Johnny H Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hi Guys,I'm coming to the world of railway modelling after a gap of about 50 years and what has hooked me is the tech that's available for less than the kids blow on a night out.. My first computer had 32kb of RAM and cost about a week's wages.What interests me is loco detection. Its already supported by the latest Hornby software but I've been unable to purchase it or get a handle on the programming language that will/is used.I'm assuming that a basic IF THEN loop will be able to modify an individual unit's programme but will it be possible to incorporate a virtual signal, allocated to an address not controlled by an acessory controller to make global commands?As an examle if a virtual signal named 2014 on the track plan is set to danger will it be possible to stop all trains from passing it even if it doesn't exist in the "real" world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1ngr4y Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hi Guys,I'm coming to the world of railway modelling after a gap of about 50 years and what has hooked me is the tech that's available for less than the kids blow on a night out.. My first computer had 32kb of RAM and cost about a week's wages.What interests me is loco detection. Its already supported by the latest Hornby software but I've been unable to purchase it or get a handle on the programming language that will/is used.I'm assuming that a basic IF THEN loop will be able to modify an individual unit's programme but will it be possible to incorporate a virtual signal, allocated to an address not controlled by an acessory controller to make global commands?As an examle if a virtual signal named 2014 on the track plan is set to danger will it be possible to stop all trains from passing it even if it doesn't exist in the "real" world?Hi Johnny,Welcome to the Hornby Forum.I don;t see why not. Virtual signals could be a crude way of storing variables. Loco Detection sensors can be incorporated as items in a Railmaster Track diagram. The reason you have been unable to find it for sale yet, is that the hardware has not yet been released by Hornby. There are already "programming" facilities available in Railmaster, but the commands available can hardly be described as a programming language.Not sure what you mean by "a basic IF THEN loop will be able to modify an individual unit's programme".Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hi Guys,I'm coming to the world of railway modelling after a gap of about 50 years and what has hooked me is the tech that's available for less than the kids blow on a night out.. My first computer had 32kb of RAM and cost about a week's wages.What interests me is loco detection. Its already supported by the latest Hornby software but I've been unable to purchase it or get a handle on the programming language that will/is used.I'm assuming that a basic IF THEN loop will be able to modify an individual unit's programme but will it be possible to incorporate a virtual signal, allocated to an address not controlled by an acessory controller to make global commands?As an examle if a virtual signal named 2014 on the track plan is set to danger will it be possible to stop all trains from passing it even if it doesn't exist in the "real" world?Hi Johnny Welcome to the forum. My layout has about 3 dozen signals on it, 20 working 16 dummy signals. The dummy signals on the layout do nothing but, RM has a signal in it's place on the computer screen and is programmed like any other as a signal or as a signal attached to points. They work fine. PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny H Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Thanks for the information. It looks as though the Hornby software engineers have taken the hard work out of automating layouts.Using dummy signals has got to be a cost saver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ_model_trains Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hi Johnny They have done a great job and are contuing to do so. Signals are good for Loco Detection, although many parts of LD will be able to run without signals, so it is good for Hornby to include signals as an option but, Hornby do not make signals that many of us may require, so again makes sense they should add signals to a mimic plan that work with loco detection and change points, etc but also make it so that you don't have to purchase signals if you don't want to or cannot afford at that time. Another good point is by designing RM they way they have, you can add signals slowly as you wish and as time allows. A bit of good thinking on their part I thnk ;o) PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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