aleopardstail

ok.. very weird behaviour I found a WiThrottle setting to include/not include turnouts for wifi control, all were set to "include", deselected them, and re-selected and now they show up... maybe thats the fix?

thats fair enough, just figured it was worth asking if anyone else had the same issue and if the fix was simple as my google-fu is weak. seems a fair bit about driving trains, which works perfectly, and throwing turnouts which also works, just can't get the turnout feedback bit working, and it will be one of those flashes of the blindingly obvious when it occurs sad leopard

Hi, I'm experimenting with JMRI and WiThrottle, my test layout has 17 turnouts defined, one (DT0) is directly on the DCC-EX++ base station (it actually drives a relay), the other 16 (CT1-CT16) are on a C/MRI node. so far so good, it works, they show up in JMRI and can be controlled from there.. knock out So I move to WiThrottle, configured on an ESP32, currently using code based on the Blue Knobby Systems Inc. library, modified to handle turnouts. now when the WiThrottle code starts up its meant to spit out a list of defined turnouts, however its only spitting out the one on the DCC-EX++ station (DT0) and not the rest, I've checked the code to see exactly what is being provided and the raw string data only includes this one turnout not the rest of them. PTL]\[DT0}|{DCC Programming Track Mode}|{4 now thats correct, but no sign of the other 16. I can use the WiThrottle to send messages and drive the other 16, however no acknowledgement code is generated, where as controlling DT0 results in a message back about the state change. its as if the WiThrottle code for JMRI simply doesn't "see" the defined C/MRI turnouts as existing. now in theory its not a huge issue as I could just hard code a list but it would be nice to know whats going on. my code is set up so it will also report unknown commands just in case they came through with a different prefix but nothing and having checked the actual string being output its not the parsing code. has anyone managed to get WiThrottle code to read such turnouts? thinking is there a setting somewhere that needs to be set?

update! removed the screw in the yellow ellipse, which detaches the mounting bracket. The pivot here was utterly soaked in sticky black gunk, removed, cleaned with IPA, small amount of lube oil added (very small) and pivots freely. reinstalled and she now runs, after wire brushing the wheels (and a bit more track cleaning) she runs, and runs round corners, and due to the added mass has enough inertia she actually manages a set track point with dead conductivity when moving at a decent speed, sliding over the dead bit to back to where the power is on. figure a few more pickups (needed for the block detection stuff anyway) and she will run like a dream. The fleet now stands at: Graham Farish Class 25, Poole Era, DCC fitting (Rails of Sheffield decoder) - "fun" install, not much space, does fit though Class 47, Poole Era, DCC Fitted (Rails of Sheffield decoder) - pretty easy install Class 101, two car, Poole Era, DCC Fitted (Rails of Sheffield decoder) - dead easy install Lima 2x "Class 86ish", DCC Fitted (Zimo MX617F decoder) I hope eventually to replace the Rails decoders with Zimo ones to have RailCom ability (The Rails ones are fine otherwise and for the money even better)

more progress, not quite managed what I had hoped to this week as other distractions distracted me from this distraction however, my eBay class 101 arrived, after validated it did actually run out came the soldering iron and a DCC chip surprisingly simple DCC conversion as there is no split chassis or live chassis to worry about, just two motor contacts and two track pickup contacts. and she does run... now... whoever had this before noted a noisy runner and a bit stubborn. well for noise shes the quietest in my fleet, this is not saying much but old Poole era with metal drive train, whatever she runs. However to solve the "stubborn" that appeared to have dunked the poor beast in some thick black lubricant. she ran far better with a strip down and clean, I suspect that gunk was causing the issues with poor pick up. ok only two axle pickup so will never be great, plan is to add pickups to all eight axles which should solve that issue, this leaves just two small problems 1. the metal gears have enough lateral motion they can disengage leaving one axle drive, think a pair of small plastic shims may fix that, at least I hope it does 2. she doesn't like corners, the rivet atop the motor holding it to the bracket is stiff, resulting in derailments on 2nd radius curves, not yet tested on the 1st radius inner loop or over diverging points - this is why shes a bit naked in the picture - runs fine like this pickup issues aside, but even with just the unweighted chassis (whoever had this before "enhanced" the weight inside the bodywork with a ton of solder..) the rotation is far too stiff to take corners. this will take a bit more thinking. I've checked and its not wires fouling anything it is literally just the pivot is stiff. all told though happy she does at least run after a bit of TLC and I suspect after a bit more will prove to be a decent runner. may see a bit of the interior detail removed though, have had to cut out a plastic peg to make space for the decoder as it is. I was pondering adding lights but not sure its worth the effort.

