Soon, I'll be in the market for a hand-held throttle and am looking at the Digitrax UT4-R ($99) and the DT400-R ($179). It appears for an extra $80, I get everything Digitrax offers in a hand-held throttle. Any recommendations on which model is preferred, especially considering future use. I'll most likely use the throttle tethered to the layout for a while because of the cost of the UR91. I believe both throttles only offer a very short cord. Is there a cord extension available to give me say 6-8' of cord to walk around with? BTW, my layout is only 3' x 7' in N Scale now, but I plan on building a larger layout in the future. [ December 28, 2005, 09:01 AM: Message edited by: mightypurdue22 ]
The UT-4R is limited in its functionality but has the advantage of that big fat knob. Be aware that the UT-4 does not support operating stationary decoders. In other words, you won't be able to throw turnouts with it. You can make your own extension cable. All it requires is a regular LocoNet cable plus a Female-Female 6P6C straight through connector. These are available at Jameco ( http://www.jameco.com ) and Tony's Train Exhange and I am sure other places. You can make your own cable or Tony's Train Exchange and others offer them. David
The DT-400 (non radio) will come with a 7' coiled cord (or at least mine did) the Radio version is about 6" long, and you'd need to lengthen the cable before using it plugged in. Throttle choice: It depends on your intended use. If your going to use the throttle for guests to run the trains easily, the UT-4 is probably best as it provides a much simpler interface for folks to understand. However you can't consist locomotives with it. the UT-4 is intended to be a very simple, so it doesn't handle more "advanced" functions that the 400 can. If your going to use it as a primary throttle, I'd go with the 400, as you can do all of your programming with it and all of the functions are "live" meaning you don't have to use the old "press function then the number" routine that was in the 100 and 300 throttles. hope this helps some. -Chris
yeah, I agree the 400 is well worth the extra bucks as a primary throttle, with ut4's as loaners or guest throttles. the 400 can be intimidating at first glance, but she's really slick to use once you get the hang of what buttons are where. i bought a 300 in an act of lunacy, only used it once....
Thanks for the replies and advice, everyone. I think what I'm actually going to do is purchase the UT4 without radio. I figure since I do have a small layout, a tethered control isn't too bad. Also, my almost 3 year old son will want to run my trains in the future, and he can be given the UT4 when I upgrade to the DT400-R. Probably at that time, I'll just go completely wireless and upgrade his handheld to a UT4-R or whatever model is available at the time. Also, I figure prices may (or may not) drop on this stuff within the next couple of years. Once again, thank you.
