Freiwald Traincontroller

[Andymsa]

Just looked at the uk price it has jumped to 847 dollars from 711 dollars, to buy in Australia it’s 649 dollars in France it’s 509 euros. so yet again it shows we are being ripped off and clearly does not want to sell to the uk.  Would this be brexit sulking.

[WIMorrison]

This would appear to be as you suggest given that his cost to sell into the UK has not changed (yet?). I wonder if it is a portent of what might come along at the end of the year once out trading position is known?

 

Either way, I feel that this price will simply place it even further outside the reach of many modellers who would not be able to justify an expense of this size.

[5BarVT]

I don’t think it’s Brexit sulking as it’s exactly what he said would happen a longtime ago if we left the EU.

Remember, he has a Germanic outlook: he analyses, decides and does what he says.  He said he would he would 

protect his business and that what he’s doing.  When your the best, pile it high and sell it cheap isn’t a necessary marketing strategy.

That’s why I jumped up to Gold as soon as he intimated this might happen.  Remember, he’s selling via a third party who charge their own markup to cover their ‘costs’: they are obviously hedging their Brexit bets to make sure they don’t lose out.

Agreed that it will reduce UK uptake, I’m just glad that it is still for sale - at one point it couldn’t be bought in the UK.

Sad, but probably one of the many downsides yet to be discovered of ‘independence from europe’.

Paul.

[Andymsa]

54 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

I don’t think it’s Brexit sulking as it’s exactly what he said would happen a longtime ago if we left the EU.

Remember, he has a Germanic outlook: he analyses, decides and does what he says.  He said he would he would 

protect his business and that what he’s doing.  When your the best, pile it high and sell it cheap isn’t a necessary marketing strategy.

That’s why I jumped up to Gold as soon as he intimated this might happen.  Remember, he’s selling via a third party who charge their own markup to cover their ‘costs’: they are obviously hedging their Brexit bets to make sure they don’t lose out.

Agreed that it will reduce UK uptake, I’m just glad that it is still for sale - at one point it couldn’t be bought in the UK.

Sad, but probably one of the many downsides yet to be discovered of ‘independence from europe’.

Paul.

that’s certainly some hedging by the third party, 200 dollars more ! Even Norway and Switzerland that buy vis the third party is significantly cheaper than the uk prices. At today’s exchange rate that makes the cost approx £644 uk Norway £516 and Switzerland £456

[Bucoops]

HIs bizzare attitude towards "customers" is enough to put me off - let alone the cost.

[Nigelcliffe]

2 hours ago, Andymsa said:

that’s certainly some hedging by the third party, 200 dollars more ! Even Norway and Switzerland that buy vis the third party is significantly cheaper than the uk prices. At today’s exchange rate that makes the cost approx £644 uk Norway £516 and Switzerland £456

 

Not to mention the as-yet untested area of Northern Ireland, and its status with respect to the single market and customs union.

 

 

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

I don’t think it’s Brexit sulking as it’s exactly what he said would happen a longtime ago if we left the EU.

Remember, he has a Germanic outlook: he analyses, decides and does what he says.  He said he would he would 

protect his business and that what he’s doing.  When your the best, pile it high and sell it cheap isn’t a necessary marketing strategy.

 

No sorry don't agree, it is just Brexit sulking.

There is no need for any increase in price until 31st December as we are still trading under EU rules and with a custom union.

Nothing has changed as regards his costs since we voted to leave the EU and it only will after 31st December. (any trade deal notwithstanding)

Remember he stopped selling to US states that Voted trump in the last elections.

It's just a fit of pique and the best only sells if it is considered value against the competition.

It used to be a little more expensive than iTrain but with more features.

The features have hardly increased but the price has massively.(in the UK especially)

iTrain hasn't seen the need to inflate it's prices in the same way and it is also EU based.

 

His agent in the UK is Digital River and he has decided in another swipe at the UK to charge in US$ when Digital River will accept £ (I have had other software via them and paid in Sterling)

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by melmerby

[Shirleybasm]

I have debated if to post this but after my experience with herr freiwald and seeing this post I would say AVOID AVOID AVOID. For the following reasons I say this, he runs the company not to make profit but for enjoyment, if he didn’t sell any more licenses he would shut up shop, he states as I Purchased when A2 was available that I don’t have a license for B2, and he’s has made somewhat sexists comments as-well these are his words. my usb stick developed a strange fault where it works with A4/5 but the program just shuts down with B2. It has been proved beyond doubt that the usb stick is at fault but herr freiwald won’t even entertain the idea of me sending it back for him to look at even at my cost which I felt was very fair. He has completely dug his heels in, this has now resulted in me looking at a legal route for this and am considering a private investigator to look into this company. You may say it’s a bit over the top but I feel I have no real alternative now, as to why I want to update there was a fix in B2 that another user reported was evident in A4/5. I can prove all the things stated here as I have over 30 emails on this between me and him. Bottom line he could shut up shop tomorrow how would a buyer who just got the program feel about that and his attitude towards the uk stinks which I think is the reason he is being so stubborn.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Shirleybasm

