having problems with my Raildriver, can anyone help?

[mcgilles]

I hope this is the right place to post this.

First off let me say that I've been in contact with PI Engieering's tech support people since I got my Raildriver and started to have issues. I've been very satisfied with the level of support I've received. anyone considering buying a raildriver but concerned about customer service or tech support fear not, they will make sure to take care of you!

even though they are working on my problem I thought I would post about it here to see if anyone else has had this type of issue or may know of a solution.

the throttle on my raildriver doesn't respond correctly. at the idle position the train is at idle, if I smoothly drag the throttle upwards (towards me) I get up to about 50% before the train's throttle jumps to the 1 or 2 position. as I continue to pull the throttle up towards 100% the trains throttle goes through 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...and sometimes it will get to 8, sometimes at 100% it holds at 7. at first I thought I had a bad calibration, but I recalibrate it several times and still get the same results. when I calibrate it I get the results out of bounds error message, and I have to disable the bounds check just like their web site says, it doesn't appear to be a bad calibration, but I sent the file to them to check on for me.

another problem I notice is when I reduce throttle, I get the same "effect" if I pull the throttle to about 50% of its travel, in Trainz it reads 1 or 2 (usually goes strait to 2), then start pushing it back towards 0, it holds up to 1 or 2 until get down to about 10% of the travel. same thing on high throttle. if I pull it all the way to 100% of its travel, lets say it goes to 8 this time, then I start reducing the throttle, it will go down to anywhere from 75% to 50% before it drops down to 7 or 6. many times if I want to go to position 1, I have to pull the throttle up to 50% or so, then it jumps to 2, then I have to push it back to 15% or 10% before it will drop to 1 and then stay there. obviously this is not the way its supposed to work! the dynamic brake side of the controller doesn't do this at all however. as I push the throttle through the dynamic brake range, it smoothly goes through the throttle positions, equal intervals, and the same as I bring it back towards idle. its only the throttle side which has this odd behavior. the other levers (brakes, reverser etc) all work great, its only the throttle which does this. of course its the most important lever to behave correctly, and its the one that's acting weird.

has anyone else had problems with the raildriver? anything similar to what I'm describing? if you have and you fixed it I would really like to know how you did it. I'm assuming that this is not simply how it is, and that I have something wrong.

[FONT=&quot]I also noticed that I get a “ghost” image in the unlit digits on the speedometer. The digits follow the in use digits and are dim and flicker slightly. That is if the digits are 0, 1, and 2, from left to right, and if I’m at 5mph, I see a bright red 5 in digit 2, and a very dim (but visible even with the lights on in the room) and flickering “5” in digits 0 and 1. if I’m at a 2 digit speed, digit 0 shows the same result, but it is the digit in 1, and 2 superimposed on each other. If I’m at 25, I see both a “2” and a “5” superimposed over each other in digit 0. Is that normal? It really doesn’t bother me at all (its dim and barely noticeable), I only mention it because if may help diagnose my throttle problem.
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if anyone has any idea or has seen this before, please let me know!
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[leeferr]

I get the same problem with the throttle. Haven't found a solution so I've just learned to live with it. I'd be interested to see if there's a solution.
Mike

 

[CSX5220]

heres my soulition

Hi,

I have raildirver also. I have a soulition that I found works pretty well. I use the Acceleration HUD, in conjunction with CAB HUD. If I pull the combined handle tward me, and look at the Accel Hud I can adjust accordingly, for train slack and the same goes for the Dynamics. As for the throttle Notch postions, I have the same issue-espicaly when in Dynamics.

Hope this helps
Best Regards
Mike S.

Ps, Do a search for Acceleration HUD on the DLS, that should come up.

 

[Padster]

I have Raildriver and it works fine for me, though some trains handle differently to others. I know it sounds like a silly question, but are you using it in Cab Mode? If you are using RailDriver in DCC it will go bonkers and act strange. I made this mistake at first.

Don't believe the hype that you can't drive steam locomotives with RailDriver. You can. You need to use the Forward/Reverse lever to decrease the cut-off to give you more power when you are on the move. For example:

1. Move the lever fully forward and check the HUD that the cut-off percentage is around 67-75%. You might have to repeat this because steamers can be a bit sluggish.
2. Release the brakes and open the Regulator.
3. Once underway, bring the Forward/Reverse lever halfway between Forward and Neutral.

Lastly, if you have an ultra-realistic steam loco at your fingertips, you might want to bear this in mind:

THE BLOWER: Use whenever the loco is stationary, and in tunnels (DON'T USE WHEN FIREBOX DOOR IS OPEN: unless you want your face toasted!)

DRAIN COCKS: Open when loco comes to a stop, and for first few yards of motion.

THE INJECTOR: Controls steam feed. Feeds cold water into the boiler.

The only downside with steam locos is that you have to rely on the HUD to check your speed: the LED won't give you a readout.

Best wishes,
Padster

 

[backyard]

Which version of TRS are you running?...OS is Windows Vista, or XP?

8) Uninstall the software for RailDriver, and follow all installation and operation directions to the letter.

RailDriver, has an update related to the TrainzUtl file, for TRS2006 on Vista...

When you have the correct installation, run the calibration program.

Run Trainz, and see if you can "fine tune & tweak your english on the throttle."

If you spend several hours on that desktop, and you cannot get it to run throttle, auto-brake, independent brake, reverser, horn, bell, range(camera), headlight, all but the display clock buttons, and camera controls working, then you need to request for factory service(ie-send it back, in original box(for safe shipment).

The throttle lever has no dentents, or notches, to let you know what position it is in, because it's an electronic throttle, vs mechanical throttle, in a locomotive.

Sometimes I calibrate my throttle to just short of the end of travel, for full throttle position, so I have some play in it for Run 8.

Aside of the lack of wiper, e-stop, alert, sand controls, I like my controller well, and plan to paint the brake handle metallic red, as soon as the humidity drops below 40%.

 

[mcgilles]

I'm running TC on XP, I have TRS2006 also but I'm switching all of my rail operations to TC.

I'm starting to get used to the way the throttle works but I still don't like it. all of the other levers work so well, why is this the only one which won't work right?

I also calibrate with full being a bit less than 100%, that fixes the problem with position 8. I also tried calibrating with idle being in the neutral area, that worked great when I was applying throttle, but when I went to slow down to idle I got to the idle position and the throttle was still at 2. I'm still playing with it and talking to PI engineering tech support, but so far nothing I've done has fixed the problem. they sent me a new calibration file today, I gave it a try but I still don't have it working.

 

[backyard]

O.K. at this point...

8) The throttle, is not configured to precise control of the motor...

That's where "english," is prescribed... if your satisfied with the controller being what you want, at this stage in the game, play with the throttle, make sure you at least see all the throttle notches respond to you, and show in the HUD.

Between the program, your computer, and RailDriver, is the throttle position.

Only you, can determine, if this method of control is right for you.