[leedavis88]

This is a topic concerning an SSD problem which you may or may not have encountered yet (I HAVE). Basically I keep getting an 'HC ERR' message on my race display. Hornby believe this is due to either an incorrectly connected throttle or a faulty throttle. I have found that in practice mode that the throttle worked faultlessly with no errors however as soon as a race mode is selected I get the error message 'HC ERR'? I have already taken one of these sets back to my retailer and are on my second set with the same problem. This coupled with the ever concerning overloading errors means you cannot race the prescribed and advertised maximum laps. Hornby have really pulled a fast one this time and have overlooked some serious operational issues which should have been rectified prior to release onto the general market. I hope they do a recall because this SSD lark is sucking at the moment and it is at good peoples expense. Interesting to note that ll the online reviews and video reviews do not comment on more serious issues than the cars traction on the bends.

Anger vented, Hornby emailed.

 

[Squishy]

Dude,

See topic "SSD overload error - how frequent?"

Seems there are faulty SSD's. Mine overloaded, think it was a heat issue. Later It totally died (think I am the first). Cars stopped and then the screen faded!

ISHY

 

[Adrian Norman]

QUOTE (leedavis88 @ 27 Dec 2004, 23:42)This is a topic concerning an SSD problem which you may or may not have encountered yet (I HAVE). Basically I keep getting an 'HC ERR' message on my race display. Hornby believe this is due to either an incorrectly connected throttle or a faulty throttle. I have found that in practice mode that the throttle worked faultlessly with no errors however as soon as a race mode is selected I get the error message 'HC ERR'? I have already taken one of these sets back to my retailer and are on my second set with the same problem.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The HC ERR (Hand Controller Error) can also appear when a race is started by pressing the GO button. If this is the case then read the message. If it says 'HC ERR 3', for example, it means that it is expecting a hand controller to be plugged in to socket 3 (notice that there is a number after the 'HC ERR...' message - e.g. 'HC ERR 1',' HC ERR 3', etc, etc.
Let's assume it says 'HC ERR 3' and that you are only using Car ID 1 & 2 (and therefore only have hand controllers plugged in to sockets 1 & 2). To correct the condition, you will need to edit the Race Car parameter for Car 3. In the 'Car 3' menu turn the 'Car Used' parameter to 'N' (No).
Now restart the race.

The 'HC ERR ' message really relates to whether there is a hand controller plugged in to the relevant socket and not if you actually use a car with that ID!

Put another way: If you have 6 controllers, the easy way is to leave all Car Used parameters set to 'Y' and leave a hand controller plugged in to each of the 6 sockets. It doesn't matter if all 6 cars are raced are not - only that a hand controller is present.
I don't expect that many people have 6 controllers but I hope that this explanation may help clarify what is happening.

Happy Racing,
Adrian

 

[scalextricracer]

Leedavis88

No point in getting angry with people as this get you no where at all, work with them and they will help you

Adrian

Nice to see your posts

ScalextricRacer

 

[Slotrace.dk]

Is there really no manual in the sets to explain all these errors?
Looks like Scalextric haven't bothered testing the stuff!

 

[Adrian Norman]

QUOTE (Slotrace.dk @ 30 Dec 2004, 10:59)Is there really no manual in the sets to explain all these errors?
Looks like Scalextric haven't bothered testing the stuff!
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The good news is that there are no other error messages to deal with. The OVERLOAD and HC ERR # messages being the only two. More good news is that the error conditions are explained in the manual that comes with every set.

The feedback in the forum is good stuff for the factory. It gives us an honest insight as to how you feel about about our products as well as the very real problems that you encounter. We take all this in and act where appropriate.
For instance, we have made production and design amendments to SDD cars, track, powerbase and controllers just to fine tune them a little further in the direction of the perfect product. It's feedback such as yours that helps us perfect our product. For this, we thank you. Keep up the good work.

Happy New Year to all
Adrian

 

[Slotrace.dk]

Two weeks ago I was 100% sure to buy the SSD, but over the last two weeks I'm not so sure anymore. I went down on 25%.
But I must say that all these response on the errors is rising the % again. I'm about 50% now!

 

[CameronCool]

We've had the Scalextric Digital since Christmas, with additional car/controller and 4 lane changes and it has worked excellently. We get the occassional Overload, but traced this to reslotting the Audi which needed the brushes straightening. Otherwise if you reslot sensibly "our one" does not overload and the racing is great. My 70 year old father who introduced me to slot cars in the 60's thought it was a breath of fresh air and we could not get him off!

