Greensman

Many thanks for the comments and suggestions. We hit this problem again at a exhibition we attended a few weeks ago, so I've had a good go at getting to the point where I can reliably reproduce the problem. I shall be logging a problem report with ROCO (shown below) but would be interested if anybody here has any other ideas on the cause. Personally, I think it is software (or even firmware) related as it would seem to be related to the z21, rather than the router...... If anybody actually has 4 WLAN-MULTIMAUS available and an android pad and can actually have a go at replicating the problem, I would be really grateful as it would confirm that it isn't just me!!!!! PROBLEM - Wireless z21 connection drops out and WLAN-MULTIMAUS controllers lock. Setup. 4 WLAN-MULTIMAUS plus 1 android pad. Enter CONTROL STATION on pad 21 app – test fire a point – pad loses connection and all 4 WLAN-MULTIMAUS show the following error 4.3 – Page 69 - WLAN-MULTIMAUS® user manual 'Both the arrow symbols and the pause symbol are flashing, and the radio symbol indicates there is a connection' All suggestions indicated by the error message are not applicable as everything works as it should do when there are 3 WLAN-MULTIMAUS and an android pad in use. This only happens when a 4th WLAN-MULTIMAUS is added. The z21 base unit with a wired maus continues to work after the wireless controllers and pad have locked up. The only way to clear the lock is to power-off and power-on the z21 base unit. Powering off the router alone will not reset the controllers and pad. The lockup only seems to happen when a 4th WLAN-MULTIMAUS is used. The problem doesn’t happen with 3 WLAN-MULTIMAUS and an android pad. The z21 and WLAN-MULTIMAUS are all on the latest firmware versions. The android pads are using the latest version of the app. Different android pads have been used, using different versions of android, and the lockup still happens. The z21 doesn’t have to be connected to the layout . The lockup will happen if it is connected or unconnected – so the layout is not part of the problem.

Just a quick question - we currently have a problem with our club set-up where, adding an android pad is causing the system to lock up with a 'no connection' error message ( <II>) on the wifi Maus. The only way to clear the problem is to shutdown all the controllers, pad, z21 and router. Has anybody else experienced this

All looking very good. Enjoying seeing the progress so far. Could I ask, what colour did you use to paint your rails......despite lots of attempts I still haven't seemed to have got it right where as you seemed to have captured that warm rusty colour perfectly - exactly what I am looking for! Pete

Fantastic!!!! Very many thanks, NickC....you've made my day!!!!!! Yes.....you are quite right.....it works perfectly when connected to the server and yes, I was originally looking at the app without connecting to the z21! I'm now more than happy to switch from the old app to the new version as the new 'schematic' layout display is a great improvement on the previous version and the ability to share layouts with other devices connected to the z21 is extremely usefull when we have a group running day! All the best Pete

I have come across a bit of a problem with the new version of the app...... If a pair of turnouts are linked and have the same decoder address, the animated graphic on the control screen does not change for both points. It will only change for the point that is touched. I have a number of cross-over points that run from 1 decoder address, (some also have a signal with the same decoder address). On the old version of the app, if you touched one of a pair of linked points, the graphic updated to show the route for both points if they were set to the same address..........

Hello there, John......... Interestingly, I have had the same thought......possibly just a few years later! What I would like is a DCC controlled module that would allow you to use function keys to generate simple bell codes..... for example decoder address 53, F1 would give you one ding, F2 would give you two dings.....etc. This is mainly on use for our exhibition layout which is a 50 foot long linear layout. and would be used for 'attracting the attention' of the operator at the other end when their attention has wandered...... especially after lunch! After a bit of reading around, I got hold of an Arduino controller board, a mp3 module, and DCC interface board and have started to play around with them. The theory is that the interface board makes the DCC commands readable by the Arduino board and that can then trigger the allocated track on the mp3 player. The tracks on the mp3 player are stored on a micro SD card, so you can record what ever you like for each individual track....... Well, that's the theory, anyway. It's early days but so far, but I have managed to work out how to get tracks to play on the mp3 player module on its own and the next step is to see if I can read the DCC commands on the Arduino module......its then a question of seeing if I can get some code that will use the commands to trigger the mp3 tracks! Pete

Just to confirm that the modular concept is quite doable we have a group of five of us down in Devon who have a modular 009 layout built more or less to Paul’s ‘standard’. Our overriding directive has always been that anybody can do whatever they want on their own module - the only requirement is that they can bolt together at the right height and they use a DCC bus connected by red/black banana plugs. So far we have had two meetups in February and March this year at a local Bowls Club clubhouse which have been a real blast! We started at 9:00am, the layout took an hour to assemble, we played around with it till 3:30pm, half an hour to pack it back into the cars and then off to the pub for a post session pint and wind down! Have to say that both sessions have been great fun all round. Our last session consisted of 7 main modules (3 stations, a couple of junctions, and a quarry) and 6 linking boards...roughly a 50ft run from end to end. 009 definitely lends itself to the modular concept as the trains and stations are generally small and the running speeds are slow and narrow gauge railways tend to be a bit quirky allowing more freedom to ‘build whatever you like’. We are considering attending a local show in the summer with maybe 3 main modules and a couple of linking boards but the emphasis will be very much that this is 3 individual layouts connected together rather than one complete layout, in an effort to promote the idea of modular layouts. I would certainly be up for a ‘big’ meet-up and I suspect other members of our group would - how about a venue somewhere in Somerset for the day? All the best Pete