Alan Kettlewell Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) To kill time during my recent time laid up I thought it would be a bit of fun to set up playing of some alpine horns across the mountains in the shed. Using the RR&Co programme '+4D Sound' and playing through the all round sound system in the shed I'm able to have Alpine Horns, or Alphorns, playing to each other back and forth from the two mountains at the end of the layout. Although it's not possible to hear it quite correctly on a video, the clever software actually plays the sound from the two different positions in the shed - the idea being to represent an Alpine call and answer across between the two mountains. Er...just one thing - I haven't actually created the mountain on the right side (the snowy side) yet so you'll have to imagine that for now. I also haven't got any Alphorn players yet but I'll order some of the Presier figures next time I have an order from Modelbahnshoppe-Lippe. Apologies for the poor video quality, I get flickering whenever the shed windows get in the shot. Anyway, just a bit of fun stuff... For those interested in the method, I create the individual sounds by slicing up a recording in a free sound editing software programme so that each separate part of the tune is saved in a separate small file. These small .wav files are then accessed by the +4D Sound software and arranged so that the first part of the tune eminates from the area of the first mountain, then the second part eminates from the second location ie the other mountain, and so on. As you can probably tell it is just one tune. Cheers ... Alan Edited February 19, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell Spello.. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 Meanwhile, some action down the shed, even if it was just a big tidy up. At least now I can feel ok about making another mess! 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Vecchio Posted February 19, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19, 2019 Alan, I suppose the flickering comes from the fluorescent tubes you are using. They flicker with 2x50Hz, which or eye cannot see. But if your video camera uses a picture frequency which is near to a fraction of the 100Hz you get it. Try to make a trial video without the lights on or with a good old lightbulb for illumination. I am pretty sure it would work. Pretty clean by the way... Vecchio 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Goldfish Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 I think that last picture is the first time I've been able to fully appreciate just how high that meter gauge bridge is, it's a very impressive room Alan, gives me all sorts of bad ideas! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 9 minutes ago, Vecchio said: Alan, I suppose the flickering comes from the fluorescent tubes you are using. They flicker with 2x50Hz, which or eye cannot see. But if your video camera uses a picture frequency which is near to a fraction of the 100Hz you get it. Try to make a trial video without the lights on or with a good old lightbulb for illumination. I am pretty sure it would work. Pretty clean by the way... Vecchio Hi, Thanks for the tip, twas taken using my phone but it's a modern phone with good quality cameras. I'll have a try with these different methods. Cheers ... Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 6 minutes ago, Satan's Goldfish said: I think that last picture is the first time I've been able to fully appreciate just how high that meter gauge bridge is, it's a very impressive room Alan, gives me all sorts of bad ideas! Hi, Thanks, yes I wanted it to be high enough to duck under without bending too low - not getting any younger and all that... Cheers ... Alan 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveloco1 Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Hi Alan Is the next addition to be video projects showing clouds, planes, hot air balloons and thunderstorms etc onto to the shed walls/ceiling, just wondered! hee hee. See you later mate. Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 2 minutes ago, Daveloco1 said: Hi Alan Is the next addition to be video projects showing clouds, planes, hot air balloons and thunderstorms etc onto to the shed walls/ceiling, just wondered! hee hee. See you later mate. Dave Ah you speak of Hans Peter Porsche's amazing layout - yes must progress quickly to that level. See you at the clubhouse later... Cheers ... Alan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 (edited) Another addition to my metre gauge stock, I finally bagged a Bemo HOm Rangier Tractor I've been after for a while. This will look the part shunting around in St Gallenkirch bahnhof. Now I have three locos to get chipped and prepared for operations. My preparations for operation are fairly involved and include the following actions: Testing under DC Fitting a chip and testing Fitting with a magnet underneath to activate the reed switches for tracking on the layout In the Z21 set up the new loco and address On the programming track I'll check and change various CV settings and set the loco address. Also set and learn the sounds if it's a sound chipped loco. Usually I'll adjust CV 29 to my preferences and tinker with acceleration and deceleration settings Set up the loco in Train Controller Carry out speed profiling in Train Controller - speed profiling is quite an interesting sequence which I may do a post about sometime. Run it in. That's about it. If there wasn't so much layout to build I'd