Hornby Select - Worth it for a children's layout?

[Kris]

Hornby Selects seem to be the cheapest of cheap DCC controllers with limitations, however I don't want something with lots of bells and whistles, just something that is easy for children to use to control digital locos (possibly with TTS) later on. The control knob seems to be a good solution for children.

 

I am aware that programming is limited but this is not a problem as I have a Z21 that I can use for this. (I don't want to use the Z21 on this layout due to the faff of setting it up.)

 

I guess what this question comes down to is how good or bad is the Hornby Select for a children's layout?

[WIMorrison]

If all they want to do is speed up and slow down then I suggest it is robust enough to survive that  

[Edward]

My 6 yr old grandson coped with the Select perfectfully well!

Edited December 2, 2021 by Edward

[RAF96]

Make sure the one they get has up to date firmware as many S/H offerings are way behind which severely limits their use.

These can be updated by return to Hornby for £15, although a new one comes with a warranty of course and the latest firmware gives all the bells and whistles.

 

Edit - you can also string several Selects together as Walkabouts if you have more than one ‘operator’ wanting to have a go.

Edited December 2, 2021 by RAF96

[RedgateModels]

George's Layout at the Mansfield Show (March 5th & 6th 2022) is operated using a Select. Dead easy for them to get used to using it.

 

Big advantage of using it (with DCC of course) is that I can set the max speed of the locos so that even on full whack they stay on the track

[Kris]

3 hours ago, RAF96 said:

Make sure the one they get has up to date firmware as many S/H offerings are way behind which severely limits their use.

These can be updated by return to Hornby for £15, although a new one comes with a warranty of course and the latest firmware gives all the bells and whistles.

 

Edit - you can also string several Selects together as Walkabouts if you have more than one ‘operator’ wanting to have a go.

The stringing together option does make the system tempting, 

I was factoring in the £15 to return the select to Hornby for the latest update when looking at second hand items. If one comes up at a "good" price it seems worthwhile for the sound alone.

[Chrisr40]

Bachmanns EZ command is a good alternative if you see one of those.

[WIMorrison]

52 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:

…

 

Big advantage of using it (with DCC of course) is that I can set the max speed of the locos so that even on full whack they stay on the track

 
if the locos have TTS then you can’t set max speed as they don’t support CV5 - unless you know of a way to set it inside the Select?

[RedgateModels]

44 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

 
if the locos have TTS then you can’t set max speed as they don’t support CV5 - unless you know of a way to set it inside the Select?

 

As previous poster alluded to, locos are set up with a more high end system (powercab in my case) Select is just used as a controller at exhibitions.

[WIMorrison]

Which means that if you are using TTS you cannot limit the max speed

[RedgateModels]

I'm not

 

good to know that TTS decoders don't support CV5 though, not that would ever use them myself, but some customers seem to be ok with them

[Nigelcliffe]

6 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

George's Layout at the Mansfield Show (March 5th & 6th 2022) is operated using a Select. Dead easy for them to get used to using it.

 

Big advantage of using it (with DCC of course) is that I can set the max speed of the locos so that even on full whack they stay on the track

 

Or just use old used batteries in a battery-powered DC controller  :-)

 

 

- Nigel