Digitrax DT602D Throttle First Impressions

I recently took delivery of Digitrax's latest product, the DT602D handheld throttle. This is duplex radio which communicates with a UR92 receiver connected to a Digitrax DCC system in the same way as the predecessor radio controllers including the DT402D and the DT500D.

This is what it looks like:

What is the same as the previous throttle models:

• The right and left knobs at the top of the throttle can still be used to control separate locomotives/consists. What is different is that the knobs are considerably larger and are very easy to turn with the side of one finger. I consider this a significant improvement.
• Double-clicking on one of the two knobs still caused the locomotive to change direction (no change).
• The number pad still is used to operate functions or when programming (no change).
• The terminology and general operation is very familiar to someone who is experienced with existing Digitax throttles. This is good because I felt right at home with it after a quick read of the "quick start" instructions.
• The power can be completely shut off, like it could on the DT500D but not on the DT402D (improvement).

What is different:

• The very clear, bright colour screen is fantastic. You can see in the picture above that locomotive 5994 is being controlled by the left throttle. The fact that the locomotive icon is green indicates that this locomotive is actively being controlled (improvement).
• There is a battery level indicator in the top right corner (improvement).
• It takes three AA batteries instead of a 9 volt (improvement).
• The row of digits across the top of the screen shows which functions have been selected. When on this screen a press of button A will immediately expand the number of functions to include those which start with 10 (improvement).
• Under the green locomotive icon, it shows that locomotive 8004 is active on the right throttle (no change).
• Under that it shows that locomotive 5994 is set to "forward" and its speed is 0%. (no change really but the screen layout makes it a little easier to read this sort of thing).
• The button with the three horizontal bars and the upward arrow opens up a whole lot of other screens. Here you can program locomotives and change the throttle settings (power saving mode, for example). While the former models did all this, the screens are written in plain English whereas they were a bit cryptic. This is an improvement.

In short, I think this throttle is a huge step forward. My only negative first impression after having used the new throttle for a few times over the past week is that it is about 50% thicker and is slightly wider than the old throttles. Perhaps I have small hands (to match my memory) but I don't think so. I find the new throttle to be slightly too large for my liking. After using it a few days I went back to my DT500D and find that it is more comfortable to hold for longer periods. Time will tell on this point and perhaps I just need more time to get used to it.

Introduction to JMRI Operations

 Another COVID-19 project I have been working on has been to learn Java Model Railroad Interface ("JMRI") Operations. For those who don't know anything about JMRI, it is an open-source piece of software that has an extremely high level of variety in what it can do. For example:

1. Program Digital Command Control settings in locomotives, including lights, sound and motion.
2. Design a digital control panel that can then be integrated with your model railroad. It could be set up to run trains, control signals and even control turnouts (all of which can be done manually or automatically).
3. It can be used for prototypical dispatching.
4. Planning and operating trains

The above topics can become massively complicated. I have dabbled in item 1 but have not gone very far.

You download the software for free and read through the extensive documentation here:  https://www.jmri.org/

Model railroad literature has always had articles on how to operate a model railroad in a prototypical way. These articles usually describe how to create car cards as well as manifests and creating timetables. I have never been very enthusiastic about creating a lot of paperwork and shuffling decks of car cards.

A few years ago someone told me about the Operations feature in JMRI. Once set up, JMRI can create a one-page (or more if you model railroad is very large) manifest which shows what locomotive to get from which track, which cars to pick up from which spurs (yard or industry tracks, for example) and where to take them. It will also create switch lists for each location. On a larger model railroad, one person's role during an operating session might be to handle all traffic at one yard. They would be given a switch list of jobs they need to do for their location only and that work is integrated with all other activities carried out by other people during that session.

A couple of years ago a fellow modeller in Calgary had me visit an operating session on his impressive model railroad. I got the general idea as to how it worked and I was sold. However, until now I hadn't made the time to explore this further.

