An introduction to the FCU

 At  today's meeting of the North Wales Area Group, Alan Turner presented a basic introduction to the FCU ( FLim Configuration Utility) for controlling CBUS units.

Alan began by describing the minimum requirements for a test board which is the best way to begin with CBUS so that you understand how things work before attempting to implement it on your layout.

Starting with a push button operating a led that switched off when the pushbutton was released, Alan showed how this can be readily changed to a latched operation  by manipulating the Node Values.

Depending on whether you use push buttons or normal switches you have the flexibility to choose either.

Alan then added a new module , the CANMIOSVO which can control up to 8 servos.

The end positions can  be set up and then controlled by switch or pushbutton.

The beauty of CBUS is that a single event can actually trigger more than one output which would allow one switch to set a route of perhaps five points on a layout.

Important messages from the talk appear to be always READ the Node Values in the FCU before attempting to update them and experiment before applying to a layout.

I'm sure the talk was recorded, so if you want another look check out MERG TV