So in my readup of the DT400R, I came across this in theDT400 manual:

DT400/R’s are shipped from the factory with tetherless release disabled. This prevents you from accidentally touching the LOCO Key and entering address selection while you are running your throttle in tetherless mode. DT400 can be set up to allow locos to be released from the throttle when it is in tetherless mode (IR or radio) by setting DT400 Option #3 according to the following table.

Now when I read “ touching the LOCO Key and entering address selection”, I mis-understood and assumed it meant you couldn’t release and select a locomotive while tethered, but you can disable this option to allow the feature. Well… I was wrong.

As I found out, the DT400R wireless throttle only supports one way communication, from throttle to booster. Grabbing a Loco address requires 2-way communication. So you can *release* the locomotive from the throttle while tetherless, but you can’t get it back (or select another one) unless you plug the throttle into a loconet panel.

Needless to say I’m pretty bummed to learn of this *after* I bought one, but I think I’ll stick it out to see just how much it bugs me and how often I find myself plugging into a panel. If it’s enough, I may sell the radio version and just go with a standard wired one.