Hello everyone, I am totally new to dcc and dcc++ and am trying to build a layout with what I have on hand. I totally understand that my problems would be gone immediately if I just got my hands on the r3 shield, but the thing is, I have to do with what I have, and what I have are Fundumoto Keyes shields (several) and I would like to get them to work. I also believe that others may end up using that Fundumoto card at some point and the question would arise sooner or later anyway. Those fundu moto cards are based on the l298P chip, so they should be usable for dcc++ purposes. I tried to use them as direct replacement and indeed almost everything works as intended. Almost: I did program my loco on the programming track, changed a few sounds, and ran my mogul on its short programming track both ways. I would be happy with that but there are 2 issues that remain. One I could live with without missing much sleep, but the other one is a major issue: The first issue is that I can't read the cv values or decoder info. As mentioned, writing works, so I can live with that. Probably too much noise interference from what I (barely) understand. The second and major issue is that with that shield, the power is always on. I can (and do) run my loco with the power button off, and have access to all the sound functions. Toggling the start button does something as the lights on the shield come on and off accordingly at the power supply entry. But power goes through another route as soon as the shield is juiced. I cannot accept that as I absolutely need Gregg Berman's 'power shut off' function in case of short or power spike. the layout will be entirely enclosed in lexan/plexiglass and the reason why I am dead set on dcc++ is that the layout will be entirely automated (and unattended for hours on end) for display purposes at some point. I have found zero documentation (or at least anything I could make sens of) regarding how that card is built, and how pins are defined/used. If anyone had some diagrams for the pins, or even better could send me in the right direction, I would be delighted! [Edit: I have an Arduino Uno and a Mega boards, both with that fundumoto shield. What I described is from the use of the Uno. With the mega, nothing worked at all when I tried it]
Ok. I was so obsessed that I could't go to bed without trying some more. I have no clue what to do with the Arduino Uno yet, but I have an easy answer for the mega board: I recreated the path that allowed a mega user to remove the jumper from pin 10 to pin 12. In the Arduino IDE, I went to the DCCppUno.h tab and changed the following value found in the 'SELECT MOTOR SHIELD' section : #define SIGNAL_ENABLE_PIN_PROG 11 to #define SIGNAL_ENABLE_PIN_PROG 10 After that I just compiled and uploaded the updated sketch to my Arduino Mega, and traced a wire from pin 10 to 12 (like for the Uno). Now I have more success in reading my cvs (I believe I still have to solve the noise issue because i can get erratic answers, but that was not on the list of things to fix on my previous post), and the power button works as intended : no more power bypass.
I would be interested in any results you might find concerning this board. I am completely new to DCC and have this board and an UNO (just received the motor shield, so haven't started ant tests). I have found only one piece of documentation for this board so far, but it's not very detailed. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Some details on this shield: http://www.droking.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/091035_L298P-Motor-Shield-Instruction.pdf MOTOR A: DIR: D12 PWM: D10 MOTOR B: DIR: D13 PWM: D11 BUZZER: D4 SERVO: D9 There is only a tiny bit of documentation on this shield anywhere on the internet that I could find. I can't find any details that say that this has any connections for current sensing so I am not sure it will work for reading CVs or short protection. Also it is a 2A board, you will very likely need a booster for your track. There are some good pictures of the top/bottom of the board here: http://www.banggood.com/L298P-Dual-...otor-Driver-Shield-For-Arduino-p-1084277.html
Tanks for the links! [QUOTE=" Also it is a 2A board, you will very likely need a booster for your track. [/QUOTE] I am in N scale, and have no idea how I'll be able to use all of those 2 amps yet. The locos draw around .25 amp running, and i don't think the led lights or rc servos I plan on using for my turnouts will draw that much. I'll have to watch that closely though, as I have not found yet a regulated power supply at exactly 2 amps. Did I miss something? Also, The ones I found have a 5 amps rated capacity, and I'll have to figure a way to prevent too high of a draw in case of issue (short). But one problem at a time for me.