[melmerby]

39 minutes ago, Shirleybasm said:

 Bottom line he could shut up shop tomorrow how would a buyer who just got the program feel about that and his attitude towards the uk stinks which I think is the reason he is being so stubborn.

Personally I think from a business point of view there should be more people involved in the company, especially so that there could be someone to carry on when he can't (or wont), but I get the impression it's a one man band and he sees it as his "baby" and takes offence with anybody who may ask something he thinks they shouldn't.

 

[Shirleybasm]

15 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Personally I think from a business point of view there should be more people involved in the company, especially so that there could be someone to carry on when he can't (or wont), but I get the impression it's a one man band and he sees it as his "baby" and takes offence with anybody who may ask something he thinks they shouldn't.

 

As he is in his mid 60s I think that will happen sooner than later

[WIMorrison]

My falling out started when I had the temerity to ask if he had considered moving to a mote modern code-base that would enable cross-platform capability.

 

i haven’t kept his response, which in light of the other comments here I should have as arrogance is not a strong enough word to describe the sentiments me made.

 

That code-base, which is evident from the appearance of the interface was a major concern for me as the IT industry is littered with programs that were better than sliced bread whilst developers were available, but developers don’t hang around languages for long when the popularity starts to wane and this they  end up unsupported

[5BarVT]

4 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

That code-base, which is evident from the appearance of the interface was a major concern for me as the IT industry is littered with programs that were better than sliced bread whilst developers were available, but developers don’t hang around languages for long when the popularity starts to wane and this they  end up unsupported

Ahh!

Out of interest, how easy is it to ‘convert’ a system to iTrain when that eventually happens to me?

Paul.

[Shirleybasm]

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

Ahh!

Out of interest, how easy is it to ‘convert’ a system to iTrain when that eventually happens to me?

Paul.

This is exactly what I am doing at the moment, convert is not really the word but a start from scratch is. What makes it easy to design a layout is you already have a basis to go from. It is possible to run both programs at the same time with different com ports. As I develop I train it will control more items in tandem but the auto train control will be the last thing done and at that point I train will do all the work. The hardest thing is to get your head around is how I train does things compared to TC, in the most part they both do the same things it’s just how you get there. And most importantly keep an open mind, I thought how do I get on with I train but as time as gone on I am getting used to it now.

[Shirleybasm]

This email is one of many I received a shows how he views the business, and it’s possible future.

 

“License codes are only valid for the particular version of the software, which they have been purchased for.


Perhaps you should know that we no longer operate this business because we want to make money from it. We continue to operate it as long as we still enjoy it. And we only operate it where we still enjoy it. If it’s no longer fun for us to sell to a particular country, for example, we don’t have the slightest problem with completely stopping selling there. 

In regions, where there is comparatively much friction with users, we have already taken the first steps in this direction. The frictions with you may make a further contribution to this. If cases like this lead to further public discussions or legal issues, this can only lead to us withdrawing from the affected region even faster. This may be a shame for users there, who like to use our software. For us it wouldn't be a real drama.

 

Even if we didn't sell a single license anywhere in the world from tomorrow, then it would simply be so. Then we would close this business. And I would do something that I enjoy more.“

 

I do love his statement frictions with users, most frictions are caused by his attitude towards users even when he does reply on his forum he seems to be talking down at you as if your thick.

 

the section on licenses is expanded in other emails but he takes the view that your license is only valid for the version available at the time of purchase, and not subsequent updates of that version and therefore your in breach of that license. This applies to the many who have done just this 

Edited July 20, 2020 by Shirleybasm

[Shirleybasm]

24 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

 

I suppose Rule Number One applies to private companies too.

 

But it is a warning that it's a risk -- a difficult to estimate risk -- that if you buy his products, you might suddenly no longer get any after-sales service or advice. 

 

Buyer beware.

 

 

 

yes very true, but his license model using the usb stick is what increases the risk as opposed to a software key would always work regardless if that company ceased trading. Whereupon if he ceases trading and the stick fails the software is usless. Usb dongle sticks are very 80s

Edited July 20, 2020 by Shirleybasm

[WIMorrison]

4 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Ahh!

