HC-2 vs HC-2b (What's the difference)

[ron045]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about jumping into the RailPro pool.  I have been using a product called BlueRail but wanted to try this product because of its use of a dedicated controller vs a cell phone.

I was a bit disappointed to read here that the computer interface is windows only.  I have read there are several options to cross that hurdle and will have to consider what is best for my application.

I have tried searching here for comparisons, but my main question is what is the difference between the HC-2 and HC-2b?  The Ring website does not ID the "b" but I see folks here have talked about the "b".  That is not the Sun model is it?

I have only seen one vendor specifically advertise they have a "b" model.  How can I tell if a vendor is selling the HC-2 or HC-2b?

Thanks!
Ron

[G8B4Life]

Operationally, there's no difference between the HC-2 and HC-2b *. The difference is in some of the electronics; the older HC-2 charges from a standard DC barrel type jack and requires serial to USB drivers to communicate with the PC while the HC-2b charges from the USB port and doesn't need the drivers. The -2b superseded the older -2 years ago so you wouldn't be able to buy the older one unless a retailer had some very very old stock!

* the software that runs the older -2 may not get as many updates as the software for the -2b.

For the computer interface, I'm not sure if your talking about the CI-1 or the RailPro software so to cover both, technically speaking the CI-1 is a piece of hardware so isn't bound to windows only and that goes for the HC's as well. The software (HC Simulator and RailPro Assistant) yes are Windows programs however both reportedly run well under Parallels and Bootcamp on a Mac, and I've had both running under Wine on Linux.

- Tim

[ron045]

Thank you.  I placed my order today for an HC-2b and LM-3S-G as well as Computer Interface.  I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Ron

[GMM6809]

I am confident you won’t be disappointed.

One tip to loading sounds on to the LM is to use the computer interface to load the sound files to the lm. This will be faster and not take unnecessary memory in the HC.

[ron045]

Thanks for that tip.   I have WIN XP running in VM Ware on a MB Pro from 2008.  I hope that is good enough for now.  I am in the market for a new Laptop.  I believe I got my money's worth out of this 13 Year baby.

Ron

[G8B4Life]

RailPro Assistant and HC Simulator will not work under Win XP without a patch. It's been an long while since that patch has been needed so I'll have to go digging for it.

I've not used VM Ware (use VirtualBox myself) but the one thing you may need to do is set the network adapter in VM Ware for the Win XP Virtual machine to bridged mode.

- Tim