For a first release of the product I have been very impressed, and will be converting about 30 of our older cars in January (if the chips arrive) at vast expense. I think our local retailer must be in heaven.

 

[scalextricracer]

Adrian

If you have made changes to the SSD power, i take it you mean software changes.

How do i get my SSD power base updated to the newer version.

Thanks

ScalextricRacer

 

[leedavis88]

So my HC ERR# has turned out to be a faulty controller. In 3 Scalextric Sport Digital sets between me and a fellow racer we have had 1 faulty car and 3 faulty throttles. One throttle was faulty from when we plugged it in the others developed faults causing cars to shoot off the track at full throttle. I know the controllers were faulty from testing them in different ports in the powerbase and also wiggling the connectors. This is totally unacceptable when you remind yourself that this is the most expensive slot set out on the market in the UK. Shame the quality does not match the price!!! My advice for anyone considering an upgrade to digital is to stick with what you know until the problems have been resolved.

Any comments are much appreciated.

 

[scalextricracer]

leedavis88

I think that you are being a bit unfair, SSD is a good thing and it is not the fault of Scalextric directly, but the perosn who is doing the quality control that is at fault.

If we did not pioneer thing like digital then these problems would only arise later down the line.

ScalextricRacer

 

[astro]

QUOTE (scalextricracer @ 30 Dec 2004, 20:50)I think that you are being a bit unfair, SSD is a good thing and it is not the fault of Scalextric directly, but the perosn who is doing the quality control that is at fault.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In a sense it is scalextric's fault - they choose the level of money and resources to put into QC, and manage how it is done and by whome; they choose when they believe a product is ready for release.

However - in another sense it is not scalextric's fault, but a spirit of the age, defined by software for PCs which is always released full of bugs. The technological race for feature laden goodies and the generally accepted policy that bugs will be accepted and ironed out by customers is economically forced onto scalextric, and the other manufacturers in the digital slot arena.

Carrera have opted for releasing a very basic product - no brakes or lap counter, no race modes, but with a ghost car; SCX have released a system with bugs to be ironed out, and so have scalextric.

Ninco are the only people not caught up in all of this, but it is yet to be seen whether their first release is without bugs!

 

[bswan72]

QUOTE we have made production and design amendments to SDD cars, track, powerbase and controllers just to fine tune them a little further in the direction of the perfect product.

So how do the SSD users get the latest updated products?

Brian

 

[Wankel Ickx]

QUOTE ...it is not the fault of Scalextric directly, but the perosn who is doing the quality control that is at fault.

Who pays that person do you think?

 

[Fergy]

QUOTE Who pays that person do you think?

Everyone who buys a Scalextric product?

Last day of 2004.... refreshing to see that Wankel has carried his vision right through to the end of the year.

All companies love to use and blame technology for shortcomings in any product that they market. Anything with a silicon chip in it can be released prematurely. If the product also contains alterable microcode it can be released even earlier. If new code can be downloaded then yet earlier still. I won't even mention purchaseable upgrades....

Products should work as claimed, when sold. If they don't, the manufacturer whose name is on the product is to blame. They commissioned the product and are responsible for it. Period. End of discussion.

And no, I'm not singling out Scaley for this. It's a practice that has spread like wildfire in the past few years. For some reason, consumers accept faults, fixes, and retrofits in electronic products that they would never accept in basic hard goods. I've never understood why.

Sorry.... one of my pet peeves...

 

[Wankel Ickx]

QUOTE ...refreshing to see that Wankel has carried his vision right through to the end of the year.

I aim to please!

Maybe Margate thought they could take a page out of Microsoft's book?

Of course, in UK retail law, it's the poor retailer who takes the hit for selling you a duffer.

 

[tonyiles]

Like all new technology, there will be problems, the time to get mad is when they do not get fixed, personally I am pleased that a scalextric person has joined in the discussion, as the firmware says version1.2 (in UK anyway) I suspect there will be an upgrade at some time,which I guess will be using the aux port hooked up to a PC via a lead? I suspect that hornby had a deadline to get the sets out by xmas, and like all projects it suffered slippage, I have had a digital set since xmas, using 5 cars and four controllers, and on the whole it has been excellent, apart from overload errors, which was due more to user ignorance from my 4 year old son in putting crashed cars back on the track , btw - this forum is really excellent