be providing sources for their pc boards, etc. for the Build Your Own Wireless DCC System series which started in the April 2014 issue of GRW?
The 430 Boost-air booster pack printed circuit board shown in the article is a commercially available product from Texas Instruments.
http://www.ti.com/tool/430boost-cc110l
Anaran also has a web site with ordering information for their radio module shown:
http://www.anaren.com/air
If you notice the second paragraph in the middle column on page 41, they state that the 430 Boost-air booster pack printed circuit board shown comes as a kit with two boards that costs $20, and includes the Anaran radio module pre-installed. It further states that one board is being used for the hand held controller, and the other will be used as the locomotive receiver.
If this turns out like most "Do It Yourself" projects, it will drag on for almost a year before the final article and a list of required parts and their possible sources, and by then some may no longer be available.
And then there will be "corrections" to the instructions, schematics, parts lists, and sources in subsequent issues.
I would love to see an open source version of this project. I've got the internals of my transmitter built and coded but without the source code it's always going to be a "what it says on the box" project. I can see adding a serial LCD screen for status and a few more function buttons at least.
I agree with jarable, having access to the source code would make this project much more useful as members would be able to easily extend the software, for example adding configurable locomotive addresses and operation of multiple trains. Open source would allow everyone to benefit from the efforts of anyone with the time to invest.
TheTB6568KQ Motor driver IC is not available. (20 weeks dilivery) Is there an alternative?
Cees van Herpen
from the Netherlands
When I typed TB6568KQ Motor Driver IC into Google, an eBay seller in China named AliExpress supposedly has it in stock.
It's a Toshiba Electronics product and is probably made in China.
Thank you for helping.
unfortunately they don't ship to the Netherlands
Cees
Try Digikey Electronics -- they show 743 items in stock and ready to ship --
Just type TB6568KQ Motor Driver into their product search box --
http://www.digikey.com/
Click on "Terms and Conditions" and then scroll down to read their international shipping policy. It appears that they will ship to the Netherlands but you may have to pay any import duties.
Have made a deal on Aliexpress,
Thank you for your help
I try to build the throttle and decoder.
In the text are two program files metioned: m430_D0 and m430_T0
Are these the same files?
I only find one (m430_D0) on the website
The m430_D0 file is the only one I found, too.
As I mentioned in my first message, these Do-It-Yourself articles usually have mistakes in them that will be corrected in subsequent issues of the magazine, such as wrong parts listed, parts no longer available, schematic mistakes, etc.
I Found that the code in the article is different from the downloadable file so I presume that is the m_430T0.txt code.
I've got my 'booster pack kit to day in the Mail so I going to try to program and assamble it in the Weekend!
The transmitter code was in the June 2014 issuehttp://grw.trains.com/How%20To/Construction%20and%20Landscaping/2014/04/Build%20your%20own%20wireless%20DCC%20system.aspx
The receiver code was posted with the August 2014 issue.
http://grw.trains.com/en/How%20To/Construction%20and%20Landscaping/2014/06/Build%20your%20own%20wireless%20DCC%20system.aspx
OK - it definitely works as advertised. I've got mine connected to a Bachmann 4-6-0 with a couple of 9.6V battery packs wired in series. All the functions work and the speed control has just enough momentum in it. There was one typo where in the text it says to "short pins 6 and 5 of the CD40107" - it should say pins 6 and 7. I went with the circuit diagram which is correct. Also the parts list is missing a surface mount LED to solder onto D1 of the receiver booster pack board. I went with Digi-Key part number 160-1447-1-ND.I haven't tested the range yet but it seems to work well enough from ten feet away.
Unfortunately I could not even start building because I could not program the MCU.
