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New form of Locomotive control LocoFi

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New form of Locomotive control LocoFi
Posted by Bob J on Monday, November 27, 2017 5:04 PM

Went to a Bay Area train show yesterday (Pleasanton CA) and saw a demonstration of a new form of train control.  Brand new startup called LocoFi, demonstrating loco control directly to the decoder by w-fi signal from a smartphone.  Tracks powered by DC or DCC.  Decoders shown had a speaker attached and were installed in diesels, although they said they were working on steam versions as well.  Decoders were smallish, and will be offered to plug into standard DCC connectors built in most modern engines.  Thought I'd pass it on as many people have wi-fi networks in their homes.  I'm currently using Withrottle with my iPhone and an NCE system running JMRI, and this has a similar feel without the need for a computer.  I love my current setup, and am not interetsed in changing, but it is a simpler system, not bluetooth like Bachmann, so range would be better too.

Tags: LocoFi
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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, November 27, 2017 6:36 PM

ESU has just made their North American version of their WiFi control system available.

http://www.esu.eu/en/products/digital-control/cabcontrol/

I am entrenched in Digitrax and I use a WiFi Android tablet with Locodriver/JMRI as the interface. Works flawlessly and gives me additional throttles when needed so I'm not presently looking for any "new" technology, especially anything with proprietary decoders.

Ine great advantage with using the tablet (a Kindle Fire) is that all the functions are labeled and easily accessable.

I tried to google "Locofi" and got nowhere. Do you have any more information on the manufacturer of this device? You don't suppose it would be this?

WIFITRAX

http://www.wifitrax.com/index.html

 

Good Luck, Ed

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Posted by Bob J on Monday, November 27, 2017 6:50 PM

Ed

I too, searched for it and came up with nothing.  They did give me a printed sheet, which I have scanned as a pdf (I don't think it will attach).  I think these guys are very new at this and just wanted to gauge reaction from show attendees. 

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Posted by SouthPenn on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 3:28 PM

RailPro seems easier. Decoder and handheld controller is all you need. Can be run from a standard DCC controller (NCE, Digitrax, etc) too. Runs on DC or DCC powered track. Perfect for Deadrail.

South Penn
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Posted by Bob J on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 6:16 PM

Yes,  I agree, RailPro is certainly similar but RailPro uses a radio signal like a cordless phone, not wi-fi. LocoFi uses a smartphone, or iPad through wi-fi, no separate controller needed.  In that regard its like Withrottle with a DCC system.  Knowing how much effort has been put forth getting recordings of actual protoype engines is what really sets the DCC sound decoder maunufacturers apart from newcomers like this I think.  I love my Soundtrax, TCS and LocSound decoders and use them all with Withrottle on my iPhone.  Not to mention the benefits of JMRI that goes with it.

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Posted by tstage on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 3:00 AM

Bob,

Thanks for sharing the new technology.  I, too, love my setup, which is an NCE Power Cab connected to a SB3a/5 using primarily TCS and Loksound non-sound and sound decoders.  I can operate my layout one-handed most of the time so the smartphone interface doesn't hold much interest for me - even though I have one.  I just don't like the idea of having to look at the display everytime I want to do something.  The speed buttons - gross & fine - and the encoder wheel on the Power Cab I don't even need to look at because they are all easily accessible within the range of my thumb.

I can see the plus though, as Ed mentioned, of being able to relabel function buttons so that one's smartphone or tablet screen will reflect a given decoder's function array.  Since there are some subtle (and not subtle differences) between manufacturer's decoders, it's difficult sometimes to always remember which button triggers what, which requires me to initially play around with F3-F10 in order to refamiliarize myself again with a particular locomotive.

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 3:51 AM

I am probably too old and/or conservative when it comes to be enthusiastic about new technologies, but, like BlueRail, RailPro and Bachmann´s EZ-App, I fail to see the added value over conventional DCC technology with a smartphone/WiFi based control.

I am afraid that this will remain a niche product for the techie aficionado.

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Posted by Nevin on Thursday, November 30, 2017 7:41 AM
I think it is this: https://wifimodelrailroad.com
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  • From: Northeast OH
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Posted by tstage on Thursday, November 30, 2017 7:44 AM

Let's make that link clickable:

https://wifimodelrailroad.com

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by crusader27529 on Thursday, November 30, 2017 4:46 PM

Not a bad START to a new system. The obvious advantage to a direct radio link is that you don't need a command station. The obvious disadvantage is that you don't have a command station, and the 'personality' of the locomotive must reside on the loco, and that needs to be controlled by the phone.

The sound issue also is good and bad.....bad because the sounds aren't good enough yet, and good because they're stored on a removable SD card on the decoder. That's not quite as flexible as LOKSound, but infinitely more flexible than the other sound decoders. Unfortunately, you'd have to remove the shell to change the sound card.

I applaud the designer(s) for their effort, but they need to be able to use other sound file sources. Obviously, they're smart people and have produced something that few of us could do.....hopefully, they'll get backing and succeed in the market.

The last issue with the system is that wifi is a crowded spectrum, and that could be an issue, but that's speculation, as I don't know the protocols they're using. Wifi can be alot of different things, not just what you think for simple computer connectivity.

 

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Posted by danno54 on Thursday, November 30, 2017 5:02 PM

While i’m impressed with the capabilities my iphone, until it has a big ole knob on it for speed control, i‘m not running trains with it.

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, December 4, 2017 9:19 AM

Two questions:

1) Why wouldn't this support sound set download to the SD card on the decoder?  You could get thousands of them in flash before overwriting anything.  And there is a well-established tradition of smartphone apps for doing 'protocol translations' -- say, from one sound-file format or digital representation to another, or companding file quality to suit given speakers...

2)  Your knobs will be provided the same way as your hard buttons ... hint: MotoMods finally find a legitimate purpose.  Or special case with modular snap-ins.  Or snap-on conductive overlay 'screen protector' to which conductive knobs or 'smart buttons' can be attached... an extension to a full American version of RailDriver is not that much of a further stretch...

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