Pro-pack + Handheld licence.

[Derrick_W_Martin]

Hi there,

I am trying to purchase the handheld licence for my railmaster software. I've been using the full version of railmaster on my computer for a lot of years now, but because my layout has grown over those years I can no longer sit at the computer and see what's going on.

I'm quite prepared to buy the pro-pack licence, but what I want to know is "does that come with the ability to use a handheld device, ie: tablet/mobile phone"?.

Other than that how can I get the handheld licence on its own. I've tried through the railmaster desktop home page, but that only gives me the option for the pro-pack.

I've searched the internet/Google for the answers but to no avail. Maybe the question has already been discussed on this forum but I haven't been able to find that either.

Thanking you in advance and hopefully I'll be up and running again very soon.

[P-Henny]

There is nothing in the Railmaster manual that remotely suggests that 'HandHeld' support is a 'ProPack' only option. On page 5 of the manual the 'HandHeld' feature is listed in the options applicable to the Railmaster Standard edition. Conversely, it is not listed in either page 6 or 7 which itemise the 'ProPack' only options. See also page 133 of the RM manual.

Have you read the 'HandHeld' PDF manual that the Railmaster installer saves in the RM program folder?

This gives details of where to download the HH app from (subject to the mobile device you want to use) and how to install it.

The HH license is a completely independant entity from the RM Standard & RM ProPack license. But it is not a 'standalone' feature, the HH APP has to work 'hand in glove' with the RM PC software.

As an aside, you say you have been using RM for many years. Have you been keeping up with each new RM release. What is your currently installed RM version?

Page numbers in this reply referenced from the 1.74 RM manual. The latest RM version downloadable from links in this forum is 1.74.5

[Derrick_W_Martin]

Hi there P-Henny,

I am running RM Version1.72. I am unaware of any other updates and my railmaster software hasn’t notified me of any updates so I’m just presuming that I have the latest update.

I click onto the upgrade link via the railmaster home page, but all I can get is the debit/credit card request for the pro-pack software. I’ve tried everything else I can think of but no luck so far. There must be a way of purchasing this licence. Or have Railmaster done away with this service?.

[Rog RJ]

I'm not an elink user & definitely not an expert but I'm fairly sure the latest version is 1.74.5 and I think you purchase handheld & Pro pak licences from within the Ralmaster application.

[Fishmanoz]

Derek, first go to the Railmaster Download Link thread at the top of this forum and download the latest. Your version is buggy and definitely needs updating.

Then, for the HH licence and download:

• have you done as PH suggested and looked for the HH pdf manual that is added to your desktop when you upgrade? It should tell you the procedure, or
• back when the HH was first released, within the Help tab there was an item on it including the download/purchase link in the Latest News posts there. Haven’t had my RM open for quite some time so not sure if it is still there but someone like Rob/RAF96 should be able to tell you

And I’m also pretty certain ProPak is not needed.

[96RAF]

I have just been reading the manual and it refers you back to the HH manual and also as Fishy says to the Latest News section - press the world globe icon to access that page.

I don’t have RM handy on this iPad but HH licences definitely do not require a Pro licence.

[P-Henny]

1.74.5 was never an auto-update release.That is to say that you are not automatically notified of its availability when RM starts. It is a manual update. You have to manually download the 1.74.5 installer from the download links located on this forum and run the downloaded rm_setup.exe installer file over the top of the 1.72 version. You do not uninstall the existing RM first. If you get operational errors such as your eLink controller not recognised or a loss of eLink connection stability after upgrade. Then you have to follow the FAQ1 guidance in the 'Railmaster FAQ' sticky thread and edit your .ini file.

RM 1.74.5 is a stable (April 2022) release and fixed some bugs in earlier 1.7x releases, so is well worth installing even if you do have to edit the .ini file.

Note that the download file will (subject to which browser you are using) probably trigger a Trojan detected error message. This is a 'false positive'. The file is safe to download from this forums site links. Subject to browser used, they usually have a process to enable an over-ride of the error and allow the download to continue.

As others have said, you are looking in the wrong place in RM for information about installing the HH APP. It is in the 'News' tab icon not the 'Upgrade' one. This is documented on page 133 of the 1.74 manual that I advised you to read.

And I reiterate again. You do not need ProPack to use the HH APP.

You haven't given any indication which HH device you want to use i.e. Android Tablet, Android Phone, Apple iPad, Apple Phone etc. Based upon many threads and posts made on this forum. The installation and operation of HH APPs on some devices for some forum members has not gone smoothly. For those who have had issues, some of them got their issues resolved with support from the forum, whilst some others resorted to using a second Laptop loaded with 'PC Anywhere'. This allows the second Laptop to clone the master PC Railmaster screen and take remote control of it without the need to pay for any additional licenses.

[Goathland]

For what it is worth I am running the standard Railmaster (i.e. not Pro-pack) and the android Handheld App and all is fine. I believe the Handheld app was £9.99, but subsequent copies are only £4.99 to register. This is in addition to the Railmaster licence as this needs to run as well.

Run Railmaster on PC, Install and run the handheld app on your handheld device, put in the IP address of your PC that is actually running Railmaster (they suggest using a static IP address for your PC so it doesn't change), and the Railmaster program on your PC will put up a popup window for you to register the product key you purchased for the handheld app (or run in unregistered mode), and then your handheld app will continue and download your loco details and layout and give you the loco control screen.