RailCom_Fan

Sorry for not making it clear, but the "red board in the photo" is the I/O Shield, that you plug the Nano into. The Nano has Input-Output Pins that go to the Blue Pins on the Shield. And, the I/O Shield adds +5 Volts and Ground Pins beside it, so that it is compatible with a Servo Plug. That's how you can get a Servo Extension Lead, and just plug that into the I/O Shield, and then the Servo into the Extension Lead. This connects everything from the Nano to the Servo, with no Soldering.

If you want a comparison of Arduino sizes, have a look at this page: https://talkingtracks.com.au/TT_Hardware.shtml They show you this picture: The Nano is a bit bigger than a ProMini, but for convenince, I agree with the people at TalkingTracks.

I went all the way through this thread (Sorry if I was blind), but couldn't find anything about how to connect an Arduino to a DCC Signal. Then, I came across this website: https://talkingtracks.com.au/ They have a free Download available that has a Circuit, a layout on Veroboard (I love that stuff), and construction notes. On another page, they also compare the Arduino ProMini with, the Arduino Nano. They say the Nano is better, because you can get Shields for it easily. ___ I got the attached picture off their website, and found it on eBay. There is a Power Supply connected to the I/O Shield, that powers the Servos, so no issue with affecting the Arduino. What's even better, is that with some servo extension leads, the whole thing can be done without soldering. ___ But, if you want to learn how to solder, they have that covered too. Go to this page: https://talkingtracks.com.au/TT_Technique_001.shtml There are 4 YouTube videos that explain it all. It's quite funny actually, there are videos from 2 people, that tell you to solder almost opposite ways. These guys explain what's right, and it isn't either of the guys on YouTube, its a combination of both of them. ___ I know it sounds crazy, but you can actually connect up to 17 Servos to a Nano. Most people think you need a PWM Output, but servo control is all done in Software, so any Digital Pin is fine, which includes A0 to A5. It's the Arduino IDE that prevents you using A6 - A7 as Digital Outputs, not the MicroController itself. The website talks about how people seem to want to get as many devices as they can to be controlled by a single Arduino. They have a picture of a guy in the USA with 15 servos attached. The wire tangle must be amazing. Their preference is to have fewer devices connected, so that your wiring is easy. If you have a yard with lots of points, then you could control more servos. But, if your points are a long way apart, then does it make sense to run 15 or so long wires back to one Arduino. They are really cheap these days (eBay is great for finding sellers). ___ Someone here talked about how the ProMini can't connect directly to a PC. You need an interface. I bought 2 of the USB interfaces, and neither of them worked. Apparently, there is an Intellectual Property issue, and some clones get blocked by the Driver software. On the other hand, the many Nanos that I've purchased just work. omeone here talked about how the ProMini can't connect to a PC, I bought 2 of the USB interfaces, and neither of them worked. Apparently, there is an Intellectual Property issue, and some clones get blocked by the Driver software. On the other hand, the many Nanos that I've purchased just work.

For those that like YouTube, these 4 links will play the whole 60 minutes quit happily for you (4 x 15-Minute parts): (Without Advertisements replacing any of the originally intended Video)

Is this the sort of thing you wanted to do? (My Z21 in the diagram is equivalent to your DR5000) If this is what you want to do, then it's quite straight forward (Assuming everything has the relevant capabilities - The most important part is the WiFi Router that connects to the Internet). Your issue/need has been discussed a lot in this thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/63888-roco-z21/page-19 You will see that @Dutch_Master Posted on 12/Dec/2016 at 02:10 that there is a diagram about how to do it on the Z21 website (But never cited the reference). I suggest you go to the above thread, and ask for the reference. Once you have the document referred to, if you have any difficulties understanding what you need to do, just let me know. _____ The reason you can't connect a Throttle directly to you DR5000 is because the DR5000 is a Network Client, and expects to connect to a Networking Controlling device (The Router), rather than another Network Client Device (The Throttle). That's a bit like having a Trailer that gets towed by your Car. And someone else wants to connect their Trailer to your Trailer, and they didn't realise that Trailers only connect to Cars, rather than to anything that goes on the road (I trust you understand my analogy). The diagram shows that WiFi devices can connect to either Router. There is no limitation, other than you can't connect to 2 Routers at the same time (A bit like wanting a Trailer to be towed by 2 Cars at the same time - You just don't/can't do that).

I'm fairly familiar with the documents written in English available for download from the Z21 website (http://www.z21.eu/en/Downloads), and I don't recall seeing anything like you describe that shows 2 Routers & 2 Networks connected together. There is a Router Configuration document written in German (http://www.z21.eu/en/content/download/623/4854/file/Z21%20Router%20Konfiguration.pdf), however this doesn't show 2 Routers & 2 Networks connected together, so is obviously not the document you are referring to. Likewise, I don't recall anyone in this thread being referred to the Z21 website for the required information to connect their 2 Routers together (Most advice is not to do that), which could make it harder to be able to update the software on the Z21, and the devices used to act as Throttles for the Z21. Anyway, I'm glad everyone has all the information they need.

