Hi everyone, I'm Chris from Melbourne, Australia. I've been working on setting up a computer controlled, automated layout on a 4x8 table this past month as time permits. I'm using TAM Valley gear to control the turnouts (Octopus3). I have an Arduino Mega and am awaiting delivery of a motor shield (hopefully today) I've got nearly 30 years in software development and started getting into DCC++ yesterday. Hopefully I can add something to this forum. Cheers!
Hi Chris, Welcome. I'll enjoy following your development. I retired after 45 years developing computer systems for process control, robotics, and other fun applications. So I can visualize you controlling multiple locomotives and dispatching your layout using your highly sophisticated processor system.
Welcome to TrainBoard! When you get to that stage in development, it would be interesting to see some pictures of your 4 by 8.
I started a blog about my experiences here : http://thegravenimage.com/modeltrains/ if anyone is interested. If you've got an questions, or suggestions, please feel free to comment. I'm still well in the learning phase right now - every time I learn something new, I discover two more things to learn!
Welcome aboard Chris, sounds like you have interesting/fun things going on there, and I'm sure that you'll make a nice input to the forums. What scale is your layout going to be?
My Layout is HO scale - I've had a Hornby East Coast Pullman set for a few years and that was the starting point. I've been building up slowly from that since Jan-1 this year
Good to have you along, Chris. It does sound like you have quite a well developed plan, it should be interesting to see it come to life.
G'day Chris, I can't wait to get installments of your journey through DCC++. Specifically I would be interested in your experiences with DCC and the Arduino I am always willing to learn. Sounds like you are well into this so keep us posted. I have been toying with using my Arduino for automation ... early days for me though. Do you have a track layout you could share? Sounds interesting. All the best... Russ.
This is the layout I'm using in the DCC++ Processing tool which I've fairly heavily customised. I've also got all the points working now through DCC using an Octocoder from Tam Valley Depot. Right now, I'm struggling to get Bluetooth working so I don't have to lug my Surface Pro3 across the room every time I want to test something.
I've just purchased a CC3000 WiFi Shield Module for Arduino R3 MEGA2560 with SD Slot off eBay. Ultimately I think this will suit better than the bluetooth module. Just have wait for it to arrive now
So the CC3000 WiFi shield arrived and I tried to get it working. Eventually I realised that the WiFi Shield and the Motor Shield both use the same pin 13 and there's no changing this. I've bought another Arduino so I can have the WiFi Shield on one and the Motor Shield on the other and I'll set them up to communicate serially with each other. When I get some time, I'll see how I go with it.