probably include weathering and detailing on that list, however I've decided to look at weathering on masse much later when the layout build has progressed more. Cheers … Alan Edited February 20, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) After a few days of doing goodness knows what and not getting down the shed, but I did get some new locos chipped, at last today I made it down there and got some of these locos ready for duty on the layout. I'm well pleased with these two Austrian trains in lovely Montafonerbahn (MBS) livery. And this nice OBB class 1044 by Roco I set all the above locos up for duty today and ran them round a bit. They make very nice additions to my Austrian line up on level 3. I'll follow up later with a post showing how I go about preparing the locos for duty and work through the process of speed profiling in Train Controller. Cheers ... Alan Edited March 2, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Preparing for Duty I spent some time preparing a few locos for duty on the layout today so I thought I might as well document it and post up the process on here for anyone who is interested. There's two main aspects to the process being a) set up in the Z21 and b) set up and speed profiling in Train Controller. I've ommitted the part about initial testing under DC and fitting the DCC decoder as that kind of goes without saying - as it's a DCC layout! The first part is what I do in the Z21 App which is relatively straight forward. It's appreciated that folks have their own way of doing things and this is just my way - sounds like a Frank Sinatra song coming on! As usual I prefer to show things in pictures - paints a thousand words and all that. The loco is the OBB class 1044. First step, set up the new loco in the App. Very straight forward really, I didn't have a stock photo to use so I took a photo and uploaded it: Apologies for the poor photos, they don't come out too good when taken of a screen with loads of fluorescent lights in the room! Next I go into the programming screen to set up the address alter a few CVs. On these continental locos I prefer to use the loco class number ie #1044 in this case. I also set CV3 (acceleration) and CV4 (deceleration) to 1. I find this setting helps when it comes to doing the speed profiling in Train Controller later. [Hmm.. the system is refusing to let me upload another photo. I'll try in a new post ..] Edited March 2, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) I've had to close down the tab, re-open it and come back to the thread before it's allowed me to upload further photos, hmmm... odd. I'll send a report to Andy York later. Meanwhile, back at the job in hand, I also like to set CV 29 to suit my preferences. I keep this handy table for easy reference when working out the CV29 address: I'm only interested in setting 128 speed steps (2) and the long loco address (32), so 2 + 32 = 34 .... There it is set. I don't need Railcom or DC enabled, at most I might add 1 should the loco run in the wrong direction - it's much easier to change CV29 than take the loco body off and turn it round, And that's about it for setting up in the App - easy peasy. Next to do is the set up in Train Controller - a fair bit more complex and a little duplication. Cheers ... Alan Edited March 2, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveloco1 Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 3 hours ago, Alan Kettlewell said: After a few days of doing goodness knows what and not getting down the shed, but I did get some new locos chipped, at last today I made it down there and got some of these locos ready for duty on the layout. I'm well pleased with these two Austrian trains in lovely Montafonerbahn (MBS) livery. And this nice OBB class 1044 by Roco I set all the above locos up for duty today and ran them round a bit. They make very nice additions to my Austrian line up on level 3. I'll follow up later with a post showing how I go about preparing the locos for duty and work through the process of speed profiling in Train Controller. Cheers ... Alan Hi Alan Nice locos cannot wait to see them run. Your "goodness knows what" presumably refers to sorting out my templot plan. Thanks again mate. Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Speed Profiling in Train Controller For those interested I've put a few pictures together showing the process of speed profiling in Train Controller. (I have the gold version so I don't know if the same methods are used in bronze and silver versions.) Speed profiling is a very exacting process and it is important as it enables the system to measure constant and correct speeds of all locos and ensure accurate stopping positions. By doing this for the whole fleet, stopping accuracy of any train or loco can be achieved to within a centimetre of the desired place eg in platforms or at signals. I should add that it's a requirement that DCC chips are BEMF enabled. Speed profiling can be done using several methods. I have reed switches fitted on my layout, so I have the system use a pair of these as a means to measure speed profiling. First thing then is to fit a magnet to the underside of my loco. I'm using the recently added OBB class 1044. For accurate stopping, it's important to measure the distance of the magnet from the loco buffers at the front, in this case 4 cms. The system will make this appropriate adjustment to ensure accuracy: Now I need to set this loco up as a new engine in Train Controller. Here's a screenshot showing my loco roster table overlaid with new