TechImp

Food for thought, Hornby could make bluetooth decoders that are function only with or without sound. it would just mean depleting redundant hardware off the board hopefully making it cheaper. This would make the range more attractive and profitable. good thinking guys!

Very true.

That is true Brew Man, I have done it myself using function only decoders but a bit extravagant to use a HM7k I would have thought!

The decoder is in a Prince of Wales loco that was purchased on pre-order quite a while ago and delivered only recently. I am not sure why I would have it in an unpowered car? I use the programming track when attempting CV access. As I have stated previously, all my other HM7k decoders are in locos and none have this CV problem with RM.

I am using elink and also at the risk of repeating myself, why does it read everything else except this particular one? There must be a very subtle difference somewhere but as I have already stated it works to all intents and purposes so let's just leave it at that.

Hi Fishmanoz and thank you for your reply. Well there is the key I suppose RM has not listed the HM7k decoder. I would have assumed in my ignorance though, that the HM7k would have similar/identical characteristics to previous Hornby decoders. Many people would have been misled by that including myself. This was reinforced by my previous experience with HM7k decoders whereby they all performed as expected. I don't think another email to George would be productive as he is already aware of my problem and has not deemed to reply. I must admit to being sorry to have brought the issue up at all, particularly as I may have upset the person at tech support with my obstinance. I can alter the CV's in bluetooth mode and run in DCC quite happily, so I think it is best left at that. Anyway thanks again.

Ignoring your rather insulting opening sentence, I have used many different decoders with Railmaster and yes it does not read/write CV’s of some although it does recognize them and happily operates them. This should imply to you that I am aware of the write/read problems incurred in this. This would have to be expected because they are not Hornby. I use mainly ESU decoders and RM again interacts quite happily with those. Once again this should make it obvious that I have entered quite successfully these decoders into RM and they all operate wonderfully. However, as the HM7k are Hornby designed it is not unreasonable to expect RM to be completely compatible. If you had actually read my original post, you would understand that this particular decoder was dodgy from the start, but now works perfectly in DCC and Bluetooth modes. Also reiterating, this is the 3rd or 4th HM7k decoder that I managed to “grasp” quite easily and all of them interrogate quite well with RM (and Bluetooth app). The point is that if they all work, why does this one not? My years of training and experience indicate to me that this decoder has a problem. Yes, it can be utilized and that is how it looks it has to be despite this small flaw. Are you implying that HM7k are not listed in RM? I would find that to be incredible to be marketed so. If this is a fault with RM it is very selective. Anyway, I did not post looking for an argument and thought very carefully before answering again at all.

Well rpjallan, no good news. The following conclusions are arrived at. 1) Although tech support may have helped many others, as is their intended brief, their help has not been extended to me. Telling me that Railmaster cannot read/write CV’s from HM7000 decoders that are advertised as NMRA compliant is somewhat misleading. Re directing me to Railmaster was never going to achieve anything. 2) I have not heard from “George”, although I did give him the option of not replying if he considered my situation “trivial”. 3) It is possible that I am just not believed, seeking that to which I have no honest claim. Although my loco is operational despite this small disadvantage, I have paid Aust$500.00 for an article that doesn’t work strictly as advertised. As a fan and admirer of Hornby since childhood, I find this a little disappointing. I have purchased 26 Hornby locos over the last 10 years and have two more on pre-order. This doesn’t include all the rolling stock etc.

Thanks Brew Man.

If I can read my other decoders, including HM7k devices using RM, that surely indicates the decoder at fault. Tech support are well aware of all that but have taken a somewhat devious approach to my problem. I have to say my faith is rather shaken by misleading statements coming from tech support, that appear to be avoiding responsibility. Thank you for the link LTSR_NR.

I emailed tech support. The decoder (21 pin - difficult to install incorrectly) came installed in Prince of Wales and works perfectly otherwise for the moment, despite my nit picking. Does George have a email address? Why would tech support not forward my email to the relevant expert? Thank you Fishmanoz and RAF. I just received another email advising me to contact Rail master. Beginning to lose interest I am afraid.

With some disappointment, I have had virtually no help from tech support. Some suggestions that I had already tried and then finally told that the HM7000 decoder CV’s cannot be accessed using RailMaster software. I have several HM7000 decoders which work perfectly and quite accessible using RM to write and read CV’s. It was suggested earlier that as I can access CV’s via Bluetooth, there is no need to using RM. This is quite true, but I prefer using RM to control my setup, and expect what I pay for to work properly. A reasonable course of action would have been to post the decoder back to Hornby for evaluation, though not cheap from Western Australia.

