nigelwright7557 Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Working on a basic DCC controller. It controls speed and direction of up to 127 loco's. It can also send function commands to loco's too. Uses PC software which sends commands via USB to my DCC controller. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingEdwardII Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 How are you building the DCC Controller? Which technology are you using? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelwright7557 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 I am using a PIC32mx230 microcontroller. I am using a 2 amp motor driver H bridge to drive the loco. Communications with the PCB is via USB to a Windows PC. The hardware also has short circuit detect with overload LED indicator. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingEdwardII Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 How does your system compare with a system using a motor shield combined with an Arduino board or Raspberry Pi? Yours, Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelwright7557 Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Mine is pretty basic. Forward/reverse and speed control. It can send function commands too. I might expand it in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 22, 2020 13 minutes ago, nigelwright7557 said: Mine is pretty basic. Forward/reverse and speed control. It can send function commands too. I might expand it in the future. Are you doing this because you like the challenge of developing your own system? As Mike said there are already plenty of home brews around using Arduinos or RPis and if using an Arduino, as probably as cheap as it's possible to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelwright7557 Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 On 22/11/2020 at 23:27, melmerby said: Are you doing this because you like the challenge of developing your own system? As Mike said there are already plenty of home brews around using Arduinos or RPis and if using an Arduino, as probably as cheap as it's possible to go. Partly the challenge, I have been programming for 40 years so always looking for a new challenge. The biggest challenge with DCC is getting the right information to do certain tasks. The software part is easy. Loads of info around on DCC CV's. However, not so much on the fine detail of how many bits in preamble and how many times you should send a set command. What I have found is differing ways of doing it which just causes confusion. As said earlier managed to get a loco to go forward and backward and change speed so basic communications are right. My DCC loco has gone wrong now and for some reasons thinks its address is 255 ! So waiting for a new decoder to test my CV changing software. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 28, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2020 (edited) 29 minutes ago, nigelwright7557 said: However, not so much on the fine detail of how many bits in preamble and how many times you should send a set command. Have you got yourself a copy of the NMRA specifications 9.2? That sets out all the info required, downloadable in pdf form https://www.nmra.org/index-nmra-standards-and-recommended-practices Edited November 28, 2020 by melmerby transposed words Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 11 hours ago, nigelwright7557 said: However, not so much on the fine detail of how many bits in preamble and how many times you should send a set command. The information is all in the standards. At the very least you need to read NMRA S-9.1, S-9.2, S-9.2.1, S-9.2.3 and S-9.2.4. The only real confusion is when you come to accessory addressing, which leads to the "off by 4" problem when moving hardware between systems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelwright7557 Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 I eventually chased the standards down. I finally got programming CV1 loco address change sorted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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