For those who have been following my progress for a while, you know that I had an ESU CabControl system which I really liked… at first…
DCC has always been a bit of a mystery to me. With F Keys and CVs and the like. The technology is sound and allows for a great deal of flexibility, but interfacing with it had always been a chore and came with a significant learning curve which I’ve always felt was a roadblock for new model railroaders.
The ESU CabControl fixed much of this through a clever application on a bespoke android device. Well laid out menus paired with clear, identifiable icons took much of the mystery out of working with DCC and really was a great step in the right direction for DCC control.
However, I could never quite enjoy running trains like I should because of some connectivity issue that I was never really able to diagnose. The throttle and the base station would often disconnect in the middle of the session which would shut everything down completely. Sometimes I could get it to re-connect, sometimes I couldn’t. And sometimes I would be unable to get the throttle to connect to the base station at all and so an evening of running trains would be ruined before I even got started.
Was it the throttle that was the issue? The base station? the proximity of both to my home wifi system? The baby monitor in my son’s room interfering with everything? Who knows exactly. Ultimately, I realized I was probably going to have to go with a new DCC system, but I was not looking forward to taking such a large leap back in interface design in order to just run trains.
Luckily, in the time since I purchased the ESU system, Digitrax came out with a new throttle that address much of the issues I’ve had with interfacing with DCC. Although it is far from perfect. (Frankly, the display is a bit of a hot mess) Their new throttle goes a long way towards solving the issues Digitrax has had with it’s user experience. Finally, one of the hobby’s most trusted brands who’s DCC systems are known for being robust, flexible and expandable has a worthy throttle to pair with it.
In my latest video I unbox my new Digitrax EVOXD DCC system and discuss some of what I like and don’t like about the new throttle.