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Radio Control + Sound?


Mike140

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I have turned up something close at http://www.trainelectronics.com/DCC_Arduino/DCC++/RECEIVER/index.htm however I note that this is using an RF transmitter. My thinking is that RF is fine when there is little radio traffic (eg at home), however this and IMHO the Tam Valley solution would fall over in an exhibition environment. Hence the preference for the Deltang solution, and I gather wi-fi should be very robust as well as mainstream.

I don't understand the logic here. WiFi and Deltang systems are RF systems. So how can you say that "RF is fine when there is little radio traffic"

 

 The cheap nRF24L01+ transceivers use the same 2.4GHz unlicensed frequency band.

 

...R

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At a guess, Simon is referring to the "traditional" RC frequencies, rather than 2.4GHz.

The robustness comes from network protocols, e.g. binding and passwords.

Yup. HC12 Dave Bodnar is using is 433MHz. My understanding is no binding or passwords. And that is the limit of my understanding!
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There is a lot of stuff in Reply #104 and rather than make an extensive and repetitive quote I will try to respond to the questions.

Would this be polyphonic?

I don't see why not. It played some of Donna Summer quite reasonably. I think the question of polyphonic has to do with how it accesses the sound files and I am not an expert on that.

 

If this could be produced simply using available boards, and involve nothing more than loading a sketch onto the Deltino,

The hand-held device would also need a Deltino inside it - the communication has to be Deltino - Deltino.

 

How small would the wire be?

Same as a Deltino (same frequency) - about 30mm

 

What is the capacity of the ones you are currently using?

I am using a Pololu DRV8833 which can take a max of 10.8v and 1.2A continuous. I can't remember if you can parallel the h-bridges for 2.4 amps. I originally bought them to work on a single LiPo cell.

 

Could that be put onto a single board, or a single processor?

I don't know if it would be reasonable to expect an Attiny1634 to run the wireless communication, control the motor and create the sound.

 

I am not capable of making a suitable single board, but of course it could be done. Someone capable of making surface-mount boards could probably utilise the more capable Atmega2560. I chose the Attiny1634 because it is the smallest I think I can use with a regular soldering iron. By the way I do not intend to use any PCB when connecting it to the nRF24 - PCBs waste space :)

 

...R

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The idea that radio control in a metal body needs an external antenna keeps cropping up. I generally put the receiver under the roof of the cab, mainly so you can still see the status LED if you have to. The cab windows (and lack of a back panel in some locos) let in plenty of RF and I have never had any problems with using the small antenna fitted to the DelTang receivers.

 

Frank

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  • 4 months later...

Hi....

I'll be putting a Bluetooth speaker in my Easybuild Class 108 and streaming sound from my iPad.

I have to match the running of my trains to the sounds, but it's easy and a lot more convincing than it sounds.

All details here:http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/83931-sound-for-the-masses/

Randall

Hi....I've just casually revisited this thread and discovered that I had posted here previously...

 

I can see that discussions have gone on to discuss JMRI/VSD, so I'd like to add some observations of my own in this respect...

 

I also investigated using JMRI/VSD to send sounds to Bluetooth speakers and whilst my tests were successful and displayed on this forum in the form of a Youtube video, I soon found that there were serious limitations that would need be be addressed through significant programming resource.

 

My issues were predominantly to do with speed steps and also I wanted the capability of sending multiple sound samples polyphonically.

 

I turned my attentions to trying various other modes of transmitting quality sounds to onboard speakers and I have yet to find anything as simple as the methods described in my Sound for the Masses thread referred to in the above link.

 

I went on to create a Youtube video showing how effective Bluetooth streaming to onboard speakers can be.

 

The locomotives in the video are obviously not Radio Controlled, but a member of RMweb with a rather high profile garden railway is now using bluetooth sounds transmitted from a tablet whilst controlling the trains with his RC transmitter.

 

I leave it to you to judge whether or not it is essential to link train control and sound production...

 

The video is accessible via this link...

 

https://youtu.be/S-Y_ONP9XuY

 

Randall

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