Todays update, finally got around to adding the backscene, well the physical side of it 4mm plywood, with some stripwood bracing for which as usual too many holes were drilled, still its installed now and its staying installed (though may see longer screws added). a plywood sky may be appropriate if you live in a boarded up house but around here we expect higher things its possible a second coat of paint is needed.. hopefully this week will see the raised deck area in the far corner where the station building will live being added, a suitable electrical connection etc made to it and part of the blue overpainted with a dark grey colour for inside the tunnel area and on top, it will get a proper paved area added but grey paint will do initially does look better though now the wall behind it isn't so visible, should also be slightly more stable when stood on the long side to access the underside

I suspect they can be made, easily, more sensitive by adding another turn of wire through the coil - mine do detect 10k.. but its marginal and any track dirt or just iffy wiring pushing the resistance up spoils it, the next one I try will have another wire turn and if that works I will likely remove and adapt all the others the same (so far I've used the wire the kit comes with but since all the feed wires are single core I see no issues changing to use that round the CT). hopefully the parts required will arrive this week and can then experiment and report back aim is to cover the layout, will be mostly locomotives though I do want to be able to automagically back stock into sidings so needs to be reliable then I just need a way to prod the loco when it stalls, thinking of training a cat to help, what could possibly go wrong?

slight progress, another four blocks wired up more detectors on order, well the PCB since MERG have stuck a limit of two kits for these per order, ho hum, can source the bits myself so not a huge issue have noted though that the sensitivity varies, guessing mix of component tolerance and likely wire length and maybe interference as some blocks will pick up a 10k resistor axle, some won't, some needing multiple axles to detect, e.g. the siding at the bottom has both test coaches, one with a single axle and one with a pair of axles. more testing needed the derailment issues traced to about 50% the point servo actuator rods being fractionally too long - the cure for which is either removal & trimming or slightly shimming the servo mounts which is likely easier as thats basically slacken two screws and add a 1mm bit of plastic sheet. the rest are less clear but I suspect its old wheelsets and set track points as derailments are invariably around points, the class 25 being much better than the class 47 which is slightly older but also has longer bogies - lesson learned there, next time will be streamline points. that said on the cleaned track both locos now run well, the two Lima class 86 less so and I suspect the two axle pick up isn't helping. An eBay win class 101 should be arriving soon so will give that a whirl, plan is to add pickups on all eight axles and hard couple them with wiring between the vehicles and to eventually try adding some lights, but will get it running first

Woo! ok, not much to look at, but shows the part of the layout with working block detection, 16 blocks defined, turnout control works as well, still a few reliability issues to iron out: - poor electrical switching by the turnouts, likely dirty blades and poor contact, cleaning job (I hope) - poor running through the turnouts, fine in ahead, issue is usually when diverging, this could be down to the rolling stock objecting, cleaning may help I hope - extreme cases are usually the 47 or 25 hitting a turnout at lowish speed and either derailing (often) or outright tipping over that said, goal of the weekend was to get the 16 blocks wired in and thats done, just another 17 to go.. in stages I want to finish the two outer loops and will then look at the station loop and sidings - not all the track is cleaned up properly yet so some areas don't run very well

also a discovery.. and a "doh" moment.. flipping a railway board on its side to work on the wiring is a really good way to find which bits of ballast needed more glue, or even any glue