When I try to communicate with the Launch Pad with the FET-Pro 430 Flash Programmer I get a Message: “Check communication port setup” But I don’t know what to do
jarable The transmitter code was in the June 2014 issuehttp://grw.trains.com/How%20To/Construction%20and%20Landscaping/2014/04/Build%20your%20own%20wireless%20DCC%20system.aspx The receiver code was posted with the August 2014 issue. http://grw.trains.com/en/How%20To/Construction%20and%20Landscaping/2014/06/Build%20your%20own%20wireless%20DCC%20system.aspx
Both of the links you mention point to the same article and same code which appears to be for the decoder. Is there another place from which the transmitter code can be downloaded? thanks
I checked the links - the pages look similar, but they are for two different articles.
I wanted to let everyone know that I made a mistake and uploaded the INCORRECT .txt file for the Junior Throttle. I have updated the download. If anyone still has problem, please email me at rschweitzer @ kalmbach.com (without spaces) and I'll be happy to email the file(s) to you directly.
Rene Schweitzer
Classic Toy Trains/Garden Railways/Model Railroader
Rene S I wanted to let everyone know that I made a mistake and uploaded the INCORRECT .txt file for the Junior Throttle. I have updated the download. If anyone still has problem, please email me at rschweitzer @ kalmbach.com (without spaces) and I'll be happy to email the file(s) to you directly.
Rene
What date did you upload the correct file? How would I know if I have the wrong file?
I already programmed the throttle chip and the transmitter appears to function. Would it still appear to work if I had the wrong file? I have not built the receiver yet so I can't tell for sure if the transmitter is working.
Tom
Tom, I updated the file on July 15, the day I posted that message. If you had two files with the same name, one would be incorrect (obviously).
Attention everyone: There was an error in the locomotive decoder diagram. I have added an updated diagram here: http://grw.trains.com/en/How%20To/Construction%20and%20Landscaping/2014/06/Build%20your%20own%20wireless%20DCC%20system.aspx
If you're on our Facebook page, I also posted the diagram there.
We had a question about radio frequency. Mark Buccini included a chart, and I've added that and his response. The link is the same as in my response above.
As I am not familiar with HexDex, a hex listing of the loco numbers would be of great help. I also note that the construction article in the august issue, page 51 doesn't specify which of the JP pad sets to modify by cutting trace 1. An expanded figure for this modification would be of great help ( I think I have identified the correct trace on "JP2"), but I would like to be sure. My email is: averilljr@juno.com Additonally,the partslist doesn't list the SMT green LED or specifications.
John Averill
One other thing that would help is a diagram of the back of the Detector board. There are several components that need to connected on the back of the board as well. Thanks
For those of you interested, I've uploaded a larger PDF file of the illustration with the other documents.
A proper schematic would also help, which would make clear what connections should be made.
With all the problems and corrections that have had to be made here on the forum, I hope they print all of this in the hard-copy magazine. There may be people wanting to build this system who are not aware of the mistakes that were in the original issues.
I just finished building my first set, and here are my observations.
1. The schematic shows the data lines to the motor controller chip crossed over, while photos show them connected strait. After consulting the datasheet for the controller, it looks like all this mistake does is reverse the polarity of the motor outputs (which you can fix by how you wire in the motor)
2. I tried to solder the full sized LED to the surface mount pads, and promptly broke the pads. There is a workaround if you did this, or want to minimize the surface mount soldering you have to do. Solder the short leg of the LED to any ground on the board you can find, solder a normal 220 ohm thru-hole resister to the long leg of the LED and then to pin 2 on J1.
3. I did not (yet) solder on the buzzer or the cd40107, and after probing the board, came up with this info for anyone looking to repurpous the 3 buttons F0 is on pin 4 on J1 of the RX board, it starts off at 0volts, and pressing the button will toggle between 0 and 3.3 volts. F1 is the same on pin 5. F2 is on pin 19 on J2, and is 3.3 volts when the button is pressed, and 0 when released.
4. My first test was a failure, the motor would not spin. after hours of beating my head on my desk, i noticed the large filtering caps soldered to my test motor. It ran perfectly fine after removing the filtering caps.
Next, I'm going to try to get this to play nice with some kind of inexpensive sound system
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