engine dialogue box and where the loco address is entered: Further details are entered in the 'General' tab. I found the correct loco picture in the database and give it a name. As a standard practice I like to include the loco address in the name field - it makes it even easier to identify. Note that I've also input the length of the loco. The system will need to know this so you can avoid having long trains stop in short blocks during automatic running. Later, when I attach a train, I'll amend this length. There's also an option to put in the loco or train weight which will realistically affect the driving characteristics of the loco, however for now an arbitrary figure will do - again, I'll amend that later when I attach a train and it isn't necessary for speed profiling purposes. Next, we'll go to the 'Speed' tab ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Continuing with the Speed Profiling... In the 'Speed' tab there are a couple of things to do before going on to the 'Automatic Speed & Brake' option. I've set maximum speeds of 100kph as I do for most of my locos on the layout. I don't run anything faster than that on my layout as I find it just doesn't look right - even on a fairly large layout like mine. Setting this here will limit the speed profiling range between crawl speed and 100kph. Also I set the deceleration and acceleration sliders to 0% for profiling. Later I'll amend the acceleration to about 50% but I'll leave the deceleration as it is because the software takes care of deceleration automatically. On to the 'Automatic Speed & Brake' dialogue box. The first thing to do is set the 'threshold speed' which is the slowest speed that the loco will move along smoothly. In automatic operation, a loco will be decelerated over a specified distance down to the threshold speed, where it will crawl along to its final stopping point. With the loco on the track, the sliders (right hand side) are used to drive it in each direction. Just little nudges are required until the loco crawls along smoothly, these speeds are then stored. The figures 83 and 73 you can see here are for internal use only. Once done we can move on to the 'Speed Profile' tab. This is a busy screen so I'll attempt to describe the key parts hopefully without re-writing the entire manual! Basically the system is about to take over and drive the loco backwards and forwards between two locations on a stretch of track. I have two reed switches on a long stretch of track, located at either end of my station, that I use for this specific purpose and these reeds will be used by the system to measure and calibrate the speed profile of the loco. The two reeds happen to be 346cms apart and I've entered this distance in the dialogue box. Note: 3+ meters is probably a bit long - it's recommended to use a minimum of 1 metre as any less will not give accurate enough measurements. 2 metres is probably a good distance. Anyway, mine are 346cms so it just means my profiling routine takes a bit longer - time to go for a cuppa while it's going on. Note that I've set the 'Contact Spot' at 4cm - as per my measurement earlier being the distance of the magnet from the front of the loco. On the 'Forward' speed chart you can see a small red circle showing that the profiling has started - the first pass is done very slowly at threshold speed, then the same in reverse. On the next pass the speed steps will be notched up a bit, then in reverse. Subsequently each pass will be increased until the loco reaches a scale 100kph in each direction. With each pass the speed table will be set until the whole profile is built for each direction. Once started, I usually go and get on with something else as it can get boring to watch... It's all done and the speed profile tables are complete for each direction. This process if done for every loco will ensure that all locos will be driven at the same scale speed and stop at the same stopping point regardless of motor type or characteristics. One final thing to do is test that stopping distances are accurate. I do this by setting up the loco to drive under automatic control on a schedule and put a marker at the precise point where it should stop say, in a platform. If it overshoots a little then a final tweak can be done by adding 'Brake Compensation'. Mine overshot a few centimetres so I added a figure of 10 to the brake compensation - the figures are not representative of a particular distance so a bit of trial and error is needed In the next post I'll show the final results of the test ... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) Stopping Distance Check So the speed profiling has been done and now it's time to test that the loco stops at the desired position. I'm going to run the loco under automatic control into Platform 1 of the main station. Here is a picture showing the settings for that block where you can see that the stopping place is 180cms and set to 'Middle of Train'. To explain a bit more, at the entrance to platform one block there is a reed which will detect a train arriving, trains are to stop exactly 180cms after the reed switch BUT in this case I've set it to 'Middle of Train' ie the middle of the train should stop at 180cms (not the front). If my train was 200cms long then the front would stop at 180 + 100 = 280cms, and so on. As an aside, different trains can be made to stop at different positions so for example passenger trains can stop in the centre of a platform but freight trains, if they have to stop, can go to the signal at the end of the platform. It now