Elite - what next?

[BigNoj]

Last few Elite’s at £327 on Hornby Shop, then what?

I changed some years ago to a Digikeijs DR5000 however I bought a used eLink as I missed some of the program features of Railmaster. I use both now depending on my mood.

[Yelrow]

Big Noj, Think they mean in stock, then pre order, perhaps. Elite is an excellent controller.

[ColinB]

I have Digikeijs DR5000 that I use for running my layout and an Elite for testing and programming locos on a metre of track. I suppose Hornby will make some more. HM7000 was supposed to be the great saviour but try fitting one of those in a Pecket. The Elite works but the technology is so old and the box itself is mega expensive. They would have been better to have made a DCC pod that talked to a phone/tablet/pc via wireless, they already had the pod but it talked over USB. I don't know, to me I would ditch the Select and just concentrate on one DCC controller thus reducing the software overheads. Who knows where they are going?

[96RAF]

What they need is an app controlled eLink successor as the main dcc interface (i.e. a dcc black box with a built in dongle) and a tactile wireless hand controller as a walkabout. Are they listening - maybe/maybe not.

[Yelrow]

Colin, hi, i use an Elite Elite. Its Technology runs every make of DCC locos, and very well, at that. I have not read any posts on here about Elite capabilities. Is not your controller, also, kinda expensive. I know nothing about the make, or what it does, but secondhand ones, seem expensive. I run 3 selects as walkabouts, and they also, do the job. When you see the probs occuring with these Blue tooth thingys, give me a walkabout, every time. Just saying.

[ColinB]

The  Digikeijs DR5000 when I bought it was substantially cheaper than an Elite. The Elite is something I used to design in the 1990s, interestingly with all the faults I avoided, like the press to select which frequently changes the value you want to enter. The trouble with the Elite it isn't a true twin track controller. The Digikeijs allows me to control as many loco as I want with a separate window for each loco, just point to the relevant window on the PC and you have control. If you want to do remote there is a wireless interface to run ITrains on your phone. I suppose it is what you are used to, I am an ex Windows Programmer so to me the Digikeijs is the way I would do it if I wrote an app. Previous to the Digikeijs I had a Fleishmann twin track controller which I had to bin as it didn't work with the latest Zimo sound decoders, but it was a true twin track controller and handled accessories really well.

The Fleishmann as well as the Elite I got cheap as they were broken, hence why I have them, I bought the Digikeijs full price directly from them and I must admit I think it is brilliant.

I do find the Elite is great for programming locos because the menus are quite easy to use, but the press to accept is really annoying when it increments the value. They should have used a separate "Enter" key or disabled the rotary action when entering CV values, it would have solved that. I suppose one of the issues with the Digikeijs is it needs a laptop, but they are really cheap these days if you buy an old one. As I store all the loco ids in Excel the laptop is really useful for easily looking up the id of a particular loco.

As I say it is what you are comfortable with.

[ModelerXYZ]

The Elite is a good controller. I quite like the flexibility of running a train with or without railmaster on, and purposely don't have a phone capable of running the app.

XYZ

[Yelrow]

Modeler XYZ, I often simply run with the Elite, simply because of the time it takes my 21 year old laptop, to fire up. I must remember to turn it on, when I pre heat room. I am a total Elite supporter.

[gilbo2]

I do like the Elite (+ RailMaster) and the Select walkabout is so handy for when the grandkids come round wink

The initial blank expressions in the 2024 Q&A Signal box video was maybe quite revealing, when the question of Elites future was raised. They quickly recovered the discussion though by saying Elite is part of the HM7000 development.

Personally, I'd welcome a refresh of the Elite hardware as I believe it can now benefit from modern processors etc. Also, for RailMaster to be replaced by an HM7000 Windows equivalent, providing all the data can be imported (Track plans, programs, loco roster etc.). I should win the lottery on Saturday too grinning

[Brew Man]

Bear in mind that Railmaster and Hornby are not connected in any way, so expecting further development to accommodate HM7k is probably wishful thinking.

[96RAF]

TGG is an improvement upon RM, authored by our very own Stingray of this forum.

It does almost everything RM does and more including sensor triggered program events for automatic running rather than timed macros.

At present it works on a Windows PC with Elite and/or eLink as well as Select walkabouts.

