I am getting started with JMRI and need a bit of info. I have looked at the JMRI.org site and got some good info, but have a question. Haven’t joined the JMRI user group yet, but will here soon. Here is my background info:
Have Digitrax DCS200 Super Chief command station with 8 amp on an HO scale layout, and use a DT400R throttle.
Have about 16 mobile decoders - about half of them have sound and half do not.
Don’t think it matters, but I use PTB-100 track booster to program most, in not all, CVs on the programming track. (Rarely program on the fly.)
Have a brand new laptop with Windows 10. From the looks on both sides, it appears to receive most any type of plug in.
I initially want to use JMRI’s Decoder Pro to program and keep track of all the CVs for all decoders. Don’t have plans to use the other functions at this time. The web site list 4 different adapters for the interface - 3 different flavors of LocoBuffer and then PR3.
Which adapter would be best for my system and needs?
Well, unless you find someone with an old one to sell used, you won;t find the older versions of the Locobuffer. So there really are two options - the Locobuffer-USB current version from RR-CirKits, or the Digitrax PR3.
The Locobuffer is strictly an interface device - it connects your computer running JMRI to your Digitrax DCC system. Period. It is very reliable, and well supported.
The PR3 functions in two modes. In one, it works just like the Locobuffer - it connects your PC to Loconet to control the system. In the second mode, you plug an (included now) power supply into the PR3 and connect the two terminals to a piece of track and this makes a standalone self-contained programmer.
I actually have both (well, my Locobuffer IS one of those older DIY ones I built many years ago). They each have their place. I have a 4 foot piece of shelf material with a length of track on it - series of rerailers and Kadee coupler gauges at each end. My PR3 is mounted on this board as well and wired to the track. This is my multi-purpose test track - I can check coupler heights at each end, I have marking at one end a measured distance from the coupler gauge marked off in NMRA recommeded weights, plus with the PR3 I can program locos. I usually take this board and my laptop along to club shows so I can help other members with their locos. I’m between layouts now, but on my last layout, I kept the test track piece next to my workbench, with the computer there hooked to the PR3 for programming and I also had the same computer (JMRI can work with more than 1 interface at a time) hooked to the Locobuffer which was hooked to my layout - allowing my to use JMRI panels to throw switches, and JMRI throttles (and WiThrottle from my smartphone) to run trains in addition to my regular Digitrax throttles.
The one thing a PR3 can do that the Locobuffer can;t is program sounds in Digitrax sound decoders. I don’t use any Digitrax sound decoders so that is of no consequenc
Like Randy mentioned, the Locobuffer USB and the PR3 are what is available currently. I had a Locobuffer USB on my old layout. That was back in the days of Win XP, and it was rock solid.
I currently have a PR3 attached to a Win 10 laptop. Windows auto configures a MS driver and it just works. Config Decoder Pro to use the port Win 10 selected, and you are running.
Actually, there are TWO things the PR3 can do that the LocoBuffer can’t.
One, as Randy mentions, is loading sound schemes into Digitrax sound decoders. The other is the ability to program CV’s on ANY decoder.
The LocoBuffer is a computer to LocoNet interface - That’s all it does (and yes, it does that well.) By itself, it can’t program anything. You’re still stuck powering up your command station with it’s programming limitations. In your case, that’s the need for the PTB-100 for sound decoders.
On the other hand, the PR3 is both a computer to LocoNet interface AND a stand-alone programmer that’s capable of programming CV’s on any decoder, even the sometimes-hard-to-program sound decoders. Get a PR3 and you can throw away your PTB-100.
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Considering I did actually mention TWO things. But yes, I have been able to read and write ANY decoder with no add-on booster with my PR3. I haven’t even needed anything other than the supplied PS14 power supply.
My LocoBuffer-USB is mounted beside my workbench and connected permanently to the LocoNet bus controlling the entire layout. Several devices of several manfacturers are running on the LocoBus. When I need to do ‘PC stuff’ I plug my Win10 tablet into the LocoBuffer and fire up JMRI. Easy smeazy.
Beside my workbench I also have a pair of binding posts for connecting test wires. The posts are wired to a DPDT toggle to connect them to either the track bus or the programming output of a DCS200 via a permanently wired PTB100 programming track booster. I connect a test track (described above) to the binding posts to test or program my locos.
As the DCC system is connected to the MRR room master switch and is always on when I am in the room, it serves all programming and operating needs. As well, I do not employ sound decoders with downloadable sound files. For these reasons I am satisfied with the LocoBuffer device alone.
All depends on your physical setup. If you have it all in one area like that, no big deal to run wires from the program track to a test track at the workbench. I had a requirement of portability at first, which was why the PR3 made more sense - easier to carry around a plank plus my laptop than a plank, my laptop, a command station, and a power supply. At home at that time, I didn;t have a lot of space and the workbench was in the same room as the layout, but I had a duckunder to get between the work area and the layout, and since I already had the plank with the PR3, it was easier to use that back in my work corner than get up and go over to the layout.
It gets even more interesting now. I built a workbench in a spare room, but my layout will be down in the basement. I’ve also since added an ESU Lokprogrammer to the plank, with a switch to select between PR3 or Lokprogrammer. On my new workbench I am going to put in a fixed test track, with even more options for power - I will no longer be using my Zephyr on the layout, so I’ll have that, plus a DC power pack, and the Lokprogrammer. I may instead pick up an SPROG instead of connecting my Zephyr. SPROG is a standalone programmer and low power DCC system controlled via JMRI. It does not interdace to any DCC system. It too can read and write any decoder, plus for newer ones that support Direct mode programming it is far faster than most systems at reading and writing CVs. And it has enough power to run a loco as well.