Every so often a product comes along that almost completely bowls me over. This is one. A radio (ie cordless) DCC throttle from ESU, more famous for manufacturing the Loksound range of DCC decoders that add the noise to many European models from the likes of Roco. It's an XpressNet device, which means it can be used alongside other handsets in any system that uses the Lenz XpressNet standard. A pleasant change, as most radio throttles manufactured to date don't use this standard, and operate on radio frequencies that aren't legal to use in the UK.
Whilst in principle I subscribe to the idea that a handset without a cord that wraps itself around my ankle on a regular basis is A Good Thing, I didn't expect to like this one. For my money, the Lenz LH100 handsets are the best out there at the moment, the elegant simplicity of the interface giving easy access to a range of features that is second to none. With everything lying under your thumb, it's a good one-handed controller, something that's vital if you do a lot of shunting. Although it could certainly be improved in many ways, most competing products fail to achieve this; falling into the hundreds of buttons trap, needing two hands to use or just simply being too basic for me. I was initially put off the ESU unit by the rotary thumbwheel, as I don't like the vague feel of old-fashioned control knobs - I'm either difficult to please or just plain set in my ways.
The ESU handset, whilst not having the full range of features found on a Lenz LH100, is a very intuitive drivers' throttle. It passes my 'one thumb' test with flying colours and within minutes it felt like I'd been using it all of my life. I soon forget the not insignificant price of the thing and went straight into 'I want' mode. I wouldn't say the thumbwheel had the accuracy of buttons (I found myself frequently looking at the display rather then the train) but it's a lot better than a knob. The display panel does a lot of nice things, too, (including giving you the ability to assign more meaningful names to locos) but it was the everyday operation of trains that impressed me most.
The controller comes with a black box, actually the radio receiver that plugs into the XpressNet bus and not, despite appearances, a charging cradle. The handset is battery powered, so keeping a spare set of rechargables topped up is a good idea.
The set is available from Modellers Mecca. It costs a whopping £185 and I don't mind in the slightest...
Currently On My Stereo: Dinosaur Jr - Without A Sound