It can use HM7K decoders in DCC mode only as Ray has yet to crack the bluetooth direct operation.

There is facility to import your existing RM data, such as track-plan, loco database, programs, etc, but there is no built in pick list for locos by SKU or scale speed calibration, you have to do that yourself.

There is a thread about it in the DCC forum, which I have just bumped to make it easier to find.

[HST Mainline]

I was the one asking the question on the future of Elite and Select on the Q&A.

My interpretation of the answer is that they are still debating the future of the Elite and Select, but at the moment there is no plan to discontinue the products.

It makes sense to keep af DCC controller available as the majority of non-Hornby locos will not have a decoder compatible with the HM7000 Bluetooth control. Keeping the Elite in the program will make it possible for users to stay in the Hornby digital ecosystem and still use decoders from other manufacturers along with the HM7000 (via the dongle).

That being said, we don't know what the future might bring. For now, it looks as if they are just running out of the current batch of Elite controllers, and new ones will arrive.

[moawkwrd]

I noticed that the Select was also still listed in the 2024 Hornby International catalogues which surprised me as it hasn't been on the website except as a hidden page showing out of stock for more than a year?

[ColinB]

If they want to go bluetooth why not make a box that takes bluetooth, supplies the 12 volt supply for the track and converts it to DCC. Basically a dongle with a powersupply. The smaller locos will always for the moment use DCC and the HM7000s are just too big. Without the display and switches it could also be very cheap.

[BigNoj]

In reply to my own question the Bachmann Kinesis looks promising as there is no need to change decoders.

[96RAF]

In reply to my own question the Bachmann Kinesis looks promising as there is no need to change decoders.

 

 

Very expensive. The only difference to a regular dcc system is it has a plug in wireless box for handsets in lieu of the curly cable that you have to stick in your pocket. All the rest is dcc to rails.

[96RAF]

If they want to go bluetooth why not make a box that takes bluetooth, supplies the 12 volt supply for the track and converts it to DCC. Basically a dongle with a powersupply. The smaller locos will always for the moment use DCC and the HM7000s are just too big. Without the display and switches it could also be very cheap.

 

 

Sounds a bit like an eLink with a dongle. That modification was culled.

[Yelrow]

Big Noj, i will stick with tried and tested. Bachmann thingy looks gimmicky, with plenty to go wrong. Once released, no doubt we will get a feedback. Have a couple of their DC controllers, which are very basic.

[Daryll-374011]

I was thinking about purchasing a used Elite to upgrade from a select and then get the HM7000 bluetooth dongle when it comes out, worth doing ?

[96RAF]

@daryll

If you want to run normal dcc decoders as well as the HM7K decoders then you need a dcc controller. If you want to run those all from the app then you need the dongle.

[Daryll-374011]

@96RAF

Yes have both normal decoders and the new HM7K ones. I'm waiting for the release for the dongle to plug into the my select but I thought I might upgrade my select controller for the elite to have more functions maybe?

[SteveM6]

That’s exactly what I did Daryl. Invest in the Elite then add the dongle when it is released. That won’t be much longer by the way. Asking make sure you get a 4amp psu for the Elite.

I would add that I am one of the few that has a dongle on test - works perfectly. We believe that we will get an update to test shortly ready for the arrival of the main batch in the country.

[LTSR_NSE]

@daryll - the dongle will work with both Select & Elite, so the only reason(s) for upgrading are merely the advantages that Elite already offers. It might be worthwhile waiting for dongle & trying in Select first before making a decision - unless you are already discontented & looking to upgrade anyway?

What firmware version is your Select using? (If either 1.6 or 2.0 then it already can access all functions up to F28 - however if an older/lower version then it might be worth considering getting Select firmware upgraded as another possibility.)

Never mind just seen your post in another thread stating v1.6.

[96RAF]

Select V1.6 operates all available functions as does Elite. The Selects main disadvantage is restricted addressing of locos (1 to 59) and accessories (61 to 99), otherwise its a good basic controller.

What we need is a Mk2 Elite with built in bluetooth.

[Daryll-374011]

@LT&SR_NSE Yes purchased one last night as my thoughts are that I will get £50/60 back for the select on a well know auction site, the 4 amp power supply is £50 so you can see where my thoughts were, I found a new one for £200.