CBUS to Control DC Layouts

At this mornings Virtual Area Group Meeting, Rob Thomas described how he uses CBUS to control his OO9 layout. He discussed the Pros and Cons of the various available systems including MERG's Automatic Train Controller, commercial offerings and Mike Bolton's Basin Speed Controller.

Having opted for the Basin Speed Controller version as the basis of his project, he then looked at how he might add additional control using CBUS.

Various versions were developed starting with a seven speed and stop initial project with subsequent modifications to overcome some of the problems associated with the different behaviours of individual train motors.

Speed and Inertia were eventually controlled using files created from a Python script and stored on an Arduino.

He uses RFID to identify the locos so that the correct profile can be loaded to the controller.

This is certainly not a beginners subject but the video is available on the Merg website for those interested.

Comments

Train sequence / timetable using Arduino

Following discussions in a MERG Zoom meeting about potential projects for the Cumbria virtual area group I have started this blog to share my ideas for building a train sequence / timetable system based on an Arduino UNO. The trigger for this project was Andy Robb's article in the MERG journal (June 2020 edition). In it Andy describes using an UNO with a OLED display to produce an electronic station display board. Having tried out Andy's version I started thinking about expanding the idea and have come up the following list of possibilities: 1. Replace my card index train sequence with an electronic version. 2. Have the train sequence synchronised with the on platform displays. 3. Display an analogue clock on the station display and have it display the train times. 4. Store the position reached in the sequence so that it starts where it left off on power up. To mak...

Cumbria Group Meeting Friday 9th October

Although this was only a coffee and chat meeting, eleven members joined us for an interesting session which basically covered what was on our workbenches. Some members suffered from technical gremlins on the Zoom session but hopefully they will have that sorted for next time. Andy Woolass had volunteered to be a guinea pig for building the latest version of an EzyBus Input Module. It was a fairly straightforward build but the lack of sufficient ground points for external connections was a suggested improvement. The original Input board which used an MCP23017 Module was originally supplied by Davy Dick for £2. Members trying to build their own using a provided PCB, sometimes fell foul of the different form factors of this Module which caused obvious fitting problems. It is for this reason the PCB has been redesigned to accept a more standard 28 Pin DIL device. The Kit will be available in the Kitlocker, but at £7.20 it is a little expensive. Various members showed Arduino developme...

Shuttle Plus or Super Shuttle?

A really interesting project was discussed at tonight's JALSIG Zoom meeting. The Basic shuttle kit PMP4 was designed in February 2013 and remains one of the most popular Pocket Money Kits. It uses a 555 circuit as a basic timer and changes the state of a relay to reverse the polarity of the track. Davy Dick has revisited this circuit but this time used a 14 Pin PIC (16F676) to replicate the circuit and add a few enhancements to take advantage of the additional pins available. It is hoped that this will eventually appear as a Pocket Money Kit with PCB sometime in the New Year. Potential features include adjustable cycle times, controlling semaphore or lights using a delay or detectors set by an option jumper and incorporation of PMP4a for shuttles with branches. Two additional pins might be used to control crossing gates or trigger sound effects or anything else your imagination fancies. Using around 12 components and some simple coding techniques, thi...

Welcome to the Cumbria & Scottish Borders Area Group Forum

Search This Blog