might become obvious why each train needs to measured. Anyway, I digress ... As measured earlier my Class 1044 loco is 30cms long, therefore I expect the front of it to stop at 180 + 15 ie 195cms. Finally, a short video showing my loco arriving in platform 1 under automatic control. The old paintbrush marks the spot exactly 180cms from the reed at the entrance to the block - the loco should stop with its mid point here (excuse my dead passenger lying there!) Well, not bad, about 1 cm overshoot so I could do a further tweak to the brake compensation to get it spot on. I hope all that wasn't too long winded and boring. It's quite a long process but this is what I do before a loco is let loose on my layout. Cheers … Alan Edited March 3, 2019 by Alan Kettlewell 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RFS Posted March 3, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2019 Hi Alan Seems there's a problem with the video not being available? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 26 minutes ago, RFS said: Hi Alan Seems there's a problem with the video not being available? I had it set to Private instead of Public - doh! Have set it right now, cheers .. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brittannia Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Just to confirm the video is working ok. Alan you have a lot of patience listing the above, but thanks for listing it all. Regards John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 3 hours ago, brittannia said: Just to confirm the video is working ok. Alan you have a lot of patience listing the above, but thanks for listing it all. Regards John Hi John, Well I don't mind at all if it's of interest to someone... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Goldfish Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 Just realised I'd not seen an update on this fantastic layout in a while. I do hope all is well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted January 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2020 47 minutes ago, Satan's Goldfish said: Just realised I'd not seen an update on this fantastic layout in a while. I do hope all is well. Last I heard, Alan was considering (or even made a start) on dismantling it all and putting UK 0 gauge in its place. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 26 minutes ago, Satan's Goldfish said: Just realised I'd not seen an update on this fantastic layout in a while. I do hope all is well. Good Morning, Yes all is indeed well, thank you. I guess an explanation is due. Following recovery from a broken ankle a year ago last Christmas I haven't really got back into it and effectively have had a year off, while pondering its future. I became more aware of the sheer scale of the scenery when I realised I've build only about 10% of it! Also over the year I've had a hankering to return to 0 gauge - which was the original intention when I embarked on building the big shed - but at that time I was unable to come up with a suitable plan that satisfied what I'd want and would fit in the space available. So instead I got stuck into the continental H0 gauge layout. Over the year I've worked on several 0 gauge plans that might work, and on a few occasions I've visited the shed with a view to demolishing Hufeisental, and each time I couldn't bring myself to do it! However I have definitely decided that I want to build an 0 gauge layout, and after a great deal of thought and planning I've come up with what I think is a compromise. My plan is to have both! I have demolished one side of Hufeisental (!) leaving the large mountainous region and station area on one side of the shed, and made space to build a 30 x 3ft UK 0 gauge layout along the other side. This plan does rather leave the question open as to whether or not I'll continue with the now smaller Hufeisental layout and also allows for future extension of the 0 gauge layout should I eventually decide to sacrifice the H0 layout - so best of both worlds at least for a time while I decide. For those following the thread it'll mean there won't be much progress on the H0 layout for a time while I get cracking on the other one. When I do continue with it I'll need to put in new spirals to re-connect the levels so I can still have a continuous run. That's easier to show than describe but I'll update later when I get round to tackling that. Meanwhile many thanks to all those who are following and apologies for the long absence while I've been struggling with this difficult decision. Cheers … Alan 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Goldfish Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 No worries Alan, good to hear you're still at it, even at a reduced size. Be interesting to see how you adapt the plan to fit it on just 1 side of the shed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 37 minutes ago, Satan's Goldfish said: No worries Alan, good to hear you're still at it, even at a reduced size. Be interesting to see how you adapt the plan to fit it on just 1 side of the shed. This screenshot from Train Controller gives an idea of the plan. A new single line spiral at the left hand end will link L1 to 2. Level 3, which sits on top and I've shown separately, will be truncated and restricted to DMU/EMU workings accessed via the existing spirals at the right hand end. All in all a workable plan which will still allow continuous running. Cheers … Alan 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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