MTH RD posted:We initially decided to leave track power off when the Explorer is powered up since new users may not understand the watchdog issue and setting an engine on the track with power would start the engine in conventional. The idea is that whenever a command is sent to the Explorer, power is applied to the track and the LED turns purple.
Also, track LED behavior initially was just off. Not red. Then, when an over current or short condition exists, the LED would turn red. We decided it might be clearer to leave the LED red whenever track power is off. Maybe that wasn't the right choice.
As far as a track power control, I agree with you guys. I turn the e-stop button on by going into More => Advanced Features => System Settings => Hide E-Stop Button. With that feature turned off, the e-stop button appears on the main engine control screen. I use e-stop to shut off track power when I'm putting engines on or off the track. Then, any command turns it back on. I have added a "power on/off" button on the potential upgrades to the app. After using it for a while, this seems like it's needed.
Hang in there and keep the feedback coming. It may not seem like it but, there are dozens of user interface and user experience (UI and UX) decisions that we have to make and when you consider DCS capabilities, the issues can get challenging. The good news is, with the app and modern TIUs (WIU/Explorer) we can update things as we move forward.
For sure - I'd prefer the LED light be OFF at start up - that makes sense.
And use red for short - red has the effect of "Stop" "Alert"
While those are both the same "track power off" condition - at least with Red you know "hey something happened" - with some indication of what to check.
Also - why not have the E-stop activated by default? - why wait to crash to discover that feature? Same with max speed - have it set to something safe by default...let the user discover that feature because their loco is "slow" - not because it shot off the track like a rocket!
I had a heck of time last night - put a loco on ok - once I started railing rolling stock - I had a hard time with everything. Explorer not found...No Engines Found...clearing app data and cache seemed to help - but sets you back to scratch. (not a big deal with one loco). Just seems like if you do anything on the track with a loco running - you're asking for trouble. Maybe that's true for DCS in general - and not unique to this device?
Would get this message also - this is a new one.
