WiThrottle First Thoughts

I have a Sprog 2 that I use as an interface with DecoderPro and I thought I would give the WiThrottle a try on my iPhone and Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard.

In brief I think this an great option as a wireless throttle. The cost is very competitive for whats out there and if you already own a computer and an iPhone or iPod Touch you can't beat it. Since its based on JMRI if you happen to change systems the throttle stays the same.

My limited experience so far has been good. Throttle response for me was good and noticed no delay in activating functions on one loco with sound. There are a few enhancements that would be nice such as keeping the function buttons highlighted when active, an option to tap the throttle for speed step control and a way to turn off or change the annoying (to me) feedback chirp when tapping function buttons (I ended up turning off the iPhone sound but lost the throttle clicks which I like). It would also be nice to have an accessory function control page.

In this version the only function labeled is the Lights but in the next update the labels you make for functions in Decoder Pro will be included. No more trying to remember what F6 is for on Loco 7845. Also the ability to control two throttles will be included according to the blog on the website.

Has anyone else tried out the WiThrottle? I have only used it on my small home layout and would like to hear others experiences, insights, etc.

 

Thanks for the Initial Review. I am also very interested in this, I run Digitrax with DecoderPro and Windows so once my PR3 shows up I'll give it a run.

With my iphone, my wife's iphone and an itouch I now have 3 additional throttles for the software price of $30!

That would be over $300 in Digitrax wireless throttles.

Josh

 

I thought the WiThrottle looked pretty cool. No Iphone to try it withm but my Mom said I could borrow her IPod touch. Having a software throttle is cool.

I have an old Ipaq PDA & I spent a day last month setting it up to run JMRI. It works cool and you also have access to your control panels.

 

Thanks gang!

I am the creator of WiThrottle and am glad you like it. Any questions or comments you have, feel free to bring them up.

In testing, we have had six devices (iPods and iPhones) connected at one time in an attempt to make them lag, and the response remained fine. As far as the function buttons indicating active, they are not able to monitor the actual state of the function at the decoder, so it is possible for them to get out of sync. My thought is wrong info is worse than no info! Accessory control is looking like a lot of work on the JMRI end of the pair, we will have to see. The sensitivity adjustment on the throttle slider has also had some changes, but it is hard to get something that feels exactly right to everyone.

The current update is set, we''l see what happens for the next one.

Brett
WiThrottle.com

 

Just been reading this and I'll certainly be giving it a try in the coming weeks. Excellent idea.

 

Hi Brent,
I have WiThrottle and its awesome. I was going to go with iRoc because its open source
but not compatible with JMRI. I have an idea, for those of us without sound decoders.
It would be cool to hear sounds on the itouch corresponding with the functions of Withrottle. Diesel or steam sounds increasing-decreasing with the throttle , brakes, bells or whistles. What do you think?

 

Oops. Posted to wrong thread. Deleted and moved to Thread JMRI or RocRail?

 

Excellent idea!

Should be pretty simple to implement since it could be all self-contained. Sounds could happen in direct response to button presses, and the "motion" sounds simply keyed to the throttle position.

Even nicer if you could get some telemetry fed back from the locomotive to do things like synchronize chuff rate to the drivers, but it would be nice enough just having it tied to the throttle setting.

In fact, you could simply have a "horn" and "bell" button and make the user actually perform the various whistle signals manually. Would add that extra touch of realism.

You could get extra-fancy and use some of the touch sensing capability of the screen to let the user put some "english" on the whistle... just as if he had his hand on the cord...