HeathKit made a great implementation of a TAT-IV with this throttle..
Check here to see why a TAT is a big deal
TAT-IV == True Action Throttle, version 4
Here's what mine looks like.
I am planning on building my own TAT for my HO and O scale trains. I lucked out and found a a kit for a TAT-V that I hope to build someday... and this will let me compare the two.... and let me build up TAT experience in the mean time.
The HeathKit version has several nice features, and is reported to drive trains quite well. It's a quite advanced, and they added an optional walk-around throttle to it as well. Sorta cool.
I will admit, that HeathKit, being an electronics company, has the best terminal strip of ANY of my throttles!
I have several throttles, some transistor based, and others conventional. My Dad had several MRC Dual Loco Pack 700s which was the first DC throttle I ever used.
My very first throttle was a transistor throttle, a Troller TRA-1000, with momentum and braking. Pretty cool, let me tell you, when my Dad got it for me as a Christmas Present. It worked great, and then it died one day. My Dad sent it off to Troller, and they returned it fixed after a month or three. I really missed it while it was away, very awesome to see trains slowly accelerate, and be able to brake them like you handle a real train -- not like speedy gonazles on the throttle.
Years later, when I had my house, it went with me so I could "play trains" when I was away -- all the other throttles were my Dads'.
When I found a full Heathkit model, I decided to purchase it. Sure, it cost $$, but it would let me experience the TAT series of throttles to see how well they work... and it would save me time building something I might not want to bother with.
I paid more than I wanted to for this unit; the price was a bit on the high end, and there was a question of if the unit worked or not.
Heathkit quality of design is legendary, and I had no qualms if I had to repair it. The manuals and schematics for everything were included, so ... repairable.
After receiving it, it mostly works. There are some issues with using the front panel controls on the throttle, but the controls on the walk-around controller work OK.
