HI, I have not been active on this forum for a long time, but thought I would catch up. ( I Posted this first as a reply to arduino servos, but realised it needed its own thread) I use Rocrail and have made some universal wifi interfaces for use on my garden layout. Each module, (which costs about $10, from EBay or the like) provides 8 universal IO, usable as inputs, outputs, servo drives or PWM modulated outputs. The modules use standard ESP8266 esp-12 modules, best bought as "NodeMCU" boards that include the necessary USB interfaces. I also bought NODEMCU Motor drive (shield) boards as these have a useful high power drive, but also provide a row of RC servo type three pin connections that give easy connection to hall sensors, servos etc. The shield has input terminals for Vcc ( up to 9v to the ESP8266) and V Motor (12V or so) for the high power outputs. As standard the row of pins sends 3v3, which is not that useful, so to provide 5V for servos, an external 5V regulator is added to the Vcc line (powered from the V motor) and a small modification cut is needed to cut the provided 3v3 to the line of pins and then a jumper is used to connect the row of pins that were 3v3 it to the 5V line. Other than this, the modules are completely as purchased. The second photo shows the board with a servo, hall sensor to sense the trains, and a led. The code (and instructions on how to program the module) is available here: https://github.com/dagnall53/ESPMQTTRocnetSound There is also a version of the code for "mobile" decoders, ie locos, that provides PWM motor control and two track sounds based on sampled sounds. Hope you like this Dagnall
Using the Withrottle ap on your cell phone does the same thing. You need a WiFi module which is proprietary with MRC and Digitrax. NCE can be used with a modem and computer. The only hitch is you must have an non encrypted WiFi available. One venue where we set up has recently encrypted their WiFi and thus we must use the DCC handhelds.
