Reprogramming points in Railmaster

[Ralphy5]

Hi Lads,

My computer which I was using for Railmaster Hard disk crashed.

I have had my key codes reset and reinstalled Railmaster and Railmaster Pro.

I have completed my track plan with points.

My problem is how do I program each decoder set without actually connecting the accessory decoder ( R8247 ) I have 6 decoders wired to my layout.

Or do I have to physically remove each decoder and reprogram it?

Thank you all for your help

Regards,

Ralphy5

[P-Henny]

You don't have to reprogram the points decoder or any decoder. As long as you kept a record of what addresses had been allocated to them. The addresses are stored in the decoder and are not lost if the Railmaster PC no longer works and has to be replaced and RM re-installed.

All you need to do is re-configure the RM screens with all the previously entered information.

As you had RM PRO, did you not use the RM PRO 'Back Up' feature to back-up your RM settings onto a portable drive or memory stick. If you had, you could have restored all your settings back into RM, using the RM PRO Back-Up's.

Not that it is needed, but to answer the original question as asked.

You can leave the Hornby R8247 Accessory Decoders wired in-situ and still reprogramme them. All you do is take a temporary length of 2 wire cable i.e cheap speaker cable or bell 2 wire, and terminate one end onto the RM controller 'PROG A&B' terminals. The free end is then taken to each R8247 in turn where you unplug the 'TRACK A&B' input wires and leave them dangling but not touching anything as they will be live. With the 'TRACK A&B' input of the R8247 now free, you can attach the temporary wire pair from the controller 'PROG' output to the R8247 track input for programming, then once programming complete restore the wiring. But as I have just said, you don't need to do this if you already know what the addresses are. If you have absolutely no idea what addresses you previously used, you could of course, use the described temporary wire method to 'READ' the addresses that you can then re-enter into the RM track plan screen. This would also negate the need to re-programme them again.

You said in your post:

"I have completed my track plan with points"

If that included re-entering the original point addresses, but your points are now not working. Then something else is wrong with what you have done. That is not a 'my R8247 decoders need re-programming' issue. That is a 'I have re-entered the data in RM incorrectly' issue.

[Ralphy5]

Thankfully I know the addresses and will now use the back up which I didn’t do

Thank you so much for your support

I am so grateful for your help

best regards

Ralphy5