I've all the components and PCB's from Dave and before starting to assembly things I copied his sketch from the following link for the wireless throttle but can't compile it. I downloaded the zip folder off of his site from the link here... http://www.trainelectronics.com/DCC_Arduino/DCC++/Throttle/index.htm#Wireless_Option I've un-zipping the library folder but then don't know which folders or libraries to use. I also tried to include it in the sketch's libraries under the 'include Library -- Add zip library'. When I do that I get the error message 'folder/zip file does not contain a valid library'. There are a lot of folders in the libraries that you can download from the link above and I don't know if I need to use all of them or a specific library or folder? Also is there a newer version of his sketch for the wireless throttle than the one in the link above? At the moment I'm at a loss and would appreciate any help either in this thread or PM me. Thanks, Sumner
Hi, Yes I have used Dave's throttle code though I did adapt it. It was a couple of years ago, so I'm a bit hazy on what I did to get it working, though I'm sure it didn't need a lot. The library zip file that you have downloaded is not an installable zip; It is a zipped up version of Daves's whole library folder and contains many libraries that you wont need for the throttle (and also may contain other older versions of libraries you already have.) Looking briefly at Dave's code, you may only need up to only 4 libraries from his zip folder of 130+ depending on what you already have possibly these are Keypad, LCD, Liquidcrystal and Wire, so what you should do is as follows; Try to compile the code and look at the errors you get. It should give a clue as to which libraries are missing. Extract or Unzip his library.zip folder to a temporary folder. Then manually copy only the missing library folders to your document/Arduino/libraries folder. Then restart the Arduino IDE and try to compile the code again and see if that works. If you still get errors that don't appear to be due to missing libraries you could copy and past the errors on this thread to see if anyone can help. You should be aware that the wireless controller that Dave created is not Wifi but uses a couple of low power radio modules that simply replace the serial wires that link the throttle and DCC++ base station. I have never built that version of throttle. Jim
Jim, thanks so much that was a big help. LiquidCrystal2 was the missing one along with a couple of the others you mentioned. This is only my second attempt at an Arduino project, DCC++ being the first. Is your code available and what areas did you change? I did find this link where others have changed the code. Maybe you were one of them? https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/dcc-hardware-throttles.90315/page-21 If Dave's code as listed on his site works well then that is good enough for me at this point but if there are newer versions without any bugs I'd sure like a copy if one would share what they have. I do have the send and receive radios in my build supplies. I'm going this route mainly because of the wireless option and feel I'll need that if I end up with my layout the size I'd like. Thanks again for the help on this, Sumner
Glad it helped you Sumner! I greatly modified my throttle for Wifi use by using an ESP8266 wifi module instead of an arduino and I used a small graphic display instead of the liquid crystal display. I added an ESP8266 to the DCC++ base station to provide the Wifi connection from the throttle and automate my railbus on my small layout. The current modified code I have is still at prototype stage and is very messy and buggy and really needs tidying up. Unfortunately, due to a house move last November, and the work that needs doing to my new home, I haven't been able to work on my model railway project for over a year now. I do hope to get back into it again by the end of the year though. Here's a couple of youtube videos I made showing the layout and the throttle; www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps27clLfT0Y www.youtube.com/watch?v=EreBepPa1Yo
Wow I guess you modified it! I'm impressed that you are handling the turnouts with the throttle and that the current route shows up on the screen. I'll bet you did a lot of code to do all of that. I did happen to find the first video you posted last night (the one above) while searching for a solution. Great throttle and I really like the layout and your attention to detail. The best to getting back into it by the end of the year. I'm well aware of setbacks, such as moving, Sumner
I have been considering using ESP8266 or NRF2401 modules for this and would appreciate it if I can get a look at your code and how you connected the modules to the arduino. Many thanks Bill
