ESU Switchpilot programming via E-link & Railamster

[neilth108]

Please excuse me if this topic has already been discussed. Has anyone managed to programme an ESU switchpilot using the railmaster software? I am not into model railways but my 11 year old son is. He currently has a DCC layout with 2 Horny select controllers

 

and about 2 dozen trains. For Xmas I bought him the E-link and a number of ESU switch pilots (was trying to but the Hornby accessory decoder but was constantly out of stock) and have totally rebuilt his layout and completed around 3 weeks ago. Installed the

 

software, activated it and designed his layout on the screen. Ran software again today to programme the ESU's and all icons have disappeared from screen with no way to launch the Railmaster software so had to reinstall it but only works in evaluation mode,

 

awaiting answer back from Hornby. Wired up the ESU's and nothing. The software seems to read the decoder placing some values in the boxes but it does nothing, no LED's lit, point motors don't work. it just looks completely dead. Any suggestions at all would

 

be very much appreciated.

Regards

Neil

[Fishmanoz]

Hi Neil, welcome to the forums. This particular decoder has proven very difficult to program but it was solved eventually. Take a look at the HRMS and other posts on this thread and it should solve your problem https://www.hornby.com/forums/hornby-forums/hornby-railmaster/5296/?page=9&added=false

 

as you can see, that is a very long thread and earlier pages have some clues too.

 

Good luck but should be ok with the load on port 1 and the other connections made including making sure the polarities are the same.

[neilth108]

Have searched the forums with various people giving various details how to connect these up. I have tried the following methods.

1) Power A & Power B of the ESU to Track E-Link connections, Track A & B of ESU to programme of E-LInk. Railmaster does

 

read the decoder, it also switches the point motor once only but doesn't do anything else. If you press the little button on the ESU it does blink showing there is power and doesn't seem to do anything using the "learn" function on the ESU.

 

2) Power

 

A & B of the ESU to programme of the E-link, Track A & B to programme of the E-link. Railmaster reads the decoder placing various values in the boxes but then what. Do I resend these values to the decoder? if you press the green tick button it goes through

 

the same process again. If you press the red cross it exits. Does this then mean the values are ok and it will use them

 

The polarity is correct. Really confused on what should be a very simple exercise.

[Fishmanoz]

Neil, see what I just put on the other thread for you, or follow my link above.

[Teedoubleudee]

Hi Fishy,

This link is giving me a "404" message. Have you deleted it?

[cliveg]

Hi Neil,

With help from this forum, I have managed to program the ESU SwitchPilot using Railmaster and eLink, I have 2 units. I have not tried programming with Railmaster 1.56. I used 1.55.

I experienced programming issues using the standard 1 amp power supply, when I used a 4 amp supply, I was able to set the output port numbers and pulse duration. I have used 2 different 4 amp supplies, a proper Hornby one and a laptop power supply with correct plug polarity.

There are 3 different connections required: 1. Read from decoder, 2. Write to decoder and 3. Use decoder. Make sure polarity is observed and a load (point motor/solenoid) is connected to Port 1 of the SwitchPilot.

Connect 2 pairs(Trk pair and Pwr pair) of wires to SwitchPilot.

Connections are:

1.Read from decoder

both Trk pair and Pwr pair to Elink PROG

2. Write to Decoder

Trk pair to Elink PROG and Pwr pair to Elink TRACK

3. Use decoder

both Trk pair and Pwr pair to Elink TRACK

Using Win8.1, RailMaster 1.55 and eLink 1.04

Clive

[Fishmanoz]

Hi TWD, I haven't deleted it, I can't as it is a forum thread.  But I see what's happened - when they redid the forum recently, they changed the thread addresses, meaning none of the old links will work now. You can find it though by going to page 5 of this RM forum where you'll find a long thread titled ESU Programming. Then go the the HRMS post on page 9 of the thread, and there it is. 

But you'll find it says exactly the same as all of the recent stuff. What part of that are you still struggling with?

