Using a Sprog 3 to operate dcc points

[yelrow]

hi, is this feasible and simple to set up. thanks. john

[Suzie]

If you create a control panel in JMRI PanelPro you will be able to operate the points from there.

[yelrow]

Suzie, thanks. Know nothing about JMRI, apart from downloading it. Is it fairly simple to do. thanks. john

[njee20]

Mmm, sort of. It’s got a very particular way of doing things which isn’t always logical, but it’s not difficult at all.

 

Watch videos on YouTube, then have a go, you lose nothing but a bit of time!

[Paul-H]

It's not the easiest software to get to grips with, which is typical of open source software. Made to do so much they forget some of the simple things, which end up being very over complicated to implement in the software. I gave up trying and just use my sprog3 with their decoder pro software. Although it my just be me being thick or too old to learn.

 

Don't have any issues with any other software though, only open source.

 

Paul

[SimonMW]

hi, is this feasible

Yes.

 

simple to set up

Yes and No.

 

 

I am running a SPROG 3 with a Raspberry Pi, JMRI, DecoderPro. I set up the Cobalt point motors with an address (just using the turnout control window in DecoderPro of JMRI). You can then control them simply enough using the turnout control feature - put in the number, and click on Thrown or Closed.

 

Setting up PanelPro is a pain in the @$$. I did it eventually, but I can't remember how and it took me ages to work it out.

[Crosland]

PanelPro is just a different way into DecoderPro. It's all the same software under the hood, just different menus. It's like that for historical reasons and the fact that too many existing users cry "foul" at any attempt to merge them once and for all.

 

You may be referring to the different flavours of layout and panel editors. One is intended for layout control, one is not, Unfortunately I forget which is which. It's not that difficult to setup a track diagram with clickable icons for the turnouts.

 

Andrew crosland

SPROG DCC

[yelrow]

Thanks guys, all sounds a lot harder than Railmaster, which is a doddle for setting up points.  Have to go a different route as RM, does my DCC layout in 00.   Have a newly acquired N gauge with 15 points, and simply want to operate them with a sprog. That will leave me free to  presently run Locos on DC. Far too fiddly for me to put decoders in my N gauge locos. john

[Crosland]

At the risk of losing a sale, is there a particular reason you want DCC only for layout control?#

 

There are other solutions that would allow you to create a physical panel and not need a computer. Some will require some DIY.

[Suzie]

Suzie, thanks. Know nothing about JMRI, apart from downloading it. Is it fairly simple to do. thanks. john

 

Hi Yelrow

 

Once you have installed JMRI the process is quite straightforward.

 

1. Set up a connection to your Sprog as "Sprog Command station"

 

2. In the Turnout table add your points using their addresses.

 

3. From the panel menu create a new layout editor panel.

 

4. Add your points to the layout editor panel (and any other track segments you require).

 

5. Save your panel.

 

Job done, just click on the points to change them. If you have a touch screen just tap the points to change them.

 

JMRI of course can do a whole lot more, but you don't have to worry about that if you don't want to use any of the other features. It is as complex or as simple as you make it.

[yelrow]

Suzie, , perfect, will look at, when i am allowed to stop decorating. john

[yelrow]

Crosland, Hi, could you elaborate, as i am also doing bits for my lad. What would i need. thanks. john

[jthjthjth]

I use a Pi SPROG and JMRI. The PiSPROG operates 22 Cobalt DCC point motors. I use an old iPad as the glass control panel, though there is nothing to stop you using a computer. I like using the iPad as a touch panel to operate the points. JMRI is not hard to learn. The difficulties are twofold, firstly the US centric wording, but it’s not hard to fathom. The bit I found the hardest was the online documentation. There are a few paragraphs of simple introduction and then it jumps into fine details about stuff you might never want to do. The middle is missing. What I did find useful were online YouTube tutorials (and I normally hate such things and prefer written documentation). The software is both good and powerful (and free!). The way I made progress was to set myself simple goals and make progress bit by bit. My first goal was to learn how to operate a single point motor. So I had that hooked up to the PiSPROG, and that alone. Then learn how to draw a track plan with your points in it. You want the Layout Editor within PanelPro. If you are nervous about installing JMRI on a Raspberry Pi you can buy a preconfigured SD card from sprog-dcc.co.uk for not very much money. (which is what I did). If you have no Linux experience it is probably the best route to take. The PiSPROG is a fantastically cheap and powerful way of controlling a layout. (Mine is N, it might not suit a garden railway...). I also have a USB Sprog connected to a Windows laptop and an oval of track. The laptop also runs JMRI. I use this to run DecodePro (a sub section of JMRI), which is the easiest way I know of programming and fiddling about with locomotive decoders.

[Nigelcliffe]

I use a Pi SPROG and JMRI. ................ Then learn how to draw a track plan with your points in it. You want the Layout Editor within PanelPro. ........

 

I agree about "take it slowly" and "one small step at a time",  and documentation has always been a problem, in part because there are dozens of ways of doing things and no clearly "right" way.  Some years ago, I wrote some tutorials on UK signalling which are still approximately accurate.  

 

The Layout Editor is only one option, and may or may not be the best - it depends on one's aims.  

 

If the end-aim is either:  "I want a degree of computer logic around this layout, such as signalling following turnout positions, or following track occupancy, or heading to automation",  or  "I don't mind about the detailed appearance, so long as its reasonably tidy",  then the layout editor might be suitable.  

 

But, if just wanting a simple mimic diagram, and if wanting to control the appearance, then the "Panel Editor" may be quicker to construct, and is considerably more flexible in its appearance as all icons can be redrawn to any appearance if the library supplied doesn't cover your needs.  With the Panel Editor, icons for each turnout are plonked on the Panel, and dragged to whatever location you require.  Save and done.   If wanting lines to join them up, either add them from the available icons, or create a background in a painting/drawing package and import that.  

 

 

I've often used both - the Layout Editor to create the underlying logic of the layout (which blocks/signals relate to which turnouts, signalling rules, etc..), and then the Panel Editor to create the user interface that humans will use to actually change the turnouts or signals.   

 

 

- Nigel