EX-WebThrottle
This is our EX‑WebThrottle throttle/controller that can connect to the EX‑CommandStation directly through the USB port of a computer.
For a video on how to install and use EX‑WebThrottle click below.
What you need to run EX-WebThrottle
Chromium-Based Browser version 89 or above (March 2021) (Chrome, Opera, Edge)
You don’t need anything else to test it out and to run in emulator mode, just run it and play. To use it to run real trains you will need:
An Arduino Mega or Uno Microcontroller
An Arduino Motor Control Shield
The EX‑CommandStation sketch loaded on your Arduino
Getting started
Note
If you don’t have your hardware yet or just want to play with the throttle and see commands being sent to the log window, you can skip the part about connecting your Command Station.
Make sure you are using Chrome version 89 or above (check the menu, help, about screen).
To get started, connect your Command Station to a computer that has a USB port and have a compatible browser installed. Use a USB serial cable from your computer to the USB connector on the Arduino. Power everything up and put a loco on the MAIN track.
Run or Install EX-WebThrottle
You have an option for how you would like to run EX‑WebThrottle, from the cloud or installed locally on your machine. We recommend using it from the cloud or as a web app, but the choice is yours.
Try it now (Run from the cloud)
Just click this link and you will load a web page from our server that will run the web throttle on your machine. You can connect it to the EX‑CommandStation or just run it in emulator mode where you don’t have to have any hardware. Please read the requirements above for what you need in order to run WebThrottle-EX in your browser. If you want to remember the link to run the throttle, it is https://dcc-ex.github.io/WebThrottle-EX.
EX‑WebThrottle is also a Progressive Web App (PWA). That means you can install it on your computer and run it right from your start menu! If you go into the EX‑WebThrottle settings panel (click the 3 line “hamburger menu” at the top left), you will find a “Settings” menu. Click on “Apps” and then select “Install as an App”. You can now work offline and always find EX‑WebThrottle with your other Apps!
Download
Note
We recommend using the version hosted on our servers as this will auto-update whenever we release a new update!
This will install all the files to run locally on your machine. You won’t need an internet connection to run the software. Just download the latest zip file from the link below and extract it to any folder you have run permission on. Then click on the index.html file to launch the throttle in your browser. Create a shortcut to it on your desktop so you can launch it more easily.
Operation
To use the program, you can either click on the “Serial” dropdown button and select “Emulator” to run in emulator mode or after making sure your hardware is properly connected, select “Serial”.
Next, click on the “Connect DCC++ EX” button.
If you are in “emulator mode”, you can skip to the next step. When using the serial connection, if the program finds a compatible device, it will open a popup a window showing you a selection. It may show a line at the top such as “Arduino Mega 2560 (COM3)”. Your com port may vary. Click on your board to select it and then click the “Connect DCC++ EX” button.
You should then be connected to the EX‑CommandStation and should see the response from the Command Station in the log textbox of the debug console at the bottom of the throttle window. Make sure your debug console is open. If it isn’t, use the slider button in the lower left to open it. You can also open the DevTools window in your browser to see more developer logging.
Once you are connected, you can enter the <s> command in the “direct command” textbox to get status information from your Command Station. To do this just enter s (without the quotes) and press the SEND button. You can send any DCC-EX API command in this way. You should see <iDCC++…> returned in the log window with your version, type of Arduino, type of motor shield, and some other information.
Now you are ready to run trains! Place your loco on the track and click the power slider button to turn on power to your track. You should see lights on your Arduino Motor Shield and an indication that your loco has power.
Note
Make sure you place the loco on the MAIN track, not the PROGRAM track. Check your wiring. On an Arduino Motor Shield, Motor Output “A” should connect to your MAIN track and “B” to the PROGRAM track.
Next go to the “Locomotive ID” textbox and enter the address of your loco and press the “Acquire” button. You should now have full control over your loco.
All the function buttons should be working, so you can play with the headlight, horn and bell and any other function assigned to a function button. The commands being sent to the Command Station and its responses will display in the log window if it is open
In the throttle control area to the left of the function buttons are vertical controls to control direction. The up arrow selects forward, the square button is stop and the down arrow is reverse.
The circular control or vertical slider (chosen by the throttle select slider) can be moved by clicking and holding down the mouse button and dragging, clicking at a spot where you want the throttle to move, or clicking the + and - buttons.
The options button lets you save labels to go on your function buttons for each of your locos. We will be updating this document soon to give you more information on this and other new features.
Note
Not all Command Station functions are fully supported in the emulator yet. This means that although the software works, not all the responses will be shown in the debug console. This will be completed in a next release.
Going Further / Developing
If you want to really delve into how this works and help us improve it with your comments or your development skills, please contact us. You can also read through our Contributing to EX-WebThrottle2 page for info on preparing to view and contribute to the code.
To load the Chrome DevTools to look at logging and be able to manually enter “write” commands for testing, click on the Menu (the 3 vertical dots in the upper right hand corner of the Chrome Window), then select “more tools” and then “Developer Tools”. Or you can just hit “Ctrl-Shift-I”.
Looking for some help with EX-WebThrottle?
To raise a bug report, feature request, support request, or submit Beta test results, feel free to use our handy GitHub templates accessible by clicking this button:
