I take it you now use HM7000 instead of raspberry pi ?
@AndrewH56122 күн бұрын
I am still using the Raspberry Pi. The HM7000 decoder can work as a 'normal' DCC decoder and I have added all my TT120 locos to my JMRI Roster.
@pim123422 күн бұрын
What are the dimensions of your lay out ? Subbed !
@AndrewH56122 күн бұрын
Morning. The front part of the layout is 183x90cm nd the back part (behind the backdrop) is 183x20cm.
@dantecantАй бұрын
I have two DCC-EX setups. One uses Arduino Motor Shield REV3 while the second one uses the EX-MotorShield8874 RevA and all use the 20 x4 display. They work fine accept the display for EX-MotorShield8874 RevA doesn’t work, it lights up but I get no text. Both displays work’s fine when hooked to the Arduino Motor Shield REV3. The only thing I can figure is that the EX-MotorShield8874 RevA is marked wrong (SDA and SCL is reversed) Can you please help!
@AndrewH561Ай бұрын
I haven’t come across this problem so not sure I can help at the moment but will see if I can find anything out.
@Tauraco002 ай бұрын
Great to see the progress, thanks for sharing👍🌟👌🚂Regards Elizabeth
@gregmacdonald9272 ай бұрын
Great to see the progress here too. Very sorry to hear of your family bereavement. Trust you are doing well.
@AndrewH5612 ай бұрын
Thanks. All is well.
@gregmacdonald9272 ай бұрын
Great to see it at this stage. It’s come together beautifully. Very well done there.
@AndrewH5612 ай бұрын
Thank you for the encouragement
@aussiefrenchman-hobbytable99602 ай бұрын
Very nice transformation, looks fantastic 😎😎😎
@AndrewH5612 ай бұрын
Thank you
@Proper_Chuffed2 ай бұрын
Looking brillaint, can't wait to see how it runs out!
@davidwatts18714 ай бұрын
Just wondering, how many coaches can Mallard pull around the layout?🤔
@AndrewH5614 ай бұрын
Hi David. I am not sure. I just have two coaches at the moment which it manages without any issues. I would expect it to pull at least 4 but as a couple of the curves are a bit tight it might struggle.
@arunsharma-dx4yn5 ай бұрын
I like the trackplan - I see you're using PECO flexitrack - Are the points PECO or Hornby?
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Points are Peco points. The Hornby TT120 track is code 80 while the Peco track is code 55
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
I’ve fitted the decoder, programmed it and got the sounds working. I use the Roco Z21 command station in conjunction with iTrain. But also use the Z21 app on my iPad to program the loco. when I tried it on my test layout it struggled a bit and when I tapped on the engine sound it cut out and I got a red light on the Z21 denoting a short. Now I can’t even reset it because as soon as I place it on the layout or program track it cuts out. Doh!
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Oh that's sounds frustrating. Has a wire caught/broken inside the body? I hope you manage to sort it out.
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 I’ll have take it all apart again 🤣
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
Right I’ve run it under DC again with the Hornby chip and it’s fine. Placed the Zimo back in and at least it’s not tripping the Z21 now 😄 would you know if CV 1 the Short Address is the actual loco address? So in my case does it need to be set to number 4 as that’s my shunter address. Ta
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Glad there’s been progress. Not sure I fully understand the question, sorry. CV1 holds the short address and can be any value 1 to 127 (as a default it is set to 3) so can be set to 4 if that is what you need. The value in CV1 will be used to address commands to the decoder, if short address is being used by the command station. CVs 17 & 18 are used for the long address but CV 29 (bit 6 if I remember correctly) also has to be set to 1 to enable long addressing. Having said that I have a feeling I’ve not answered your question so apologies.
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 thanks Andrew ever little helps. I’m trying to set my locos address which is 4. I’ve tried using the Z21 app on my iPad and using Itrain on the app it doesn’t seem to stick as 4. It’s a steep learning curve isn’t it lol
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
Hi Andrew I’m about to fit one of those decoders next week. Are the 4 screws the very 4 outer ones at the very end/edge of the chassis? Or are they the 4 that are just in from those? Are you a follower of Jesus by any chance as you have some very interesting books there? No need to answer that one 😄 Many thanks Steve
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Hi Steve, thanks for the message. It is the 4 outer screws on the very edge of the chassis that release the body to get into the decoder space. And yes, you interpreted the books correctly, I am a follower of Jesus :-)
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 aw great stuff matey so am I 👌😀❤️
@stevio77775 ай бұрын
And thanks 😄👍
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Hi Steve, that is great to hear 🙂
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Hi Steve, hope all goes well. There's not a lot of room but it does all fit (just).
@grahamblow99785 ай бұрын
I find that spraying with water and a drop of washing up liquid before applying the glue really helps it to soak the ballast fully.
@AndrewH5615 ай бұрын
Thanks for the suggestion. I put washing up liquid in the glue but will also try the water spray.
