Hooking up Withrottle to a wifi-less CPU- is it possible?

[thoroughbred52]

Hello, before I ask anything, I would like to state that I am NOT new to DCC, but I am new to WiThrottle. I am looking to get my questions answered before I try anything with this on my new and improved layout.

 

Ok, lets make this short and sweet. I has a digitrax zephyr and am planning to move a CPU down there to run JMRI. Now, in order to run WiThrottle from JMRI, what requirements would I need? Do I have to have Internet? This might have an obvious answer, but I would like to make sure at have everything right. Are there any cables you need to hook up your CPU to dcc system?

Thanks, Nick

[NeO6874]

You'll need  a way for the computer to talk to the WiThrottle, there are various ways that you can do this.

1. Buy a wireless card for the PC (USB or internal), and set up an "ad-hoc" network for the WiThrottles to connect to.

2. Buy a (second) wireless router, and hook it up to the PC.  Call that wireless network something like "WiThrottles Only - no internet connection".  

3. Run a cable from your existing router to the PC's new location (secondary benefit - you have an internet connection down there too now).  Note that there is a maximum allowed run of 300 feet to the cable (generally, not an issue, but it's sometimes longer than you think to get from point 'A' to point 'B' since you don't always have a straight shot*).

 

For the PC to DCC system, you need an appropriate connector.  I believe that Digitrax sells a USB <-> Loconet adapter for this purpose.

 

 

*For example, to run a cable from the basement (where my router is) to my office on the second floor.

1. patch cable from Router -> panel = 5' (could save here with 1' or 3' cables ... but 5' is what I had)
2. Panel -> ceiling = 5'
3. across room (width left/right) = 15'
4. down length of room = 25'
5. jog to stack = 10'
6. up stack (into attic) = 30' (to roofline, as I didn't want to run the wires along the floor)
7. across house = 50' (or so)
8. jog to the room's left wall = 5'
9. down wall = 15' 
10. Patch cable -> computer = 25' 
11. total wire length = 185' (though, I might've replaced the patch cables with shorter ones ... so maybe a total run of 160-165 feet now)

[htgguy]

As Dan stated you will need some device that allows the computer to talk to the control station. In my case I am using a Digitrax PR3 connected via USB to the computer and via loconet to the control station. The wireless connection to the iphone is through my normal household wireless network, and a cat 5 network cable connects the router to the desktop computer that runs jmri. When you think about what happens when you use withrottle or engine driver, it is amazing. Phone sends command via wifi to router, which then sends command via network cable to computer, which receives the command through the network card, does some magic with it, and re-transmits via usb to the pr3, which again does some magic, and send the command to the zephyr over a loconet cable, where more magic happens and spits the info out over the loconet to the command bus, where the decoder does its decoding and tells the motor or sound or lights to do something. And it all happens in the blink of an eye. 

Jim