Out of interest, how easy is it to ‘convert’ a system to iTrain when that eventually happens to me?

Paul.

 

I don't think that you 'covert' the layout as much as 'convert' yourself in the language and methods used to achieve the goals which in the end are surprisingly similar. The real advantage that you would have is knowing what automations is, how it works and what can be achieved by lateral thinking.

 

What I like about iTrain is how it keeps developing and getting new tweaks and capabilities issued. I know that v5 was step up from v4 and it is now at v5.0.5 with the expectation taht 5.1 will be out towards the end of this year. The licencing policy is nice and clear too, with you getting all updates, patches and fixes within a version and it only at a version change e.g. v5.x.x to v6.x.x that yoiu need to purchase a new licence. I also like the licence levels better than Freiwald's model which cripples functionality between gold, silver and bronze as iTrain essentially  limits the number of items that can use a function at each level rather than base functionality.

 

If you are a 'power' user of TC you might miss some functions such as HTML (though they may appear over time), but for average user I think iTrain provides much the same as TC - except for pictures of trains in the blocks which seems to cause more issues for TC users moving to iTrain than operating capability

 

[5BarVT]

2 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

except for pictures of trains in the blocks which seems to cause more issues for TC users moving to iTrain than operating capability

I’ll be ok there then: pictures are too small for me and all look too similar so I run with text in blocks.

Paul.

 

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, Shirleybasm said:

Usb dongle sticks are very 80s

Which is quite possibly when he learnt his coding . . . !

Paul.

[JimFin]

8 hours ago, Shirleybasm said:

Usb dongle sticks are very 80s

This is a double edge problem as it depends on Microsoft continuing to support the dongle key on a USB stick. Some legacy software fell foul of this problem a few upgrades ago and even now, HASP software can have problems with Microsoft updates. They are usually fixable but if Mr F decided it was too much trouble to upgrade (a security patch or send everyone a replacement dongle???) then you would be in the position of ???? Will continue to work fine until it stops. I felt it was too risky a proposition for my needs.

[melmerby]

9 hours ago, Lantavian said:

 

 if you buy his products, you might suddenly no longer get any after-sales service or advice. 

 

Buyer beware.

 

Most useful advice comes from other users on his Forum

Many of his replies are just brusque and unhelpful.

Unfortunately if the company shuts the Forum will to, but you could always start a Yahoo user group so those still using it could carry on exchanging tips and advice.

I started with Ver. 7 ten years ago and have updated to ver 8 & then ver 9 (which I thought was underwhelming!) but no more.

If there is a ver 10 he won't get my cash.

[melmerby]

38 minutes ago, JimFin said:

This is a double edge problem as it depends on Microsoft continuing to support the dongle key on a USB stick. Some legacy software fell foul of this problem a few upgrades ago and even now, HASP software can have problems with Microsoft updates. They are usually fixable but if Mr F decided it was too much trouble to upgrade (a security patch or send everyone a replacement dongle???) then you would be in the position of ???? Will continue to work fine until it stops. I felt it was too risky a proposition for my needs.

Hackers broke his encryption years ago.

[Andymsa]

47 minutes ago, JimFin said:

This is a double edge problem as it depends on Microsoft continuing to support the dongle key on a USB stick. Some legacy software fell foul of this problem a few upgrades ago and even now, HASP software can have problems with Microsoft updates. They are usually fixable but if Mr F decided it was too much trouble to upgrade (a security patch or send everyone a replacement dongle???) then you would be in the position of ???? Will continue to work fine until it stops. I felt it was too risky a proposition for my needs.

I thinks I know what herr freiwald would do. Any one like to guess lol

[richard brown]

can you share the link please 

 

only joking 

[melmerby]

Something I have lot of in TC is common macros to carry out specific tasks such as short moves or uncoupling and haven't spotted those in iTrain, one feature iTrain does have and TC doesn't is a train magazine feature which I think I could be able to use for my prototypical transfer table which has two access tracks and three bridge tracks (As with Birmingham Moor Street)

I raised it as a missing feature (he likes to claim TC can do all prototypical tasks!) with ver 8 years ago, no reply and no implementation either.

[WIMorrison]

Keith

 

You can uncouple and couple trains in iTrain and you can define how far back you move the loco to couple (default is 5cm), or move it away from the train to uncouple

 

If you want to simply jog a train along for some other reason other than coupling/uncoupling then you can set the length of this movement and the speed of this movement.