@MossdaleNGaugeRailway6 ай бұрын
Great video, with very useful information. I started watching this last week, mainly out of curiousity after reading about the issue on the JMRI website. I have two of these wifi boards, I have only used one so far, without any issue and I am hoping the other one has the same firmware. I didn't realise until today when I saw the list of names from yesterday that we had briefly met. Dave
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Hi Dave. Thanks for the comment. It was good to meet yesterday and hopefully both your wifi boards have the right firmware.
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks again for the comment. I've gone back and reviewed the video and have realised there are 2 points where a screenshot is missing and all that is shown is a black square 😞 Oh well will have to try and avoid that mistake in the future.
@barryharding18426 ай бұрын
Good meeting you today with Charlie. You seem to have made a solid start.
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks. It was good to meet you too.
@PaulSmith-pl7fo6 ай бұрын
Hi Andrew. There's been a lot of work done since your last video - is it the same layout (LOL)?
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
:-) No its not.
@stevio77776 ай бұрын
Hi did you say u we’re leaving a link 👍
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Hmm not sure.
@gregmacdonald9276 ай бұрын
It’s looking good. Even a little progress is worth noting. Little and often.
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks
@olelauridsen6666 ай бұрын
Wery poor video
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching. Sorry it doesn't meet your approval but I will try and do better in future.
@prav1n736 ай бұрын
Awesome work... I was struggling a bit on this however this is a savior. Thanks a lot. It would be helpful to elaborate on choosing the ground pin on the WIFI shield or show exact location. On Makerfabs website the schematic shows pin 15 as GND hence bit confused.
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks for the comment. There are a couple of GRN pins on the Wifi shield. If you have the board with the makerfabs symbol in the bottom right hand corner (so the M is the correct way up) then the pins on the top edge are labels 0-13 (right to left) with pin 14 (which in fact is the 15th pin) marked as GRN. On the bottom set of pins GND is to the right of the 5V pin (in the bank of pins on the left side) and this is the GRN I used. Hope that helps.
@prav1n736 ай бұрын
Thanks @@AndrewH561, I was looking for the male pin you held when you were flashing the chip. I saw you were holding the bare male pin on one of the tiny contacts (I guess number 4) on the ESP-12F chip. I was keen to know that pin and how to identify it. Hope I am more clear this time.
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Ah sorry I misunderstood. Yes it is pin 4 (counting from the left when the shield has the 'M' in the right hand corner).It is a bit fiddly as you have to keep in contact with that pin throughout the whole process. It took me a couple of goes the first time I tried it.
@willmcc166 ай бұрын
I've ordered the EX-WIFIShield 8266 on tindie, comes from dcc-ex in the US with the firmware already done, hopefully!
@WirenwoodModelRailway6 ай бұрын
Just in case you're not aware, what is presumably your full name is visible in the iOS command prompt! Enjoying your progress! Regards, Chris
@AndrewH5616 ай бұрын
Thanks for the info.
@HighFell7 ай бұрын
I fitted the non sound version of the Zimo decoder but with a Lais stay alive. This does make it a superb shunting loco as it can crawl along at very realistic speeds with no issues at all. I might revisit this fitting and put in sound, although I filled the front end of the body shell with lead shot to increase the weight so that would have to come out.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
I may well give that a try as well. Thanks.
@HighFell7 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 I fitted the stay alive in the cab, it’s not really visible
@coreygibson25907 ай бұрын
You have a terminal shield from Jack. Why not just use a ESP8266 serial wifi? Thx
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
I already had the Makerfabs WiFi Shield so I didn't think to try something else.
@coreygibson25907 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561Ah, okay cool. I use them all. I got a few setups since I started with original DCC++. Thx
@stevio77777 ай бұрын
Thanks for that. I’ve recently bought an 08 shunter myself TT 120 and got a price for fitting decoder a stay alive which also included lights and two drivers in the cab and a front and rear light and they wanted £350 for doing that, so you might just be onto something 🤣 👌🎅🏻🚂
@PaulSmith-pl7fo7 ай бұрын
Well done! You said you would remove the blue wires for the stay alive, and by Jove you did! I was hoping you would leave a short length, just in case you changed your mind. Wishing you a very Merry Xmas and all best wishes for the New Year.
@davebareham10757 ай бұрын
Thank you for this - very useful. I'm going to give it a go so you posting this was very good timing!
@davebareham10757 ай бұрын
So my wi-fi shield now works! A tip for those who have purchased a 6 pin USB to Serial adapter you may to loop RTS to CTS (if you are old enough to remember serial ports on computers this will make perfect sense!)
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Hope all goes well.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Thanks for the information.
@cammccue65797 ай бұрын
Spiff! You've got a wonderful project on your hands there my friend :)
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Thanks
@gregmacdonald9277 ай бұрын
Nicely done. My own hope is that somehow I can get the 6pin HM7k decoder (when it comes out!) and a stay alive into it. Not so fussed on sound but the power bank should make it super reliable for shunting.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
It will be interesting to see if a stay alive will work. As you say it would make it very reliable for shunting.
@ejm97167 ай бұрын
Yes, I’m a bit miffed at Hornby selling the 08 now (I bought two) but not the 6 pin HM7000 decoders until next year.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Agree it would have been nice if the HM7000 decoder was available but the Zimo decoder seems to work fine.
