Digitrax DT400 - First Impressions.

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Physical Characteristics

The DT400 is about 7" long and 2½" wide. It has a multiline LCD display, two encoder throttle knobs, and 32 buttons that provide positive tactile feedback when pushed. The throttle comes IR enabled for simplex wireless operation "out of the box", provided, of course, you insert a battery into the DT400 and have IR receivers attached to the Loconet. A simplex radio version (DT400R) will be available soon. The LCD display is backlit, although even at its highest setting it wasn’t particularly bright in low or moderate lighting conditions. There is also a small ‘flashlight’ built into the throttle to allow operators to view train orders and the like in dim light.

Normal Operation

The DT400 was designed to maintain the "look and feel" of earlier Digitrax throttles while improving the ease of use of the system. The DT400 still has two independent throttle knobs, as in earlier versions, to allow the user to operate two locos simultaneously. We found it best to hold the DT400 in one hand and operate the knobs with the other. There is also one set of speed buttons that will increase/decrease the speed of the loco controlled by currently selected throttle. Each throttle also has a recall stack of recently used locos (the depth of which is user selectable).

Selecting a loco is easy. Push the appropriate throttle knob once to select that throttle and press the LOCO button. Enter the loco address (short or long) using the number keys (or alternatively, turn the throttle knobs to pick an address – Left knob for hundred/thousands digits, Right knob for ones/tens digits). The display will then show the Digitrax ‘status’ for that decoder. You can edit the decoder status, if you wish, by pressing the EDIT button (you need to do this once for each newly acquired decoder if it differs from the throttle default). In any event, pressing the LOCO button again selects the loco.

Operating is simple. Press on a throttle knob or merely start turning the knob to activate that throttle and control the speed of the selected loco. Ballistic throttle control is a setup option.

The recall stack is entered by pressing and holding the appropriate throttle knob until the word ‘RECALL’ appears in the display. Then rotate the knob until the desired loco appears and press the LOCO button to select.

Functions for the ‘active’ throttle are turned on/off by pressing the number button for the appropriate function. All are normal on/off except for F2, which stays on while pressed and goes off when released – a Soundtraxx friendly feature for the Horn function.

Among other things, the LCD (3/4" high by 1 7/8" wide) shows the address of the currently selected loco on each throttle, the current direction and speed (expressed as a percentage) of each loco, and the functions currently ‘on’ for the active throttle. There is also a little steam loco icon associated with each throttle. When a throttle (left or right) is active, the smoke cloud coming from its icon blinks!

This leads to our biggest beef with the DT400. Though well organized, the display is simply too small, in our opinion, for the amount of information displayed - particularly for ‘middle aged’ eyes.

Consisting

Digitrax recommends its own "Universal Consisting" as the preferred method for consisting although the system will support NMRA standard "Advanced Consisting" provided the lead loco uses its short address (see the manual for details). There are also some technical issues with Universal Consisting that interested readers should investigate.

In any event, to setup a Universal Consist, select the lead loco with the Right throttle and one of the trailing locos on the Left throttle. Adjust the direction of the locos so they are both moving in the same physical direction, taking into account the orientation of the engines. Press the MU key and the ‘+’ key to create the consist. To add more locos to the consist, select each one, one at a time, on the Left throttle and add to the consist as above. The lead loco will then control the consist.

To remove locos from a consist, select each member of the consist one at a time on the left throttle, press the MU key and then the ‘-‘ key and the loco will be removed from the consist.

Although the process was a bit clumsy, particularly when clearing long consists, it was certainly acceptable.

Programming

Programming was easy, provided you know what CV’s you want to change and what the CV values should be. To enter one of the programming modes press the PROG key. We tested the Pg mode (paged mode for the programming track) and the Po mode (programming on the main). In either case, you can use the keypad or dial in CV’s to program with the Left throttle knob and CV values with the Right knob. Both are displayed. When happy with what you see, press the ENTER key and move on to the next CV. When finished, press the EXIT key.

While easy to use for experienced decoder programmers, with the singular exception of entering addresses, there was no prompting throughout the programming process. Novices may be a bit intimidated by the lack of a programming script, although, of course, careful reading of decoder manuals should point a user in the right direction.

Conclusion

If you are a Digitrax user, you will LOVE the DT400. It is a natural progression from the older designs and you will feel right at home with a throttle that is both easier to use and that is equipped to exploit new Digitrax features that are coming online (such as transponding decoders).

As a generic DCC enthusiasts, we were very impressed with the DT400. It is by far the best Digitrax throttle we have ever tested.

We welcome comments or suggestions from readers; please write or call.