Diving deeper into the Dark Side!

Discussion in 'Other Electronic Interfaces' started by Keith M, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. ianvolvo46

    ianvolvo46 Staff Member Moderator

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    :avatar::avatar::avatar:
     
  2. gormo

    gormo Staff Member Administrator

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    How do you put up with these blokes Keith.....honestly???:cool:

    http://www.click:tophat:Gormo
     
  3. Colin_W

    Colin_W Full Member

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    Nice move there Keith, lots of bits to play with, even has a built in screen. Enjoy.
    Col
     
  4. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Keith

    Just ordered one of these up

    [​IMG]

    £3.55 inc postage - starting to assemble the bits for the tippler

    And

    An Arduino Mega, plus a couple of motor shields, Always fancied trying out the Mega, and the motor shields will allow me to try DCC++, possibly one permanently on my programming track, with maybe a Raspberry Pi connected running JMRI and a monitor making a stand alone unit.

    Paul
     
  5. Colin_W

    Colin_W Full Member

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    Bought some of these from Amazon before Christmas but haven't used them yet. Box of 5 for £12:xx. Once again I watch with interest ;).

    I have the DCC++ Arduino mega system running but having minor problems with the sensor inputs via JMRI. Learning Curve NEVER goes horizontal does it, always vertical. 45 deg would be good.:facepalm:.
    Using an old router and a couple old phones to interface.The Pie idea sounds very interesting but one step at a time....maybe :evil:

    Attached files [​IMG]
     
  6. Colin_W

    Colin_W Full Member

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    Phone Throttle

    Attached files [​IMG]
     
  7. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I like the stepper motor idea guys, any use for turntable positioning interlock perhaps? They're certainly cheap enough (presume that includes the circuit board), so quite a few possible uses for those. Don't think I'll get around to playing with the Arduino this side of my holiday as I'm trying to wind up a few projects that have been ongoing but held up for various reasons (like I keep buying another loco!):avatar:

    Keith.
     
  8. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    My Mk 1 Traverser used these steppers operated by the Raspberry Pi, and apart from being slow (remember on my traverser 1 rev = 1mm movement, and took approx 10 sec per rev), they worked reliably well, so for an OO or N gauge turntable they should work well, certainly worth a try.

    The Mega arrived today, but Toto has given me other homework :whatever:.

    Paul
     
  9. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Had a look on Ebay yesterday and ended up ordering a couple of these stepper motors and control boards from China, £2.46 for the 2 including postage and an Ebay "Premium Seller" too, so what's not to like? Presently I've no idea what I might use these for, but I'm away on holiday shortly and they'll take a few weeks to come from China anyway, so plenty of 'thinking time' yet! Incidentally Paul, what exactly is a 'motor shield'??? To me, it's a bit of metal mounted above an open frame electric motor out in the open, to keep the rain off!!!:facepalm:

    Keith.
     
  10. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Keith M wrote:
    If you wire it up wrongly, it may well only be useful for that :avatar:

    With arduino's, using the Uno form factor, shields are plugin boards that plugin to the UNO pin headers, and provide through pins as well, I have a LCD shield already.

    But there is more - with a bit of lateral thinking, Arduino designed the Mega (and other full size boards), to use the same pin arrangements so the boards are transferable between models.

    The Motor shield, provides a pair of motor controllers, which in my case will be used to provide DCC signals to a program and layout tracks, using the DCC++ system.

    Paul
     
  11. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Oh heck, more to get my head around!!!:hammer::hammer:

    Keith.
     
  12. Graeme

    Graeme Full Member

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    paul_l wrote:
     
  13. Graeme

    Graeme Full Member

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    Another program for stripboard layout is this
    http://www.picaxe.com/Software/Third-Party/PEBBLE/

    I am playing with picaxe for sound cards, it is a basic microcontroller system used in the UK to teach schoolkids
     

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