Remotes

You can steer trains from a phone, tablet or physical remote with a Z21 app, ROCO Z21 WlanMaus, Engine Driver or WiFred. BigFred uses the same roster and permissions as the BigFred throttle view — you only drive locomotives you are allowed to use on the layout.

Z21 app

ROCO Z21 WlanMaus

WiFred

Open the pairing page

1. Open Menu → My → Handsets.
2. Choose the command station for your layout.
3. Under Vehicle scope, either tick All vehicles I have permission to drive on this layout, or pick specific locomotives.
4. Click Generate pairing code.

The page shows a code and short instructions for your app type. Codes expire after a few minutes — generate a new one if needed.

If no command station appears, ask whoever runs BigFred at your club to enable handset support for your layout.

Z21 app

1. On the pairing page, open the Z21 app tab and note CV3 and CV4.
2. In the Z21 app, connect to BigFred using the address your club uses (the same one shown on the pairing page).
3. On any locomotive — it does not matter which you choose; no CV values are sent to a real locomotive — open programming and enter CV3 and CV4 with the values from BigFred.

When pairing works, the page shows Paired.

ROCO Z21 WlanMaus

Pairing with the keyboard

1. Open any locomotive
2. Enter your pairing code with the keyboard (e.g. 168421 -> F1 F6 F8 F4 F2 F1)

Engine Driver / WiThrottle

1. On the pairing page, open the WiThrottle / Engine Driver tab and note the pairing code.
2. In the app, connect to BigFred using the address your club uses.
3. Complete pairing in one of these ways:
4. set Device name to the six-digit code (no spaces), or
5. from the loco list, select Pair with BigFred and press function keys F0–F9 once per digit (for example code 122145: F1, F2, F2, F1, F4, F5).

When pairing works, the page shows Paired. You can then choose a real locomotive from the roster.

While you drive

• Keep the app open and connected. If it stays idle too long, BigFred ends the session and may brake your trains — pair again if that happens.
• You can change which locomotives you may drive on the pairing page and click Save without generating a new code.
• When you finish, use Disconnect handset on the pairing page or close the app normally.

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