Hornby Elite

[daveyrd]

Hi all,

I have just bought a Hornby elite, I have been waiting for ages for the Bachmann Dynamis having heard bad things about the elite.
However a good review in a recent magazine made me change my mind, the Bachmann unit looks very good but will only have one throttle, I want 2 and would need to buy 2 handsets so that would make it more expensive then the elite as well.
Unfortunately I’m also moving house at the moment so have no proper railway on which to try it, I managed to get time to set up an oval and have a play with it and all was well.
Then I tried to upgrade it to V1.1 using a USB cable and the software downloaded from Hornbys site, after many “error connect” messages, the elite stopped working!
The shop kindly exchanged the unit and I’m now not planning on upgrading until I’m sure the same wont happen again!
Playing with the new unit it restarted twice whilst I was using it and the lost all but the first letter of all the loco names. As I had named all my locos CL 25, CL33 etc, I now have a list of names that is C, C,C etc!!
So does anybody else have these problems? Is it essential to upgrade to V1.1? are these units reliable?
Should I return it and get my money back whilst I still can and wait for the Dynamis?

Any help or advice appreciated

Cheers,
Dave

 

[class 313]

Hi all,

I have just bought a Hornby elite, I have been waiting for ages for the Bachmann Dynamis having heard bad things about the elite.
However a good review in a recent magazine made me change my mind, the Bachmann unit looks very good but will only have one throttle, I want 2 and would need to buy 2 handsets so that would make it more expensive then the elite as well.
Unfortunately I’m also moving house at the moment so have no proper railway on which to try it, I managed to get time to set up an oval and have a play with it and all was well.
Then I tried to upgrade it to V1.1 using a USB cable and the software downloaded from Hornbys site, after many “error connect” messages, the elite stopped working!
The shop kindly exchanged the unit and I’m now not planning on upgrading until I’m sure the same wont happen again!
Playing with the new unit it restarted twice whilst I was using it and the lost all but the first letter of all the loco names. As I had named all my locos CL 25, CL33 etc, I now have a list of names that is C, C,C etc!!
So does anybody else have these problems? Is it essential to upgrade to V1.1? are these units reliable?
Should I return it and get my money back whilst I still can and wait for the Dynamis?

Any help or advice appreciated

Cheers,
Dave

What is this anyway?

 

[Gizmogle]

Tom, it's a DCC system for a model railway.

I have the Hornby Select, and it's not too great. Always having random little problems that cause crashes and whatnot. I wouldn't spend money on the Hornby Elite. Do some research on DCC, read some reviews and see what else is around. Most people highly recommend the Lenz systems.

 

[Nick]

AFAIK the firmware update is to do with reading the CV values properly. The Elite seems a good system, Model Rail's review certainly a swaying factor as is the dual control, in honesty Im not sold on the Dyanmis and its "joystick" style control....whats wrong with rotary knobs? Lenz are a pretty penny, for the money you cant really get much more than the Elite...bar the Digitrax system or the Roco one.

Secondly remember your track isn't full DCC wired it seems, so there may of course be errors with you using a DCC system on a not fully wired DCC layout.

 

[Nathan]

I have the Hornby Select, and it's not too great. Always having random little problems that cause crashes and whatnot.

Perhaps its just you? but connectivity is of most importance, now that ive started running on my permanant (in progress) layout it doesnt trips like it use to on my exhibition track.

 

[kettlefan]

exhibition track.

hock: explain please

I really want a Zero 1 set just for the hell of it!

 

[Gizmogle]

Perhaps its just you?

Oi! It's not just me!
It really is just an arse. Some problems and crashes are down to me, but alot are definately Select. It can be very slow to respond with some locos, resulting in crashes or running into the buffers. If the track is not perfectly clean or connected then the locomotive address will disappear, turning to random symbols on the LCD screen, which can be annoying as the trains are usually still running.
But yes, not meaning to rant, I'll stop now. Just having a big layout and alot of trains doesn't seem to agree with the Select. I'm guessing you're on a smaller layout with less trains?

 

[Nathan]

Oi! It's not just me!
It really is just an arse. Some problems and crashes are down to me, but alot are definately Select. It can be very slow to respond with some locos, resulting in crashes or running into the buffers. If the track is not perfectly clean or connected then the locomotive address will disappear, turning to random symbols on the LCD screen, which can be annoying as the trains are usually still running.
But yes, not meaning to rant, I'll stop now. Just having a big layout and alot of trains doesn't seem to agree with the Select. I'm guessing you're on a smaller layout with less trains?

Ok so human error i can understand. Are you sure its not slow to respond because you've set the acceleration and deceleration high? at current yes my layout is only 25ft of running track, it is yet to extend and only got 3 programmed locos and one using the '00' address for a decoderless loco. 4 at max.

I did experiance the same problem with my exhibition layout which had dirty track and therefore lost contact with the loco. Once that happened the unit forgets the address as though you've removed it off the track and because of this keeps running until quickly entering the address again to control the loco once more. I am always precautious about that which is why i always now operate in a normal fashion in having speed limits and setting the road completely before setting off. Sad as it may sound but if i didnt, i might have lost 34029 off a 5ft drop!

 

[Gizmogle]

Ok so human error i can understand. Are you sure its not slow to respond because you've set the acceleration and deceleration high? at current yes my layout is only 25ft of running track, it is yet to extend and only got 3 programmed locos and one using the '00' address for a decoderless loco. 4 at max.

I did experiance the same problem with my exhibition layout which had dirty track and therefore lost contact with the loco. Once that happened the unit forgets the address as though you've removed it off the track and because of this keeps running until quickly entering the address again to control the loco once more. I am always precautious about that which is why i always now operate in a normal fashion in having speed limits and setting the road completely before setting off. Sad as it may sound but if i didnt, i might have lost 34029 off a 5ft drop!

I've not had the acceleration or deceleration set for a while now.
But yes, I know it makes sense about losing the locomotive address and all that, but surely Hornby could have done something to stop that happening? Cause I imagine it isn't too bad with 3 or 4 trains. but when you've got sidings full of trains and some running around, it really isn't helpful to have one lose contact, go crazy and crash into everything else.
I guess it really is just a system for beginners and small layouts, which is why you aren't having too many major problems with it.
(we're never gonna agree on the damn thing are we?)

 

[Nathan]

Are you calling me a beginner? I've got all my locos set on differant forms of acceleration and deceleration, it did take a while for me to get use to the braking distance though often found myself giving the buffers a bit of knock. Course there's always emergancy brake

I guess until my layout is finished and expands then i'll not know the problems you are experiancing at current. You're just one step ahead of me

 

[Beaker]

I wouldn't of thought Braking and Acceleration is a problem its just like real life.