I understand that this thread has been running for over 4 years now (Since 07/Nov/2012), but I have just joined and I am wondering if anyone is still having issues with all the Networking stuff. IMHO, it is really straightforward to get it all working, with everything connected together, and with everything able to reach the Internet. What you need to know is really straightforward, when explained without just Technical terms like Subnets and Subnet Masks. The harder part comes when you want your PC on your Home Network to talk to your Train Network. But, even that is doable, because the Router supplied with the Z21 has all the features required to do everything you want/need. And when you understand how it all works, you have one of those 'Ah Hah' moment. This is how my network is set up: If you would like to be able to do this too, just reply in this thread, and I will write it up for everyone.

This thread seems to mention DCC4PC quite a lot, but I wonder if you know what the situation is there. I think you should check out their website, maybe starting with this page: - http://dcc4pc.co.uk/progress_to_date.html You will see that it starts with the following text: "Progress to Date 12th December 2012" Given this lack of progress for the 12 months to @TartanTrax's response, I'm not surprised that @TartanTrax suggested direct contact, rather than a public conversation. The DCC4PC website makes all sorts of promises, but with no activity for almost exactly 4 years, and only 1 retailer on Planet Earth, that hardly seems like a great supplier to go with. Lenz isn't any better. They have been threatening to produce the necessary hardware for years too, without much visible progress. One of DCC4PC website's promises is a DCC Command Station. While they have been promising for 4 years, others have actually delivered. Here are 2 you might like to look at: - http://www.digikeijs.com/catalog/product/view/id/165/s/dr5000-adj-dcc-multi-bus-central/ - http://www.z21.eu/en/What-is-Z21/System Both of these support RailCom, but that's only part of the battle for the type of automation being discussed here. One of the common misconceptions is that RailCom only supports 1 device per Block/Section. This just isn't correct. So, you could have a slew of cars each with their own RailCom transponder, such as: - http://www.lenzusa.com/1newsite1/LRC100.html - http://www.esu.eu/en/products/accessories/railcomr-transmitter-unit/ (You don't need a whole DCC Decoder - One of these tiny transponder-type devices would do it) OK, so now you have cars with lots of RailCom Sender modules, all sending out their Decoder numbers. Now you need some way to locate where they are. This is why @TrickyDicky suggested the DCC4PC 16 channel "RailCom Reader" (http://dcc4pc.co.uk/our_products.html). A company called TAMS also has an 8 channel RailCom detector, the RCD-8 (http://tams-online.de/45-0108x). ESU have the 50094 ECoSDetector which is 16 channel detector, but only 4 channels with RailCom (http://www.esu.eu/en/products/digital-control/ecosdetector/technical-data/). Lenz have the LRC110 (15110) & LRC130 (15130), neither of which are available to be purchased yet. So, 16, 8 and 4 channel hardware, but nothing from Lenz. OK, so now we have cars, and a means of detecting where they are, but how to use that information? Software is what you need! Software to process the RailCom packets, as they are sent out from each RailCom decoder on the layout. And, then you need to do something with all those packets - The automation, that was the original requirement. If you thought the availability of hardware was an issue, the software is another quagmire to drown in. DCC4PC have something called "RailCommander" ("Rail Commander" in the pictures, so I guess only God knows what it's real name is). You can find a write-up on their website here: - http://dcc4pc.co.uk/rail_commander.html (Even the website thinks it's "Rail Commander") The latest version is 0.2.1 (http://dcc4pc.co.uk/RailCommander%200.2.1.exe), which suggests it is still in BETA. My own testing of the automation it performs confirms this. One of the things RailCommander is supposed to be able to do is bring a loco to a halt when the loco in front is too close. Would you believe that it routed a through train into a dead-end, because the section in front of the through-track had another loco in it? The RailCommander manual (http://dcc4pc.co.uk/RailCommander%20Manual.pdf) is similarly basic, and only at version 0.1. It seems to have been written by technical people, with very little attempt to reach the average modeler in the USA that struggles with all the CVs in a decoder. The Planned Features for Future Releases section says: "The list below contains some of the features which will soon be added to RailCommander". Four years seems a long time to wait, and still be considered "soon". There is other software, such as JMRI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Model_Railroad_Interface) & Rocrail (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocrail). Both of these are extensive pieces of software, and possibly beyond the reach of the average modeler in the USA (I apologise for using the average Modeler in the USA as the lowest common denominator, but there are a lot of them, and if you can't sell your products to them, then you eliminate a very large market). @twotonegreen is using the Railroad & Co software on a PC. Unfortunately, I have no experience with the RR&Co software. So, in summary, there is some hardware, but software is the key. And, the software promises a lot, but some - like RailCommander - are not yet up to the task. If you can speak German, there are quite a few more alternatives open to you. The Germans love RailCom, and there is quite a lot of RailCom expertise among modelers there. Alas, I don't speak German, and there doesn't seem to be much of a movement to expand their knowledge to English-speaking modelers. While RailCom promises a lot, and was first released on 8th July, 2011, it hasn't penetrated the English-speaking world yet. As such, we are still struggling with all the above issues. From the above, only 1 person seemed to suggest that they were obtaining a benefit from RailCom. Given that @TartanTrax said they were working on a project with a duration of 15 to 20 years, we might still have 11 to 16 years to wait for them to sort things out. To be fair, Lenz haven't even suggested a timeline, and ESU believe that only 4 out of 16 Channels need to have RailCom detection capability.