If your board is rated at 5A it could be combined between both motor, it is really hard to say with the lack of real documentation out there unfortunately. Most boards with the L298 chip are 2A per channel. As for current draw, you can easily draw upwards of .5A per engine if you are doing sound engines and have resistor wheelsets. Maybe not so much in N but certainly in HO and higher. I am also modeling in N and have a couple Deek-Robot motor shields, these are also based on L298 and are clones of the official motor board. I plan on using one attached to my Mega2560 to power the programming track and my helix. The rest of the layout will be powered off of two BTS7960B based motor boards which I will use software to lock them down to ~5A. All of these boards will be controlled from the base station using a set of mods I have been working on for a while.
As far as I can tell, this board cannot read CVs. The board cannot read current draw. Decoders talk back to the base station by pulsing the motor, and the station watches and reads the current spikes. As your board has not provisions for reading current, it cannot see the decoder.
Thank you both for your replies. Atani, I am working on small portable layouts, and those will see 2 trains at the max each. I may still be underestimating my needs current wise, though. I'm still in the testing stages and using cheap chinese knock-off electronics before I am satisfied with what I have, and done frying things in the process. Mdwildcat04, I did get cv value readings using the Fundumoto card. they weemed erratic, and may be flukes and imaginary readings ( I have no knowledge of electronics), but some showed up using the dcc++ command station's programming form. Regarding current draw, I have seen fluctuations on the current window while testing. I even saw a huge spike when I knocked my testing assembly aside with my elbow at one time. I was using an old regulated 12v wall-wart for testing but I killed it. I am waiting for new ones (5 amps regulated, 12v) within the week. I'll try to short the rails and see what happens. I'll come back to infirm or confirm the current reading part asap.
If you are planning only a couple trains you won't likely need a booster but if you plan on running a lot of accessories off the same dcc bus keep in mind the power draw limitations.
I'm back. To go to the point, I simply quit trying to use the Fundumoto shields as I finally got my hands on the R3 shield for which dcc++ base station was built. This being said, here are a few comments I can make regarding my attempts to use the Fundumoto: After messing with the pin addresses, I did get the Fundumoto shield to somewhat work on the mega 2560. I did not get it to work with the Uno board. - I did get the shield to control my dcc locomotive (direction, speed and sound) and I successfully changed the locomotive's short address. All in all, it can be used to run trains on a layout. But: - While I did change the loco short address on the programming track, I failed at changing any cv value, and never successfully read either cv or addresses. ( I know the address change worked as it answered to the new address used in the controller. - I did get variations in the current draw readings (and display on the graph) using the Fundumoto, but those looked different from the ones displayed using the R3 shield. I was too eager to progress with my project and did not try to see if the current draw and short/surge protection worked. Regarding my current needs, I have opted for a 5 Amp regulated power supply (tested at 4.7 Amps load). Using the R3 shield, I am still 'limited' to 2 amps to the track, but again, I have no intention to run more than 2 locomotives at the same time on any of the portable layouts I am working on, so I should be totally fine. For the night lights (buildings and street lights on posts ) as well as the turnouts, I will tap directly in the power supply, at least for my kids' layout. For my lilliput logger, I decided to use a small pc power supply I had on hand, rated 12.7 amps @ 12v, 11 @ 3.3V, and 12 amps @ 5V. That should do it. (https://www.amazon.com/Replace-Replacement-5188-7520-5188-7521-5188-2755/dp/B00F0ZPXU2). Now that I am where the people having the right shield were after 5 minutes of work, I am focusing on changing the visual layout in the dcc++ controller. I have successfully re-created my layout visually, but now that I am getting acquainted with the way the buttons are set to highlight the portions of the track impacted when switching, I have to go back and do a better job on my turnout track lengths. As I am still shamelessly getting my stuff from cheapo Chinese sellers, and I ordered a handful of servos to directly command my future turnouts. ETA: end of April, hopefully of this year [I heard that snigger!]. During that time, I am hoping (yes, that word again) to understand how DCC++ is set up to work with a DCC decoder for the turnouts, and how to modify it to send commands to a pin directly. I plan on using 1000uf, 16v capacitors to provide the 'kick' those servos will need current wise at activation just to be on the safe side of things. I ordered those : http://www.ebay.com/itm/322452213826?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT. Thanks again for your input/ help regarding the fundumoto board, and sorry to those who waited on me to be able to use their Fundumoto shields: I bailed on you. I got my cheapo/knock-off R3s at less than $6 a pop, so budget wise, getting them should be totally doable for anyone living in the US. I consider this thread closed as far as my original question stood. I will create new ones as needed.