[cliveg]

Neil,

Just had to check if the info I posted earlier works with Railmaster 1.56 and eLink 1.06. I hadn't programmed a SwitchPilot since upgrading RailMaster.

I connected a brand new SwitchPilot as in my earlier post. I set the first Output port no. to 5 and other ports became 6,7 and 8 automatically. Pulse dur. was set to 520ms. I checked reading, writing (various values and reading them back again) and used the decoder to switch a SEEP PM1 point motor from within RailMaster. The SwitchPilot mode switch was set to User. Worked fine.

Good luck,

Clive

[Teedoubleudee]

WOW, now that's different!  Different connections for reading and writing? OK I'll certainly give that a go if and when Hattons send me another one. I'm concerned about your statement re the 1A and 4A power supplies though, as I only have the original 1A as supplied as with the e-link.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm having exactly the same problems and have returned my SP to Hattons.

Did you have the point motors prewired to the SP or use the 180 ohm method as per their guide?

Terry

[Yelrow]

Teed, hi, think you will need a 4 amp power supply, once you start adding points. A lot of earlier comments on threads about 4 amp, but unless i am proved wrong, know of nobody running multiple point on 1 amps. Certainly, i as elink user, have one, john

[Teedoubleudee]

Thanks John, more expense (grumpy face)

I've just been reading other threads on here (couldn't find them before when I tried a search?) pointed to me above. Well I am so glad it isn't just me that's been having problems with the ESU - some posts I could have written myself!

Just this minute got an email from Hattons saying they are crediting me for the ESU I just sent back. So now I need to buy another, and guess which one I WON'T be buying!

[cliveg]

Terry,

Just doubled checked the info and programmed a brand new SwitchPilot. Worked fine with prewired SEEP PM1 point motor. Haven't ever used a resistor.

I had major dramas with SwitchPilot at beginning of this year. After swapping to 4A power supply, I have been able to program SwitchPilot most times, it still is a bit of a black art. Perseverence is the key, rebooting PC, switching eLink off and on helps sometimes, walking away for a few minutes may help too. I have always programmed the SwitchPilot evertually, but I have a Hornby R8247 decoder which can be progammed first time every time.

Basically I connect point motor to Port 1 of SwitchPilot(SP). Open RailMaster, connect SP to eLink for reading, check values. Reconnect SP for writing (set first Port no. and sequence is completed automatically, Pulse dur. is set to 520ms, I mainly use Hornby and Peco solenoid point motors ), reconnect SP for reading and check correct values have been stored, if not, restart process. Reconnect SP for using on layout. Obviously point number has to be setup in RailMaster's Design Layout mode to test.

Hope this helps,

Clive

[Teedoubleudee]

B*gger, Just went into my H*ttons account and it looks like they are sending me a new one. Oh well, at least I'm armed with a lot more info now and confirmation that these can be programmed with e-link and RM. Thanks Clive

[Fishmanoz]

John, you seem to be ignoring HRMS advice that the 1 amp supply problem has been fixed by a new driver that comes with v1.56. So before shelling out for a 4 amp, I would suggest anyone having trouble with the 1 amp contact RM Support from within the Help window of RM. 

[Fishmanoz]

Neil, that is really weird, given your Connection 2 method is contrary to bothies the Switchpilot manual, HRMS a advice as to how to program them, and other advice from those here who've been successful in programming them. 

[Yelrow]

Fishy, does not the new driver only cover elink, as   it it my undestanding that the force necessary to change several points, plus run locos, needs to be increasd, eg 4 amp. In my majestic set notes there is a bit about larger supply. May be somebody with an elink, may wish to add a comment, about what they are using. john

[Teedoubleudee]

I've just ordered one (4A supply). Should arrive about the same time as my replacement SwitchPilot. I will update when I've tried again.

[Michael_A]

Sorry but I dont know why this topic has become so complicated. Why do you even need to read back from the decoder? If you follow the quick programming method, it worked for me fisrt time every time and you simply connect it once to the track and can then forget about it.

