SPROG II Throttle Options?

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

Hi, Everyone

I set up a Sprog II in my workshop for running a DCC programming and test track and I find it to be a valuable tool for “talking” to a decoder using Decoder-Pro.

So the other day I needed to be at the locomotive while I was making some adjustments and it became a hassle to keep going back to the computer keyboard to work the JMRI throttle.

That got me to thinking about what throttle options are out there. I don’t have a smartphone or Ipad or Blackberry but I DO have several Kindles. Those are Android devices aren’t they?

From what I can gather, an Android would work as a throttle. I have the Sprog on an old Dell with XP, only because I have an old Brother P-Touch label maker that will only run in XP. I do have a Acer Aspire laptop with Win 7 so I suppose I could run the Sprog off of it but that would be considerably more inconvenient.

To boil the question down: Can I use a Kindle as a Sprog throttle and where would I get a throttle app if indeed I can?

I just remembered, too, that I have a Wii sitting on the shelf and I heard there’s a way to use THAT as a throttle.

Any suggestions? Thanks, Ed

2

A regular Kindle is not an Android device, but the Kindle Fire is. Even so, they are somewhat locked down to Amazon’s own app store, but there are ways to get Engine Driver on them (Android app that uses the WiThrottle in JMRI).

If you check the specials, you can sometimes get an Android phone on one of the pay as you go carriers for $20-$30. They aren’t awesome Android devices, but they are sufficient to run Engine Driver. You don;t have to get any sort of cell contract with them, you just pay the money and walk out witht he phone. Usually when such deals are happening, someone posts about it in the JMRI Yahoo Group. Even $40 or so is still a deal considering how much a wireless throttle costs for most DCC systems.

–Randy