Arduino board built, getting better only one mistake this time now corrected and installed. the 165 board also installed and its working well. JMRI sees it, sees 48 bits of input (the upper 8 bits are locked to zero in the arduino code for now but could be used later, C/MRI being multiples of 24 or 32 so may as well have it) the one installed detection board hooked up, along with four more - one only connected to one circuit as I need to find the feed wire in the mess below Think I've got it but will need a wire extension adding (not a huge issue). only 9 blocks (will be 10) connected but JMRI sees them and they work. three more boards to go in, need to move a few bits on the underside for this to make space and also need to make a few more 5v power distribution blocks to hook them up. should be in tomorrow. so far have the two long sidings, and the ends live, and most of the track parallel to them. the remaining boards will complete both curves at one end. not planning to set a panel up until they are all in as the method of identifying which block is wired to which input involves driving a loco slowly and making notes.

Actual progress, as in something to do with the railway itself not stuff to eventually bolt to it.. A bit more ballasting along the mainline in front of the TMD and the two coach sidings, also the first bit of signal conduit (needs painting), have some relay boxes to go in with glue curing, they will be painted first. left the bits around the points and space for some ground signals, forgot to leave a bit for a signal for the second track from the left ahead of the crossover though, will have to be cut out later but thats a problem for another day. also in sight, apart from the general detritus that any flat surface here attracts is one of the newer 0.2mm resolution portacabins, awaiting paint beyond just the grey primer also have the other three occupancy detectors built, so one installed and now seven waiting to go in really do need to get the point switch rails painted at some point too, plus pondering how to turn the ground to the left of the conduit into a car park, think its probably going to be filler of some sort painted. I've got the fencing for along that bit of the track as well

yes, read that bit of the instructions, a bit WTF? but having designed circuit boards it happens, at least you get the full bill of parts so can just order more of the transistors and cut them off to replace, hope to get the installed at the weekend, removing the current transducers from the earlier attempt at this, so all the dropper wires etc are in place, they just need the sticky pads and wiring up. the board to read them needs more work (like it needs the arduino side building) but hope to have the detectors in and tested

little bit more prep work, the block detection input board. the eBay bought 165 boards don't have suitable pull up resistors, hence the bit of stripboard with a bunch of 10k resistors on another three to assemble, and one already installed, detection for 16 blocks, just under half what the layout needs. also have pulled the trigger on ordering station building and platforms, platform lighting etc, leading to this little test for building lights.. 0805 SMD LED, with a couple of wires very carefully soldered to it. aim is to use as fluorescent tube lighting, there are warm white ones for incandescent bulbs - they are a bit larger as I also want to try making building mounted flood lights with the smaller ones need more practice soldering small things

ok, the point controller is now correctly mounted below the board, and working fine, it got a slight adjustment with a five pin header added to talk to the servo board as thats got header pins so it was just the easiest way to do it. tests the only two track blocks that are currently fitted for block detection with an early arduino prototype feedback board, and that all works nicely, really love the MERG sensors, have another seven to install (and build!) which is a total of 16 blocks wired up.. not quite half the layout but holding off ordering more until those are installed and working more testing, I suspect the drive train on the class 47 is a bit gunked, measured as dragging about 700mA at one point, climbing a *very* slight gradient (the desk isn't totally level sort of gradient, not an intentional one) with four coaches behind it.. investigation ahead. the class 25 seems to be working mostly, with very occasional cut outs, I suspect a short somewhere, potentially trackside, likely just some debris. more testing and its not playing trains its serious testing.. aided by a cat

Bit of debugging of the point controller software, hooked it up, calibrated the various turnouts. still has a bug with the "slow" settings not saving the time constants correctly so in "fast" mode only for now, but all 16 turnouts on the layout now work - though not all switch electrical track power properly and a lot need some serious cleaning. The Arduino based controller is all its "glory". The blue board is because as yet there are no bus pull up/down or terminators on the bus as a few more are to be added. Also need to add a proper terminal block for the point controller board to avoid multiple wires into terminals as shown here. Nice to be back able to drive the points again :) a lot of track cleaning and testing is needed, and a few servos may need a shim to make the actuator arm fractionally lower as one or two are catching some stock, still the whole point of Dingleberry is to discover all this stuff on something small and reasonably cheap. can run trains with moderate reliability on the two main loops, the station loop is not so reliable, points at one end not switching power, and the other end not doing so reliably, plus flangeways gunked up and needing work. however with the point controller at least working, and likely to modify slightly and actually install tomorrow so its out of the way I can actually get on with testing and sorting out the gremlins