 I posted this in an earlier thread:

1. Connect pwr a and track a together to the red TRACK output of the Elite / E link, and pwr b and track b together to the black TRACK output

2. Set the first point and number up in railmaster (1,5,9 etc)

3. Connect at least 1 point motor or load as described in the ESU instructions to point 1 connections on the ESU

4. Put the ESU switch in the middle 'User' position, (pulsed output) for the more normal P@CO / Hornby solenoid operated point motors or k84 for motorised points, lights etc (output always on)

5. Press the ESU learn button until the LED only just starts to flash and then flashes slowly. Note there are two flashing modes, slow flash which allows learn mode to work from Elite / e link as well as Railmaster, and quick flashing which then means the ESU can only be programmed via Railmaster. (I have no idea.......!)

6. Click on Railmaster screen the point or light you want to change and that will set the corresponding point number on the ESU. So if you use point / port 1, the other point outputs will be 2,3,4, if you start at 5, they will be 6,7,8 and so on.

 

To programme this way by the Elite itself, then the method is just the same, you simply operate point 1, 5, 9 etc from the Elite.

 

Note the LED will stop flashing once the programming is accepted.

 

I have now successfully programed 3 ESU's using this method.

 

Leave the User switch in User for solenoid points or k84 for motorised points or lights. Don't use k83 as the output pulse is too long and will eventually destroy solenoid point motors.

[OssieB]

I can also confirm that the above "learn" method works successfully with the Elite. I have not yet tried with RM. It was third time lucky following pressing the learn mode button - strict observance of step 5 regarding speed of flashing LED is necessary. However, I will not be using another ESU SP due to its poor performance - it is unable to switch more than one point at a time from a single port, perhaps due to no CDU. Therefore, it cannot be used on a crossover. The Hornby R8247 is much more suitable for this, when it is back in stock again.. In fact, as an experiment, I have tried 3 points successfully with the Hornby one, but would not consider it reliable on a layout.

[Fishmanoz]

John, not sure of your point here as, yes, we have only ever been talking eLink here with 1 Amp with the new driver said to work better with some particular Windows configurations. HRMS has previously told us that their large test layout with lots of locos and accessories runs successfully with the 1 Amp. In fact, I think that caused them a blind spot for a little while when others said it didn't and they needed convincing. Now we know that it won't work with some arrangements like a non-CDU accessory decoder and high current point motors that try to draw more then 1 Amp on their own. 

This lot can't be a problem with Elite as it comes with 4 Amp new, one of its advantages. 

[Montywb]

I can also confirm that this method works perfectly and thanks Michael for posting it here.

 

Maurice

[Teedoubleudee]

As said before, I did get my ESU S/P to work using the above but only in "pulse" mode. This unit is supposed to be able to set each port individually for "pulse" or "constant" but I don't see how this is achieved. I did read elsewhere on this forum that you can set up individual CVs in "loco" mode but I haven't had chance to try this yet.

[Fishmanoz]

You cannot adjust pulse length with learn mode programming on the track. You will have to follow the earlier instructions in this thread on programming on the programming track. When you do this, also using the accessory decoder programming features in RM, you will find you can adjust pulse length all the way to continuous. You do this without directly adjusting CVs, just as you don't adjust CVs when writing long decoder IDs. 

[Teedoubleudee]

I tried that before and it didn't work. Everytime I wrote something to it I got a different reading back. Full details of my trials and tribulations with this unit are posted somewhere here on a different thread. It now works (at least on the first 2 ports) though I still have a "sticky" motor on one. I am going to wire up the other 2 ports to Dapol signals via relays.

You must be able to directly change CVs somehow on this unit, but perhaps not via RM.

[Fishmanoz]

You certainly can't "directly" change accessory decoder CVs using Elite or RM, only set port addresses and pulse length, which causes the CVs to change anyway. 

At least one person has said they can change CVs by treating the decoder as a loco but I suspect all they are doing is as I've described anyway. Interesting though as locos and accessory decoders can have duplicated addresses as they are treated differently in the NMRA spec.