layout.

[Fishmanoz]

Oh and RM/eLink should program your ZTCs too. Again email RM Support if that isn't working. They are testing all sorts of different hardware all of the time.

[man4805star]

On the subject of rm and programing acc decoders rm will not program a merg acc4 decoder it will not read or write to it .i did send à request to rm thé reply was we do not support other manufactors hard ware. Even à gaugemaster dcc30 decoder Which Is

 

in there decoder dropdown list would not read. I had to use jrmi to program them

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

To clarify things regarding accessory decoders.

 

Although RailMaster Support cannot support other manufacturers' hardware as we simply do not know how they work, we are in the process of testing many third party items to include them into the RailMaster

 

software so that you have to do as little work as possible.

 

Once tested with RailMaster and an item is added to a built in list, whether it be a loco decoder or accessory decoder then we are 100% confident that it works correctly (at least the samples

 

we use).

 

It is then up to you to ensure that you follow the manuacturers' instructions for setting up and connecting the device. It is clear from this forum that several users have difficulty following other manufacturers' instructions and from what

 

we have seen some instructions do not make it terribly clear, which causes further confusion. This is why we are adding third party hardware to RailMaster slowly but surely to ensure that at least part of the operation of programming and using devices is made

 

easier for you. You will notice that we have also added guidance messages when programming decoders, asking you to ensure that certain things have been connected and buttons/switches set on the decoder module.

 

We are currently adding many more third

 

party accessory decoders to RailMaster, although having said that, we are finding that the existing list (in the way they program) are very similar to others not listed and you will find, in most cases (but not all), that your non-listed decoder may actually

 

work with a differently described decoder from the list.

 

Whilst on this subject you will have noticed, when reading loco CVs, that RailMaster knows which loco decoder is installed in your loco and shows an English description of each CV and highlights

 

the ones you can set. This is only achieved by us building this knowledge into the program through testing many popular decoder chips, both Hornby and third parties.

 

We are trying to achieve a situation where you do not have to fiddle with numbers or

 

settings and where possible RailMaster shields you from this to a great degree. Of course, the game changes every time a new loco decoder or accessory decoders comes out and we have to keep up with that.

 

[man4805star]

Thankyou HR

Its nice to know you are working hard on our behalf . You have a product in RM and the elink with alot of potental within it to run a layout .although i am still finding out how to use it bit by bitit. I am not very good with computers.

 

If i could be of help with the loan of a MERG accessorie decoder for you to evaluate with railmaster please contact me