A few updates today, firstly that portacabin is now on Thingiverse if anyone wants it at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5888118 Secondly now have the software written and tested for my Arduino C/MRI point controller. two separate sketches, one for "configuration" with a serial interface to drive via the arduino serial monitor or similar - this saves values into the EEPROM, and a second, far simpler, sketch that manages the actual operation using those settings. custom servo controller and servo code classes back ported from a version I wrote for the Pi Pico. makes it easy to use the controller for position feedback, also makes stuff like slow action quite easy. Hopefully will get that configured and tested over the weekend and with luck finally installed and wired in Finally, printed another portacabin, and assembled a few Ratio kits for huts, which will get a coat of black primer, then grey primer tomorrow (black to block light, grey to actually paint over) - plan is to add some lights to play with next week

tweaked the printer, now with a 0.2mm nozzle, the same model of the portacabin, but at 0.2mm - prior to painting ok this is a lot better, still not perfectly smooth, still a bit wispy to clear up but the actual structure is now a lot more clear - will be priming and painting tomorrow. Some 1206 LEDs on order in a nice warm white on order to illuminate it. will be replacing the first one, this likely to go onto Thingiverse at some point if anyone wants it, I suspect once painted up this is going to look "good enough for British Rail" so to speak

Further demonstation how owning a 3d printer and not much skill is a dangerous mix. Portacabin for the TMD, designed in Blender, based on a 12m x 3.6m unit.. printed at max detail showing my Ender 3 V2 really isn't up to this sort of thing, but also I hope that a bit of paint and weathering hides many many sins the camera is a cruel invention, from a half decent viewing distance its "acceptable" until I get a better printer hopefully later in the year. may add a few more as they don't take all that long to print, about and hour and a half, not that much longer to paint, though an actual BR blue would look better given the state of the rest of the layout.. It. Will. Do.

Starting to get serious.. a bit of track ballasting done seems to work, needs a bit of mucking up. aim is to get at least the one corner done, if for no other reason than to stop it being a dumping ground for clutter. have some cable conduit, fencing, a few huts etc on order and have a signal to try and make for the inner track in this area. plan is a road along the board, a low grassy bank with some fencing and gate with path through to a small hut, add some concrete conduit, a few signal electrical boxes etc, will see how it goes. most of the area to the rear of this will be a small TMD, I've got the sheds for it, need to find some portacabin type buildings and get a carpark laid etc.

Remainder of the panel added.. its since had the remaining screws and the midi controller port added. quite happy with how thats turned out also have ventured into the dizzy depths of track ballasting, just a short section of track I know works to see how it all goes and how long it takes to cure and for a bit of an experiment this afternoon, hooked up an ESP32 via the JMRI WiFi throttle interface, and to my amazement it works

Bit more progress, this time with the layout electrical system, first up a hole in the baseboard thats had a pair of LEDs dangling through for a while, showing the two power supplies are alive and well has actually been finished: 3d printed panel, recessed text picked out with a bit of paint, behind which is a small bit of stripboard managing the now six LEDs - the top two being the two power supply LEDs as before, though now more closely matched in brightness. Below are two pairs showing the state of a pair of relays, the middle one controlling if the track is connected to DC or DCC and the lower one indicating if the siding used as a programming track is in programming mode or connected to the track power. its a minor thing really but has been annoying me so finally fixed it. part of this saw the main power bus connector changed from a choc block with a small stripboard with terminals for the 5v, 12v and ground lines. can buy them but frankly really easy to make. bit more generally checking and defect rectification with a few loose cables being secured and managed to get the trains to run again. have also adapted an arduino nano with a stripboard holding a MAX485 IC for C/MRI, yes you can get the premade modules, heck I have a box of them but they always need some modification so here its all soldered down with some suitable terminals for the comms bus wires and to power from the 5v power bus. has connectors for the PCA9685 servo driver board. hopefully this week will get that programmed up and working, will need final calibration prior to installation - which means a bit of PC software to talk to it and provide suitable settings information. However once thats done the layout is actually operational again.. there is a second panel currently printing, sits to the right of the one above and hides the hole thats there, this will hold the 20x4 line LCD, a pair of USB sockets (JMRI & C/MRI) and a five pin MIDI connector that is set up to eventually allow a handset controller to talk to the DCC-EX base station lurking.. finally that base station, an Arduino Mega, has gained a shield with screw terminals, hopefully everything is now secure enough I can forget about wires coming adrift every time I want to play trains.

