There's also the option of selecting a loco from your own roster. This is the first screen you're presented with after clicking the icon on your desktopĪfter clicking the 'Use programming track' button you'll get this screen come up - this gives you a choice of decoders, selected by their manufacturer. As you'd expect all the screenshots of the software are 'clickable' so you can see larger (in fact near full-size) versions - though I must point out that the slightly 'fuzzy' appearance of some of them is down to the image compression I had to use. Lets have a look at a typical set of screens, in this case for the Lenz ‘Gold’ decoder. It’s a bit clunky but clear and purposeful none the less. I must admit I really like the JMRI Decoder Pro software interface. The SPROG too has had its fair share of updates - the current version even proving remarkably capable at programming 'difficult' sound decoders. The current version is a lot less clunky, has more decoder types in it and seems to be all round a much more mature product. What follows is a run through of DecoderPro v1.6.1 as we were using in 2006 when I first got hold of the SPROG. It’s worth remembering that the guys behind SPROG do not count as one of the big consumer electronics companies and so the installation is more ‘fit-for-purpose’ than ‘flashy’.
#JMRI DECODERPRO LOCOMATIVE ICONS INSTALL#
Take your came/time with this stage and all will be well – I managed to install mine first try even if it was a bit convoluted.
#JMRI DECODERPRO LOCOMATIVE ICONS DRIVERS#
I use Windows XP SP2 on my PC so needed to manually install two drivers from the supplied disc. The Java application is almost certain to be needed, so too the JMRI software. For goodness sake take your time to identify what software you’ll need to install. Hmm, not entirely convinced about this bit. Two of the connections on this plug are unused and it’s to these that the wires to/from your Programming track must be connected. At the other end of this little box is a four-pole socket, which takes the cable from the power supply. On one end a standard USB type ‘B’ socket which plugs using the supplied lead into your PC.
The SPROG itself is a dinky little cream box, about half the size of a pack of 20 Golden Throat Charmers with a set of sockets each end. A day or so later a jiffy bag dropped through the letterbox containing the SPROG, its power supply, a software CD and to my genuine surprise the cables required to get it all working. Assuming it really was that simple I decided to give it a whirl, my choice was for the USB version and I bought the recommended power supply at the same time. It’s a ‘computer based programmer for DCC decoders’ or so it says here. These will be few and far between as we use this website to pontificate about things we’ve enjoyed and/or found useful in the world of toy trains. Here we go then our first product review.
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