I know this throttle was just reviewed in the June 2005 issue of MR - pp.96-97; however I thought my two cents worth might help some one. I just bought this throttle for my layout. I have the Chief with the DT100 cab, however I'm just in the process of hooking my DCC up - it will be a while yet. I took my throttle over to a friends layout and we both played with it. My particular model is a "radio-equipped wireless" cab. The design is simplistic and if you are a Digitrax guy, this is THE throttle for newbies who think they would be intimidated running DCC. This is initially all they need to know, and it is almost exactly like a traditional DC cab. Dial in the engine number - lets say 2860 - plug in the unit to acquire the engine; then unplug it and you're ready to roll. Now flick the toggle switch to forward at the end of the cab, dial in your speed on the large knob and your away to races. To "steal" a locomotive, you dial in the number of the loco, while pressing the "steal" button, you plug in the throttle and acquire the "stolen" engine, then unplug and your ready to go. The only thing I noticed that took me a minute to get used to is that emergency braking is not a red button you hit, it is instead the direction of travel toggle - "forward and reverse" - when it is set dead centre between the two directions. There are eight push buttons that work in combination to give you a total function parameter of F0 to F12 so you're good to go with sound. To run a consist, you dial in the number of the loco at the head end (assuming your decoder number is identical to the loco) and acquire it as you would a normal loco. This hand held radio unit is so simple, I even understood it. The purpose of this cheaper and simplified unit is to allow operators reducer dollar acquisition price, rather than purchasing another full blown hand held like the DT300 or DT400. A new person will catch on very quickly. I give it two thumbs up.
Nice review.... I was wondering how this throttle would be to use. It might be the perfect thing for our club, as we have a lot of newbies, and sticking a 300 or 400 throttle in their hand is a little intimidating. Harold
rick, I ask in all earnest, have you used the dt100 throttle? my chief came with a 100, and the throttle was the real reason I didn't use DCC for many years!! aliasing 4 digit addresses, etc.... and the manual.. jeesh!! Everything changed when I bought my DT400R nice full keypad to PUNCH in your decoder address, easy to consist, etc. I EVEN CHANGED AN OPS SW on my DCS100!! woohoo! only thing, you'll need a UR91 (?) radio/IR loconet panel to use your UT-4 on a non radio chief. I believe the UR91 was about $100.. plug that baby into the loconet, power it on, and your are wireless!! I am thisclose to buying a UT-4 to hand to kids when running T-Trak. as of now I hafta hold my hand over all those buttons when little fingers are near thanks for the review!! this is one of the reasons I am a pure digitrax user. flame away everybody
To effectively use the DT100, you need a cheat sheet set up so that you can quickly figure out what you need to do. The DT100 throttle is a "geeks" throttle, not intuitive. Once you have the cheat sheet set up, the throttle isn't to bad. In fact, I like the way it fits in your hand better than the DT400. I have downloaded "Decoder Pro" but I haven't used it yet, so some of my programming will be there instead of from the throttle. Unfortunately, I was asleep at the switch and I missed sending in my DT100 for wireless radio upgrading so I will have to get another throttle; Digitrax won't upgrade the DT100 anymore - bummer. I am half tempted to have the DT100 set up and plugged in full time, use it for programming and do as much running with the UT4 radio wireless as much as possible.
Our club has some DT100's that are club proprerty... They constantly frustrate folks that try to use them.... when I hand them one of my DT300R's... suddenly, things make sense to them! I do think the two line display makes a big difference. UT4's would certainly be easier! Harold
yeah, I hated my dt-100 soooo much I thought, why give digitrax $50 more for radio?? (plus the cost of a UR-91). worked out best in the end, but I really wish I had been DCC all along!!
Thanks for the review. I saw the review in MR and thought it was a interesting throttle, especially for us lone wolfs in the world. I did not realize it was radio equiped, I must have overlooked it in the MR review. Your review provided that info. You just did me a great service by letting me know that. I assume this throttle would work fine with my Zephyr DCC unit. Last question: What is the street price on one of these?
geek try www.tonystrainexchange.com they have the UR91 you'll need for radio ops great service, see my earlier thread
Oh oh... R91 = reciever for Ut4r? So the radio unit is quite steep by comparison with the tethered one?
I could give you the Canadian price, but it would freek you out as ours is higher (Canadian dollar exchange) for the radio UT4. The review in MR surprised me as they reviewed the UT4 with infra-red, which only a minority of folks use. The majority of wireless owners use radio control, or at least that is true in Vancouver. I was surprised they didn't review a wireless unit instead of infra-red.
geek, you only need one UR-91 for most applications. IIRC digitrax went with radio when the IR didn't live up to expectations. mount your ur-91 on a piece of dowel maybe 24" high and you'll find very few dead spots in your layout. the UR-91 is for ALL radio/IR throttles, including the dt300/400 series that just ROCK!!! I'm sure multiple ur91's are necessary for BIG show layouts, but smaller layouts and 30+ module N-trak's seem to operate fine with only one. once you've gone tetherless, you'll never regret it...
Radio is way superior to IR.... I think we use 2 UR-91's when we run extremely large N Trak layouts at shows... (one on each end of the 72' layout). I'll check this weekend, as we do have a show. I know it is always a good idea to have plenty of UP5's to plug in to for programming, and controlling trains if "issues" occur. Harold
so, you need a UR91 to let the UT4 work wireless.... $100 for the UR91, plus whatever the throttle costs ya, plus the Command station and booster. Man, I thought the trains were expensive
Don't worry, you'll soon be there. If your hanging out in a DCC forum and you don't have DCC - its just a matter of time.
The UT4 (non-radio) does support IR wireless operation. You would need a UR90 (under $40) for that (The UR91 also receives IR). Reviews on IR are mixed, as it depends in large degree on the size and geometry of your space. Think TV remote contro... Doug
doug, you are right that there are several factors that can enhance or reduce IR effectiveness. my dt-400 uses IR if it's close enough to the UR-91. call me a digitrax geek, but it seems as though AJ is driven to produce the best, and there is more emphasis at digitrax on radio than IR. just my opinion. I can say emphatically that radio works in almost every situation, from the dark unfinished basement of my house to the large gymnasiums where n-trak or t-trak is set up. I can understand your point about the price difference, but if IR ends up NOT working, then you are out the price of an IR receiver. I believe the throttles can be upgraded to radio later, but not sure at what price. DCC can be as little or as much as YOU want it to be. as long as YOU are satisfied, nothing else matters. Ed
I have one UR 90 receiver for a layout size of 36" X 8' X 29" X8' L shape and so far I have no problems at all I did put the receiver UP high so that it is allways in sight with my throttle.... My next throttle will be a UT 4
