How do you like the touch

How do you like the touch screen throttle as opposed to one with "actual buttons and knobs"? I have issues with most things on touch screens and actually like the throttle controls better than trying to use a little phone. If you find the system works well for you and you like the screen and small size you have most likely found a great addition to your dcc system. One of the guys in our club has a similar set up on his home layout and likes it.

Our club uses it

We use NCE at our club and have the WiThrottle server running and I prefer using my smartphone, as I find the big NCE throttle too big and the smaller one lacks the selected locomotive number, and neither are wireless. Yes I know you can get for more money these options, but when I can buy a smartphone (or use an old one) for $30 or less why would I spend the money for the RF system.

There are plusses and minuses, for one if you have your roster in JMRI you can select the locomotive to control from a list instead of having to read the cab number for the address and/or remember the address. The minus on my phone is that I have to scroll the function area if I need to get the last few functions, but since I rarely need more than the first 8, that is a very minor issue and I think the first twenty fit the screen.

Plan to use it

Planning only a small switching layout so probably 90% solo operation. However, since I am using a DCC++ Basestation connected to JMRI I plan to use WiThrottle. I have tested it with the Android and iPhone app to great success. It may take some getting used to but I think I can do that. Sure saves money on throttles and no BUS to worry about.

Missing virtual knob

I am a Digitrax owner my self. I do have some UT4 and UT4Ds, they are not so expensive as the 402 throttles. I like the larger knob much better.
But I also have JMRI installed and running when we have op-sessions.
Sometimes I use the engine driver on an older Android smartphone or on a 7 inch tablet.
I think it is possible to control the speed with the volume buttons on the smart device when using EngineDriver.
But do prefer a control wheel for the throttle over a slider or the volume buttons.
I think EngineDriver should make a viritual control wheel/knob like this app for controlling my Yamaha reciver:

 

This works very nice and is very responsive!
 

@KnuT

If you contact the developer he might be interested in your suggestion.

Engine Driver Developer

The man in question is Steve Todd and he can be contacted via his website at:

https://mstevetodd.com/engine-driver-android-throttle-jmri

@greg

Thank you, Greg, for the reminder.
I have actually more than once thought about contacting the guy Engine Driver about this.
Now I have done this!
But I think this is the right adress:
https://enginedriver.mstevetodd.com/contact

good and bad of smartphones

"Since Kindle Fire 7s can be purchased for about $40 and other cheap Smartphones can be purchased for even less it doesn't seem to make much sense to buy additional Digitrax throttles"

I wil not criticize either choice.

positive: less expensive than dedicated throttle

negative: and it is a big one - the user must be sophisticated enough to set up JMRI on a computer, buy an interface to the existing system or buy or build the equivalent to a SPROG, and install and use apps on another device,  It took me quite some time to get it all working.

my choice: smartphone, JMRI, interface

OTOH, our club creates huge modular layouts and prefers separate dedicated cabs for reliability.

The RR-Cirkits Loco-Buffer

The RR-Cirkits Loco-Buffer USB only costs $66 and the JMRI software and Engine Drive App are free so it's fairly economical compared to expensive Digittrax RF throttles. I've done commercial software development for 30 years so that probably helped me get everything working quickly, but the documentation for JMRI and the RR-Cirkits loco-buffer is pretty thorough and easy to follow.

SPROG option eliminates external networking gear/software config

Dear Doug L,

During the recent Aust NG Convention, Martyn Jenkins showed the latest Raspberry Pi3 + SPROG setup,

and noted that the SPROG team offer the Pi3 (Raspbian) SD cards completely pre-configured and ready-to-roll...

http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/shop.shtml
(scroll approx 1/2 way down the page)

Still requires the User to:
- get the appropriate Throttle app on the smart-device
- get the smart-device connected to the WiFi network hosted right on the Pi3
(acts as an Access Point, no seperate physical hardware WiFi router or networking gear/cabling required!)

but it's about as "Plug n Play" for a JMRI/WiFi/Smart-Device deployment as I've seen thus far...
(and Martyn had 80+ yo "I won't touch a computer to save my life" blokes _get_themselves_ up and running a loco within 10 minutes...)

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr