Software
Getting started
This guide takes you from installation to your first run in seven short steps. Each step is a page of its own and ends with “Done when …” – only move on once that is true. At the bottom of each page, “Next” takes you to the next step.
The way to your first run
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| Installing and starting | Install LoDi-Aura and open it for the first time. About 10 minutes. |
| Signing in and licences | Sign in with your Lokstore account and fetch the licence onto your computer. About 5 minutes. |
| Creating a layout | Create a new layout with a name and gauge, and set the block length and speed. About 5 minutes. |
| Connecting devices | Find the LoDi-Rektor, LoDi-Shift-Commander and LoDi-S88-Commander LX, add them, switch them online and set them up. About 20 minutes. |
| Your first track plan | Draw an oval with a station, place insulated joints, set up blocks, enter feedback sensors. About 30 minutes. |
| Placing and connecting turnouts | Place turnouts in the track plan and give each one its switching command station and address. About 10 minutes. |
| Adding a loco and driving | Add a loco and a train, put them on the track and drive the first lap – first by hand, then automatically. About 15 minutes. |
With or without a layout
| Path | For whom | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| With a layout | Your devices are set up and on the network, e.g. LoDi-Rektor, LoDi-S88-Commander LX and LoDi-Shift-Commander. | All seven steps in order. Because the devices come before the track plan, every field then offers you real addresses to choose from, instead of you making up numbers. |
| Without a layout | The hardware hasn't arrived or isn't set up yet, or you'd like to practise first. | The first three steps, then Trying it without a layout. The dry run can do everything except real power. |
The tutorial layout
The example is a small tutorial layout: an oval with a two-track station, a siding and a level crossing. If your devices are on the network, it takes you about an hour.
With a third-party command station
Do you drive with a Roco/Fleischmann Z21, a Märklin® CS3, an ESU ECoS or a Lenz LZV200 with interface 23151? Then set that up in step 4 instead of the LoDi-Rektor. For this you need a command station licence together with Basic or Standard – or Professional, which includes all command stations. What is different and where the limits are is described under Devices and command stations.
What next?
Once your first train is running, the foundation is laid. From here you expand your layout step by step:
- Lighting: switch houses, street lamps and stations by the clock or by hand – Switching lights.
- Signals: put signals at the blocks that show the aspect from the route – Turnouts and signals.
- Timetable: run trains at fixed times or at intervals – Timetable.
- Automation: build level crossing barriers, platform stops and other sequences – Automation.
- Calibration: measure locos so that they stop to the centimetre – Calibration.