I hooked up my old DigiTrax Empire Builder system to the layout today. Doesn't seem to be working. I think it's a bad handheld throttle, but hard to say.
I could replace the controller and see if that solves the problem, but there's no guarantee that will solve anything. I might instead buy a whole new system -- if I did, I'd probably switch to NCR. But that's a $200 investment, and I've spent a bundle on track in the last month or so, and I still need more. Or I could get another DCC-EX, for half the price of NCE.
I'll mess with the DigiTrax a little more tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I might just pull the DCC-EX out of the San Emigdio Canyon mini and use that temporarily until I make a more permanent decision.
6/25/25: A fresh battery in the controller, and a lot of fiddling, and I finally got the DigiTrax working reasonably well. I think part of the issue has something to do with the way DigiTrax and DCC-EX program locomotive addresses -- maybe two-digit vs. four-digit? Anyway, once I reprogrammed the addresses, things were much better.
Still, the controller only works when there's a battery in it; these are supposed to operate without a battery when plugged in, and this one goes through batteries pretty quickly. My guess it's a problem with the controller itself, though there is an outside chance it could be a problem with power coming from the command station. Maybe.
7/7/25: I mounted my UP3 on the fascia near the center of the layout, with a patch of Velcro below it to handle the controller on. From here, the 6 foot cable lets me reach all the way to the right end, and most of the way to the left; to reach the far left, I can plug directly into the command station.
7/22/25: This seems like an elegant and relatively foolproof solution for the programming track. For now, I wired it through a DPDT toggle switch that kills the mainline power but keeps the programming track powered.
https://tonystrains.com/product/nce-524-226-program-track-auto-switch-for-the-power-cab
7/25/25: I'm getting annoyed with this throttle. I was going to replace it with another used one, or maybe an older UT throttle, which can be found on resale sites for $50 or so. I'm now debating getting a new UT6, and eventually replacing the command station with a Zephyr. The Zephyr could be used for programming, and if I got the new model, it even has a USB port to connect to a computer, so I could run JMRI DecoderPro for programming. If I did that, it would cost around $300 total.
Another possibility is to get a UT, probably a new one, and keep the command station, assuming it works okay with the new throttle. At some point in the future, I could add a DigiTrax LNW1 WiFi interface for about $65-70. This would allow me to use Engine Driver running on a cell phone or tablet, same as I've used with my DCC-EX system. That would give me a hand handheld option that is also relatively easy to use for programming. This would run around $160-170 total.
The other option would be to just ditch DigiTrax and get an NCE PowerCab, their entry-level system. They go for around $200, and sound like they are very easy to set up and use, but maybe have some limits when it comes to expansion, which may or may not be an issue. One limitation would be only being able to run one train unless I want to invest in a second cab.
At the moment, I'm leaning toward staying with Digitrax and starting out with a new UT6, then figure out where I want to go from there.
For now, I need to get some more 9 volt batteries.
8/13/25: Last night, a Digitrax UT1 utility throttle showed up cheap on eBay, so I jumped on it. I should get here in a week or so. For $27 including shipping, I figure it will help me decide what I need going forward.
The UT1 is a really basic controller, just a dial for speed, toggle switch for direction, and a few buttons to control lights, bell and whistle, and not too much more.
Assuming the thing is functional, I'm hoping it will help me to figure out whether the problems I've been having are coming from the DT300 controller, or the DB150 command station. And I'll see whether a super-simple, single-engine controller like this is going to meet my needs for daily operation.
8/15/25: The UT1 arrived today. Unfortunately, the reversing toggle switch was broken -- the handle or lever or whatever it's called apparent broke off in transit. Fortunately I had a similar toggle switch on hand, and it was easy to install it in place of the broken one. Once I figured out how to use it, it works fine. It has some definite limitations, including only being able to access a few functions. I'll play around with it for a while and see how I feel about it before I decide whether to buy a new higher- end throttle, or a whole new system.
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