SteveM6

Accessory control is not yet available.

I believe that depending make and maybe CV settings, some stay alives will 'suck' the power from a programme track preventing the decoder from powering up. Personally, my mix of power banks and home brew stay alives have never displayed this behaviour. I think it's probably best practice to fit stay alives via a plug so they can be easily disconnected should they experience programming issues. On the subject of size, I have found that the PB or speaker can often be accommodated in the cab - not ideal but an acceptable compromise. Hornby were quite open at the time of the launch of HM7K that they had designed the decoders with both large and small components, but that the small ones were impossible to source at an acceptable price, mainly due to component supply after the pandemic. Version 2 decoders are likely to be smaller when made available. The same applies to the PB - in its current form, it is an 'overperformer' and as a consequence, a smaller version is being researched.

When you do, you won't regret it. Three of my dongled sound locos were sound fitted from the factory (Dapol and Rails) without stay alive - a real pain to use compared with the others. I must investigate what could be added to those at some point.

Agreed, it's a great piece of kit that will only improve as more functionality is developed. I have around thirty TTS and other sound locos on mine with another twenty eight TXS decoders running happily alongside. All fitted with stayalives of one flavour or another which make all the difference to overall performance.

The Elite is the perfect controller for this purpose. The tablet has found your decoder and will make that the host once you have gone through the decoder set up process. Yes, the 'loose' purple wire is common to all 8 pin decoders.

The issue has already been flagged with the development team and we await a fix.

Don't put a DC supply (especially a Duette) anywhere near it!

Hornby will be fitting HM7000 decoders as their 'standard' decoder. Sound fitted locos will be preloaded with the appropriate sound file at the factory. Non sound HM7000 decoders are not yet available so until they are there will be a transition period where both types may bein the shops. From your perspective John, the only thing you need to be concerned with is that these decoders will behave like the ordinary decoders you are familiar with straight from the box. In reality that's all they are, ordinary DCC decoders which Hornby have tacked on a Bluetooth ariel. No need to fear them John.

Let's apply a little logic to the situation. A few years ago all we got was a 10% discount on purchases from the Hornby online shop and items bought in person from the Visitor Centre. Then about three or maybe four years ago, that was discontinued as well. That may have roughly coincided with the introduction of of the infamous tiering system which also took stock away from the main discounters. I would presume that this may have negatively affected sales requiring a strategy rethink. Tiers were scrapped and the discount was reinstated. With the introduction of the Rewards scheme, the 10% discount was discontinued online although it is (or was) still available from the Visitor Centre. We have also seen the launch of TT120, and Hornby understandably wanted to give it a push so they increased some of the discount levels for TT and ran the two systems side by side based on the date at which individuals joined. Yes some ended up with multiple discounts as a result. All that is apparently happening now is that the extra incentives have run their course and we are now back to just 10% via the rewards scheme. Apart from the 'extras' for last year, none of this has been overtly communicated by Hornby, but then you wouldn't really expect them to shout from the rooftops about what has even seen by many as a reduction in benefits. After all, it's in the T's&C's so they probably didn't think anything else was required. All quite understandable in the circumstances.

Give Hornby Customer Services a call. They will provide a returns number for a repair.

Thanks Rob.

Definitely an issue within the android app Rob. Glad it's not just my tablet!!! I did flag it with the development team but not sure it got much traction at the time.

I picked up an M10 on that offer. With the larger screen it is much easier to use. However, I am experiencing an issue with the profiles page where not all images are displaying correctly and it's a bit slow and jerky scrolling through the many profiles now listed. This manifestation coincided with the latest app update so I suspect there is a conflict buried in there somewhere. Apart from that I find it a very good device.

Steady on Dragon, your voice of reason will likely get you suspended.🥴 Just to add to your comment, when the app launched, it was in its most basic form. Since then quite a few extras have been added, presumably adding to the complexity of all the interactions within the app. I would assume that each change to the app has more potential to find a clash and consequently longer to diagnose and fix.

Couldn't agree more RM, a gradual growth of the system over a period of time is what we are likely to see. There seems to be a trend these days for the public to expect everything immediately. We see endless comments about the time to release a new model after it's announcement and this year, where Hornby have been quite open about the need to catch up and consolidate, we get complaints about the lack of new models. TT has been the same, an expectation from parts of the customer base that Hornby should have released the whole of its back catalogue of OO rescaled to suit TT. I would suggest that no company exists that could manage a feat like that or sustain that level of investment.

Why should they? The locos in their range are a mix of 8, N18 and 21 so it’s no surprise that decoders for those configurations are what they sell. Maybe if they decided to fit decoders with Plux sockets then the decoders might follow but I can’t think why they would diversify further at this stage.

You'll need to do the last one again - front bogie derailed.😏

While I applaud Ninja's efforts, he cannot possibly produce a library of every variation of loco produced. And, to be honest,there is no need to either. Every phone or tablet that the app is loaded to has its own perfectly good camera. Just identify a suitable piece of track on your layout where you can place the camera and loco parallel to each other and take your own pictures to build your own library to upload to the app. Also useful to have a photographic library for insurance purposes in the event of some sort of loss of the collection.

Clueless.

Look out for a Sports Direct branded loco pack with Everlast wagons. Free hoodie with every purchase.

Development team are already aware of this.

That is a self defeating statement. How is a "gimmick for those younger than ourselves" relevant when no one under 18 is allowed any more?

I couldn't get rid of BB's tag on that quote. An inbuilt library would potentially have to cater for every number of every loco in every livery - probably not practical.🤔 The 'block transfer' between devices was raised with the development team a couple of weeks ago. They know how to do it but other developments eg consists have priority at the moment.

Absolutely correct RM. It also explains why it is so difficult for Hornby to design an interface that would work with every system that is on the market. In my case, I knew that my Prodigy would not be suitable so I picked up a secondhand Elite on eBay, upgraded the software and sent it back to Hornby to have one of the push buttons replaced. The Elite now powers the layout with control via the app and the Prodigy has been assigned to the test and programming track.

You certainly need to follow the first setup process before assigning any locos however you do not need the dongle to be connected to create the locos in your engine shed. This can be done within the app and then assign them later. I have just set up 25+ from the comfort of my sofa before taking the tablet out to the shed, powered up the dongle and quickly assigned each of those locos in the engine shed to it.