Can someone help me with the difference between a DT400 and a DT400R throttle?
It seems to me a 400 series can run either with wire connected or wirelessly using infrared. The 400R series is run with a wire connected or by radio control (something like a wireless telephone). Now I seem to be suffering infomation overload on this! Are they indeed different whereby there are TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF WIRELESS USES, one being a type of infrared point at line of sight and hope you hit the reciever (like remote on TV) thingy and the other like a wireless phone, you can walk around the house and it doesn’t matter where you are you get a good signal thingy! I hope this makes sense to you readers. This is the the major thing about digitrax throttles I am unsure of and do not want to buy any throttle till I know the difference. I do not have a LHS nearby to ask questions so hoping you guys can answer.
Well, I did just buy a DT400. But I knew that long ago. My club is Digitrax and does not have RC. However, the basement layout we sometimes op on, 75’ x 25’ tri-level, is radio controlled Digitrax and we have two-way raodi contact with a dispatcher.
DT300 Infra-Ready Advanced Throttle A compact full featured walkaround handheld. DT300 comes with infrared LEDs and you just need to add a UR90 infrared receiver or a UR91 Universal IR/Radio receiver for low cost tetherless operation. DT300 and DT300R are not sold as part of a starter set.
DT300R Radio Equipped Advanced Throttle A compact full featured walkaround handheld. DT300 comes with infrared LEDs and you just need to add a UR90 infrared receiver or a UR91 Universal IR/Radio receiver for low cost tetherless operation. DT300 and DT300R are not sold as part of a starter set.
DT400 Infra-Ready Super Throttle Be careful what you ask for. . . it’s in the DT400 Super Throttles! Simple to use with any Digitrax LocoNet System including Zephyr! User Friendly Multi-line backlit display with easy to read icons and messages - Dual throttle controls for running two trains at a time - Click encoders give extra fine speed control and direction control, too! - Full numeric keypad - the list goes on and on…
DT400R Radio Equipped Super Throttle Be careful what you ask for. . . it’s in the DT400 Super Throttles! Simple to use with any Digitrax LocoNet System including Zephyr! User Friendly Multi-line backlit display with easy to read icons and messages - Dual throttle controls for running two trains at a time - Click encoders give extra fine speed control and direction control, too! - Full numeric keypad - the list goes on and on…
UT4 Traditional Style Throttle This simple, cost effective throttle is coming soon!
UT2 Traditional Style Throttle with Programming Capability These simple, cost effective throttles feature one large knob for speed control and a direction switch for direction control. Great add on throttle for all Digitrax Starter Sets, especially Zephyrs!
UT1 Traditional Style Throttle These simple, cost effective throttles feature one large knob for speed control and a direction switch for
Pcarrell;
The UT4’s are availible now. The only thing is like the other UT throttles, you can not control a turnout with them. A couple of our club guys have them and like them very much.
One guy at our club makes great sport stealing some of the old-timers locos then making them do wierd things like stall. Then when the goes to check it starts it up as he puts his hand out. Then just when the poor gentleman is about to ask for help, he releases it and it runs normally.
The two most commonly acknowledged reasons for Digitrax offering both radio and infrared wireless methods are:
With infrared, Digitrax doesn’t have to worry about radio frequency allocation (and licensing) in different parts of the world. An infrared control system that will work in the US and Canada will also work in Australia, Norway, Spain, South Africa, etc. without worry of interference. With radio throttles, a radio that uses a given frequency at a given power level that is acceptable for use in North America may not be acceptable in other parts of the world due to different allocation of the radio spectrum and different power limit rules in other countries.
The current state of available components makes it possible to offer infrared as a lower-cost option than radio.
Radio and infrared are their strategy for North American wireless operation, while, for now at least, infrared appears to be their rules-compliant solution for the rest of the world.
ok then I think my question is answered. There IS 2 types of throttles. Ok another question. Which one is more reliable? My guess would be the radio controlled one but it is also more expensive. So I suppose its up to me to decide whether the extra cost is worth it. Will somebody decide for me.
I think what the question really should be is how you are going to use it. IF you are using it wireless, you have to choose between systems, IR or radio before you choose the throttle. Then you have to choose between the cost of the receiving units. Then you pick the throttle to match.
IF you are just going to plug into the system and use a tether, the DT 400 cord is much longer.
Actually, both are reliable, but being able to use infrared effectively is dependent on aiming the throttle at the receiver. It strikes me as more a matter of convenience, really. You don’t have to change your behavior to use the radio throttle as much as you would with an infrared throttle. In this respect it’s in no way different from the issues I encountered when I used to use Catnip infrared throttles on non-DCC layouts.
I’ve been using the radio throttles since shortly after they were released and positively love them- you don’t need to care where you point the throttle when you’re using it. Given that the layouts I run on tend to have several guest operators at each session, it’s very nice to not have to keep reminding new operators that they have to point the throttle in a specific direction to get their throttle adjustments to register.
You are forgiven my son. Go forth and sin no more[;)]
I knew where your post came from. That was a good idea to post that info. If I hadn’t have know that two of the club guys had them I also would have assumed they were not availible as yet.
Chip;
Talking about stealing locos on your club…our club was doing a show last year, and there were two other Digitrax powered layouts there. Unknown to us all layouts were using the default setting on the radio. It was real interesting having numerous trains getting stolen by each other’s layouts. (Each layout had locos with the same numbers, so “stealing” was done without anyone actually having to plug in to each others layouts).
We reset our radio channel to another frequency, very easily done with the DT400R and we had no other problems. The other two layouts never figgered it out, until we told them what had happened. We never would have discovered it except that one of our members is a Beta-tester for Digitrax.
Another thing the DT400 and DT400R have that the DT300 does not is - playable whistle! The F2 key pressure sensitive! This is disabled by default, but adding 80 to OpSw 3 on the throttle enables it. It works with the Tsunami and the new Digitrax sound decoders (which basically means only beta testers can even try it right now…) but it’s a great idea, the harder you press the louder the whistle will be so you will be able to to more or less ‘play a tune’ on a sound decoder, much like the real thing.
I THINK it’s OpSw 3, my manual is downstairs. I know the value to add is 80 - mine was defaulted to 1, so my new value is 81. You can tell it works by watching the speed bar graph - as you press F2, the graph fills up the harder you press the button.
Do that at our club and you will be kicked out for sure. I’ve always wanted to do that to somebody but just haven’t got the nerve to do it yet, lol. Thats a got tip on stealing the MUed Loco’s though, I’ll have to remember that one.