Hi everyone! I hope this is the most appropriate section to post this in. I have a new Prince of Wales loco which is quite nice except initially, it did not work on my layout. Bluetooth scanning did not locate it and RailMaster would not recognise it. I checked power supply on pins 21 and 22 (strange for a 21 pin decoder but) and all ok at 18v ac, so emailed Hornby tech support thinking the decoder must be faulty. However, trying again the next day, lo and behold Bluetooth picked it up when scanned. All worked fine on Bluetooth but not on Railmaster. Yes CV12 was set to “0” via Bluetooth. I tried everything I could think of, reloaded RM, reset laptop, reloaded the HM7k all to no avail. I updated cv1 to 024 via RM but could not get it to read back. Oddly it worked for a time on RM but when I exited the loco setup it stopped. I persevered for a time during which I could have torn my hair out (but don’t have much) and gave up. As the eternal optimist I tried again this morning, and once again quite magically, it worked on both RM and Bluetooth, I could hardly believe it. Unfortunately, when I attempted to read CV’s on RM it still does not work. As the Bluetooth app indicates the loco address has changed to 024, it appears that I can write to it, but reading CV’s is still not possible on RM. I can read other loco CV’s and have used HM7k decoders in several locos with no problems – all still work ok. It appears, in my humble opinion, that there must be a fault in the decoder, so I await tech support, unless I have overlooked something which I am sure will be pointed out.

In these days of scammers coming out of the woodwork, I found the "Invision" transfer to the new site a no go until I found and read this thread. A little more information would have helped the more cautious.

There are always other options, but as stated already I have found Hornby sounds quite adequate and the ability of the 7000 series to change sound files makes them a lot more attractive. Experimenting with and creating your own sound files adds another dimension to the hobby to those so inclined.

Blue tooth aside, the interesting part of this is that the new decoders can be downloaded with a choice of sound files. Although I have found Hornby sound decoders to be very good sound wise, they can't be reused or changed. Despite their greater cost I use ESU sound decoders because you can create your own sound files - they are much more versatile. I wonder if that is possible with the new decoders? If not then I am sure Hornby have a library of realistic original sounds. A smart move by Hornby, the app is free, but their decoders are much more attractive regardless of your method of control.

P-Henney gave a good description of the hazards of paralleling power supplies - not a good idea and I personally would not do it. Any power supply of the correct voltage with short circuit protection would be ok in my humble opinion.

It appears that since 2010 most/all devices seem to have BT V4 and able to operate the "mesh". This means we need a mesh device/dongle to create a comm network or is the normal BT transmitter in all bluetooth devices sufficient? This sort of implies that the Hornby app incorporates a mesh interface - is that right? If yes, then any BT V4 device can potentially be updated and used. There are wifi light bulbs available, followed no doubt by BT - technology is taking over!

BT v4 appears to be the requirement for mesh, but having just checked my Windows 11 laptop and Android V9 phone I can see no specification for bluetooth so this becomes a bit more confusing. More reading Mesh Networking | Bluetooth® Technology Website

Apologies for confusing bluetooth with wifi, but the principles remain in that either or both can be easily utilised via RM.

Interesting Fishman, so it would not be a problem at all to have RM imitate the new app. The question still remains, will Railmaster become a "legacy" system? It would be a dreadful shame if that were to be the case.

Thank you RogerB, you beat me to it, and no I am not reassured at all, which was my whole point. Hornby have done the right thing by making the new decoders compatible via C12 but need to come clean about the future of RM instead of leaving us in limbo. From my perspective fitting a dongle to e-link is unnecessary when RM could easily be modified to access the wifi that is already in most computers. If not it can easily be installed. A wifi macro/routine must be almost standard and should require very little effort/cost to update. Would that not be the perfect solution where the new replaces the "legacy" painlessly over time.

The term "legacy" concerns me, having like many others invested thousands of dollars in DCC. Is this description used by Hornby or just an unfortunate useage on this forum? I understand that all current DCC is still viable with the new system but some indication that RM is not dead and buried would be reassuring - Hornby could use a little better PR for their long-standing customers in these situations.

Hello all, interesting times. Your questions and answers have been very helpful in clearing up any I may have had; particularly Raf96 and Fishmanoz, thank you. It appears a well thought out system allowing intergration with all prior systems. I use Railmaster and from your information the new HM7000 decoders only need CV12 to be adjusted to run on DCC. That makes modifying Railmaster to access bluetooth a little redundant I suppose. Does this mean further development of Railmaster is not likely? All the best.

Thanks 96RAF, interestingly I am ex RAAF back in the 1960's. I find the use of standard track pieces much easier to use, although flex track certainly has its uses and your tips are noted. I have just downloaded Anyrails Rana and had no idea something like that existed. Quite impressive and I will certainly have a play, thank you very much.