*time passes* this project is far from dead, though also far from having gotten very far. still not gotten around to ballasting for example. Testing with the Lima Class 86 (still no sign of the Dapol one) showed a few track issues, a lot of serious cleaning later than they mostly run.. mostly. issue being track power pickup, partly and in places partly the set track points not reliably switching the current about. will address the second problem I think with a few more power feeds to jumper past the points given the line is either DCC or "single locomotive only" via DC. the first issue saw a tad of innovation, the track rubber cleans the rail head, but leaves the inside edge where the flanges run as rough, got an offcut of 9mm ply and running that along the direction of the rails scraped the upper shoulders inside and out clear - trains running a lot better. then I had a go recently at getting the old Poole era GF locos up to DCC, can't get the zimo decoders (still), for now some of the cheaper ones from Rails have done, first was the class 47, which after a slight touch up to the paint is now thus, and DCC operational just a bit of a black wash and the underframe in a dark grey, axle boxes and handrails done. still way too clean but not quite so "blue plastictastic" as it was. all axle pickups make for much better running, though at low speed (track voltage is ~10.4v, will be looking to get that nearer 12v) and the power output isn't wonderful but when she stalls its lack of power not wheelslip, so there is that. manages three coaches nicely though which for now is the goal easily done, DigiHat fitted, bit of general cleaning and off she went, decoder fits under the roof on top of the bodywork. the day after saw a slightly more complex job to get this beauty going, again shown after a slight touch up was completed here the method of contact bogie to body is some wipers that were not springy, thus removed, soldered a wire on each side bogie to bogie, then to the decoder, as such the motor was already isolated so DCC was pretty easy. decoder stuffed in a cab and it all soldered up. like the 47 runs a lot better than before, not amazingly fast still but works nicely. pity the ancient motors are so weak, guessing the magnets have seen better days, these have to be 30-40 years old now though so nice they work.. the layout itself continues, all track is now powered, there is a relay that swaps the programming track between programming and running, controlled via the DCC-EX++ base station and easily done. currently working on properly integrating the point servo controller and "enjoying" the delights of RS485 modules, at this point likely to just make my own.. grr.. given a lot of issues with the actual layout though, largely track related I'm pondering the end of the layout, rip up and relegation to a single loop trainset style for running in DC locos and relocating to the cellar.. not happening yet as a few more bits I want to learn here but its likely the scenic side of dingleberry will be on hold. still, nice to be able to watch trains looping and listen to the sound of the old geartrains running with the smell of old motors.

Hi, following a request a re-upload of the two images the code for this is basically lost to the mists of time, but it wasn't anything fancy, basically the L298N examples and a read from line A0 for an input - set up so there is a central dead band that is actually "off" to avoid the noise some motors make. modified a fair bit since this time in how its controlled but the output hardware is the same

heat is a killer, have a few side projects basically waiting for it to cool down enough to get the soldering iron out - plan was to make some buffer stop lights, 0603 red LEDs, some enamelled wire and some plastic... could I effing find the red LEDs? have green, amber and white, no red.. eBay order of some more, and some 0402 ones should be here later this week. have also bitten the bullet and pre-ordered one of the upcoming Dapol class 86 as to be honest even DCC fitted the price wasn't that bad, likely months away so something else shorter term may also be added. also some stuff for ballasting due to tomorrow...