SoundTraxx has announced a bluetooth wireless DCC decoder which it termed a game changer.
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I will have to test my little 44 tonner to see what the stall current is. If it's below 2 I'll try the Blunami 2200. If it's 2 or above I'll have to wait for the 4400.
Good demo today. It was fun to leave a comment to tell them how to turn the sound back on. But I guess that is the advantage one has when you are a beta tester.
Ron
Does it also take regular wired DCC signals? Can you post a link to the video/announcement!
John
I’m intrigued by this. It supposedly can be run on “any” power source, But I am unsure if that includes AC. They mention straight DC, DCC or battery power in their presentation. You can run it with a DCC system or the app.
Itll be interesting for sure if you can run it off 3 rail AC and the BT connection.
I would wait for the 4400 release for anything with dual motors. I don’t think the 2200 has enough margin of error to handle it.
Beats the heck out of Decoder Pro. But currently, the app is only available for Apple Devices. It is up to Blue Rail to develop one for Android.
The Model 2200 will handle battery powered O Scale up to a stall current of 2A max. It is too small for most battery powered O Scale locomotives. The model 2200 is only the first so I would wait.
Watch the video.
John
@Boilermaker1 posted:I’m intrigued by this. It supposedly can be run on “any” power source, But I am unsure if that includes AC. They mention straight DC, DCC or battery power in their presentation. You can run it with a DCC system or the app.
Itll be interesting for sure if you can run it off 3 rail AC and the BT connection.
I would wait for the 4400 release for anything with dual motors. I don’t think the 2200 has enough margin of error to handle it.
All you need to do is install a full wave bridge in the engine or a battery.
Pete
Dave Rees from BlueRail explains it well.
It's not a game changer if it can't be used by the majority of cell phones/tablets on the planet.
IOS accounts for 53% of the market in the US during the first half of 2021.
Steve
@Rescued Trains posted:IOS accounts for 53% of the market in the US during the first half of 2021.
Steve
This prompted me to look this up Steve. Doesn't appear to be accurate.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-...are/mobile/worldwide
But the bottom line is that apps for both are needed and will come. I am sure of that.
John
John, I stated my market share info was for the U.S. Your info appears to be worldwide.
Steve
You can get an iphone 6 on ebay for $50-$75 bucks and then make it your dedicated train controller without any cellular activation.
Cheaper than any typical train control remote out there today .
Ron
@Rescued Trains posted:John, I stated my market share info was for the U.S. Your info appears to be worldwide.
Steve
You are right.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-...ed-states-of-america
John
Here is an article that discusses why BlueRail develops on iOS, then ports to Android:
http://bluerailtrains.com/why-...ions-before-android/
There are 50,000 types of Android devices to support (many of them old and buggy) as opposed to 2 iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). When you make a bluetooth app for iOS you can develop all of your energy on getting the app functionality right. Once you release to Android, people expect it to run on 50,000 different types of devices, so you better be prepared to release lots of updates over the course of months to work around all the problems that arise on obscure poorly supported old devices.
@3RaylFan posted:Here is an article that discusses why BlueRail develops on iOS, then ports to Android:
http://bluerailtrains.com/why-...ions-before-android/
There are 50,000 types of Android devices to support (many of them old and buggy) as opposed to 2 iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). When you make a bluetooth app for iOS you can develop all of your energy on getting the app functionality right. Once you release to Android, people expect it to run on 50,000 different types of devices, so you better be prepared to release lots of updates over the course of months to work around all the problems that arise on obscure poorly supported old devices.
You must be an Apple enthusiast. There's a whole lot of 'facts' based on here-say in your analysis. Have you built any apps yourself? Your argument reads like an emotional one, not a technical one.
It's true that it was once the case that builders started with the iOS but in today's world it's no longer typical to start there and then add Android later. Now, there's only one set of functionality, i.e., one set of functional code. Interface code is different as you would expect, but the core is not.
For most app builders it's too expensive, and much more time consuming, to do it the old way.
BlueRail apparently doesn't believe so however.
I wish them luck but I believe that most people in our hobby have Android phones. Maybe not all of us but most. We may not prefer them but they are more affordable, and on a budget in seriously bad inflationary times money is very, very important.
Generally we spend our big bucks instead on locomotives, and maybe rolling stock, a little track, and a power source, but not on anything else, especially phones.
Mike
if you read further or watch their videos ,an android app will be coming along later. as will the 4 amp version. voltage in on the 4 amp version is anywhere from 7 1/2 volts to 22 volts.
It would be nice to have a DCC style handheld remote that uses bluetooth to go along with this decoder.
I used a standard game controller to run my Bluetooth trains.
This app looks good just as a programmer for the decoders then just use your dcc handheld to run the train. Is this possible? Just askin. Battery power for g scale would shure be great also with these decoders. Maybe some on will develop a dedicated bluetooth handheld train controller in the future.
