Personal review of RailPro Direct Radio

[dcfixer]

Attached is my initial home review of Ring Engineering's HO RailPro control system.

Attachments:

[Paul Cutler III]

I have also tried the RailPro, and my own thoughts are a little different (in full disclosure, I have been a Digitrax user since 1999 at my club, and have Digitrax on my home layout; I have also tried NCE and Lenz).

While I totally appreciate the advanced technology of the RailPro system, I think it falls down on the very basic issue of throttle form factor. It is wider a & heavier than other walkaround throttles, the knob encoder throttle is located on the bottom of the throttle face, and the reversing "button" is a non-tactile touch screen "button" and not an actual button or toggle.

I'm coming at this from the perspective of an operator, specifically one that likes to switch cars and drill yards with a lot of freight cars. My home layout, for example, has over 300 freight cars on it on a 1000 sq. ft. layout; and my club's layout will be over 6 times larger than my home layout once we finish it and will have far more cars on it. At the club we use switch lists; at home I use car cards and waybills. We use bamboo skewers and magnets for uncoupling.

During operating sessions, it's not uncommon to have a throttle, a stack of car cards (or a clipboard for the switch list), and a skewer in one's hands at the same time. Routinely, I use just one hand to run my train with my DT400R throttle. I can hold the throttle, use the side of my thumb to control the throttle knob (or push the + and - buttons), and use it again to either "double-click" the knob to reverse direction or use the near-by "reverser" tactile button to do so, all without having to adjust my grip on the throttle. I rarely ever look at it when I'm switching because my eyes are on my cards or list and my thinking is on the next move or two ahead. Heck, I can even ring the bell and blow the horn without looking at the throttle just because I can feel where the buttons are.

I don't think it's possible to do that with the RailPro. When I tried it, it appears to strictly be a "two-handed" throttle, meaning that one has to hold it with one hand and operate the controls with the other. Also, one has to continually look at the throttle every time one wants to reverse direction (or activate a function) because of the touch screen interface. With a conventional throttle, one can rest one's digit on the "reverser" until the split second it's needed (such as when one is backing a train over a magnet or spotting a car), then quickly hit the button. With RailPro, you can't do that...it's a touch screen.

OTOH, if one is more of a "mainline engineer"-type operator, than the RailPro's throttle issues are much less important. The RailPro throttle feels very solid and well made in one's hands. The added abilities of it's advanced technology are great, and the MU'ing is pretty neat. I think it's a great suppliment to any DCC layout, too...at least for mainline engineers.

Oh, and one other thing: I think it's strange to think that you have to have Ring Engineering create your engine pictures. Why the heck can't a guy upload his own photos into the throttle directly? It's a .jpeg...just set the size and go from there. Strange...especially in this day and age.

[dcfixer]

Valid points, Paul. Thanks for sharing that insight.

Even though I like playing in the yard once and awhile , I am into passenger cars and just a main-liner. I will never have the need to hurry or do so much that I can't hold the HC in one hand, move my free hand back/forth and look at the screen.

Just for S&G, I did some freight switching to see if I could reverse direction and throttle up/down without looking at the screen. I placed a small stack of Pactra fine line masking tape (doesn't leave a residue/mark) over the direction object on the screen. With a little practice, I could lightly run my finger over the screen without triggering any objects, find the tape, tap then move back to the throttle. I got pretty good at operating the throttle and changing directions without looking at the screen. The rub is that it was real awkward trying to do it with one hand. It was a lot easier to rest the HC on the layout.

What about a Velcro strap around the palm and Velcro on the back of the HC?

It's Mickey Mouse. I don't recommend the tape or Velcro has a "fix" for anything, but it was a challenge, and fun messing around with my freight and RailPro.

The time and effort it takes to get my JPEGs formatted is really inconsequential to me. It does seem unnecessary at first glance, though. This subject has been talked about in other venues - some down right whining about it. Could possibly be a change in this feature of RailPro, me thinks.

Something that I think might be beneficial is a MAC application.

[dcfixer]

Here's some email excerpts from Tim Ring:

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The HC-1 control knob and touchscreen are designed to last a lifetime. Push buttons and click pots that are used on typical DCC throttles are much more likely to fail.

The horn can easily be played without looking down to the screen if the horn button is located in the lower left corner because you can feel the screen edge and operate the button without looking down.

As for reversing we admit you need to look at the screen with the current software.

We do believe that in a future software update we will move the reverse button to the upper left corner of the screen. Then you will be able to use the upper left corner to locate the reverse button without looking down. Then you will be able to control speed, direction, and horn with one hand and without looking down.

Also, with RailPro button setup, you can make any button in any potions easily with the on board software.

The reason why we change all files to RailPro format before they are loaded to the HC-1 is because existing formats (bmp, jpg, etc.) are not the best for model train control system like RailPro. Further, when the RailPro system uses all RailPro formatted files, you end up with a stable system that does not have compatibility issues and crashes like PCs often do. One example of why PCs crash is that there are hundreds of picture file types that the PCs handle. If one picture type is loaded, and not supported, you can have a crash. We currently do not have software that can easily be used by customers to convert files to RailPro format. However, we do plan to make PC software that will allow customers to use and convert their picture and sound files to RailPro format.