While the JMRI website is very well written, as with most software it provides all of the detail but not much of a step-by-step on how to use it. In these circumstances my usual go-to is YouTube. Several people have YouTube shows on JMRI operations. One fellow has a very large number of shows, some lasting up to an hour, but his presentation style, camera work and sound quality are such that I am unable to follow him. After some searching, I found a different instructor who did a very good job explaining the basics. If you are interested, the link is here (the instructor is very good; for some reason, there is a very annoying person who hosts the presentation who butts in with mostly inaudible and irrelevant questions). YouTube JMRI Operations

After listing to this presentation I set about learning the software by trial and error. I am pleased with the results. I'll show screenshots of the key screens, each of which has a multitude of sub-screens. This can become very complicated very fast. I am starting out slow.

the opening screen of JMRI Panel Pro (the "Operations" menu item needs to be added in preferences)

the Settings screen

the Cars screen where all cars are located, including their locations (those labelled "<O>" are out of service)

the Locomotives screen (same idea as Cars)

the Locations screen (length is in scale feet - metric measures are available also for all measurements)

the Routes screen where you define the route of each train, including tracks/spurs for pickup/drop off of cars

the Trains screen (trains are built from Routes above)

the result (highlights added by me); circled in yellow is the name of the railway and train name (Local AM - the morning local); in blue are all of the cars to be picked up at which location and the locomotive to be used (loco 6700 picks up a boxcar and a sulphur car at Kamloops west aisle spur and a kerosene car from the Salmon Arm east wall spur and drops them off in Revelstoke and Kamloops which is where the locomotive returns to)

The software keeps track of the locations of all locomotives and cars. When it is time to build the next train, it will build a train using the new locations. Some of my locations have generic descriptions because I haven't decided which industries will be located at which spurs. Once this has been done I shall fine tune the program and tell it that certain cars don't go to certain spurs - for example, it is unlikely that a full tanker of kerosene would be delivered to a brewery or a tanker of hot liquid sulphur would be picked up from a lumber yard. Because JMRI is a data base, if I were to change the name "West Aisle" to "Kamloops Fine Furniture" the name will automatically update everywhere it is used.

From my initial foray into JMRI operations I am impressed with it and will continue to explore the huge possibilities it holds.

If any readers would like more detail on the step-by-step process of getting started, feel free to email me at rupertsinsights@gmail.com . I may be able to help you get past some of the roadblocks I encountered as a result of misunderstanding a couple of very simple concepts which, once learned, were obvious.

Hard wiring burning building

In July 2019 I posted two entries dealing with the concept and construction of a working burning building for my first Free-mo module. The "smoke" comes from a portable desktop humidifier designed to run on 5 volts DC from a USB port. Here is a picture of the building from the July 2019 post:

A picture of the building on the module:

As I explained in the July 2019 posts, contained inside the building is a small rechargeable power supply of the kind that is designed to provide power to a cell phone when a charger can't be used. This works fine but it becomes a nuisance having to switch out the rechargeable power supply when it runs out after 4 hours, give or take.

Some time ago I built a supply of circuit boards for our train club designed to convert 16 volt AC power (the Free-mo standard for the accessory power bus which runs under the Free-mo modules) to various DC voltages which are used by a variety of model railroad accessories, such as building lighting or other animation. I use a Digitrax booster to power this bus because it has very robust short-circuit protection, preventing damage to devices or to the power supply itself in the event of a wiring mistake. A Digitrax booster set to HO scale actually produces 18 volts AC but the device still works fine. Here is a picture of my device:

AC power is fed into the 2-position terminal strip on the left. When power is applied the blue LED glows to show that the power is on. The AC power feeds the bridge rectifier which is at the back of the circuit board from the perspective of the viewer. The bridge rectifier sends 12 volt DC power to four voltage regulators which produce 12, 9, 5 and 3 volts DC power, respectively. The 6-position terminal block contains outputs for ground and these various voltages.

Each of the devices is attached to a heat sink to help reduce the chance of them overheating.

I tried hooking the burning building humidifier to the 5 volt and ground terminals and it works like a charm. I no longer need to have to fuss with the rechargeable power supply.