@user-ig1mb2eh8x7 ай бұрын
Have been trying to load my mega, numerous times, to no avail. Question how long did it take to download data on to the mega. Thanks
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Evening. It usually only takes a short while (around a minute or so) to load the DCC software onto the Mega.
@BriansModelTrains7 ай бұрын
Great work showing the update on the wifi board. I plan on going the other way as I have tried, owned and sold many of the comercial systems and moving everything to DCC-EX.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Thanks. I've found using DCC-EX works well (I usually link to the DCC-EX Command Station via wifi from my Mac on which I run JMRI).
@tonyshield53687 ай бұрын
This is the path I am travelling - thank you for the demo of how you have done it and the gotchas.
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Thank you for the feedback. I hope all goes well :-)
@josephbenko55787 ай бұрын
Have been following and enjoying your command station DCC -EX articles. Using a Windows pc, I have installed, loaded and tested the v3.85, but would like to load v2.3. When I select v2.3 on the (available here) DCC-EX site it takes me to the ESPRESSIF website. I downloaded "Flash_Download_Tool_v2.3_150916.rar. " When I try to open it, I get a red X in a circle and the following: The file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an App of if one is already installed, create an association in default apps setting page. Can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong or missing?
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Morning. What version of Windows do you have. On Windows 11 the file can be opened with File Manage and then extracted. However I also use the NCH Express Zip File Compression Software, which is able to handle several of the compression formats (e.g. rar, zip, tar). If you install the NCH app then you should be able to extract the v2.3 software.
@erwinbucks6587 ай бұрын
🌸 *Promosm*
@mactheman87977 ай бұрын
Good!
@Jonnyuk3657 ай бұрын
Great track plan for watching trains go by, lots of scope for nice scenery
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
That's the idea :-) The track is now all laid and although there are a couple of 'pinch' points where a slow moving train struggles (especially with carriages) in general it seems to work well. On to the scenery.
@MustafaMohammed-ru1mk7 ай бұрын
Excellent keep up the good work
@AndrewH5617 ай бұрын
Thanks. The track is all laid now so it is on to the scenery. There are a couple of 'pinch' points where a slow moving train struggles but in general it all seems to be working :-)
@BriansModelTrains7 ай бұрын
Fun. A great start.
@johnhmccauley8 ай бұрын
You may also want to consider extra dropper wires if you want trains to stop at signals, stations etc… a long with track being isolated.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
Good point
@johnhmccauley8 ай бұрын
Going through the same process of laying track. Even if you signals etc… later. Easier now to solder wires onto the track.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
Another good point :-) Hope your track laying is going well. Mine is a little frustrating at times as I am using the Peco Flexi track and while it is very good I sometimes find fixing one end causes the other end to move more than I need it to :-) But still it is fun and hopefully I'll have a complete circuit in a week or so. Off to the NEC on Saturday so I expect I'll come back with lots of ideas.
@johnhmccauley8 ай бұрын
I am also only using Peco flexi track. I stuck down the cork strips using copydex. Then use some pvc glue not too much to hold the track in place. Weigh it down and let it dry before adding the next section. Then test with a locomotive. The glue allows me to easily adjust as needed. Do a couple of sections every day. Not the fastest method.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
I am doing the same thing. Cork strip then track with a small amount of glue 😀 And then test with a loco.
@johnhmccauley8 ай бұрын
There is enough of a gap between sleepers to solder. Cut away the plastic, use some flux and tin the track and wire. Using a single core makes it easier, just bend with the wire pointing out.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
Thanks John. I'm working on it 🙂
@gregmacdonald9278 ай бұрын
Very nice to see your progress and your thought process. Looking forward to follow along as you go.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
Thanks Greg. Hopefully there will be more progress in a couple of weeks (bit occupied with work related stuff at the moment 🙂)
@trevorbell35718 ай бұрын
Hope to follow your progress.
@AndrewH5618 ай бұрын
Track laying has started but will be a couple of weeks before I get to do another video 😀
@mactheman87978 ай бұрын
Good start... & good luck 👍
@RGJTrains9 ай бұрын
weirdly please to watch, like waiting for a phoenix
@AndrewH5619 ай бұрын
Hopefully a phoenix, in the form of Little Wotton, will appear :-)
@RGJTrains9 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 can’t wait to see it buddy
@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway9 ай бұрын
I'm guilty of collecting locomotive and doing not much else. I wasn't aware of f2 and f29, which makes no sense in a vehicle the brake is next to the accelerate, and it would make for a better configuration of functions. I use the Z21, which allows me to more f29 next to f2. That said, it still means both need to be activated. Let's hope Accurascale does not do the same for the Class 50.
@AndrewH5619 ай бұрын
I agree, having the two functions made no sense to me which is why I modified F2 to actually slow the loco down (which also meant I could ignore F29). I also needed to have the brake function activated using one of the functions in the range F1 to F28 as I am using the Engine Driver App on an old Android phone and it can only show 28 functions. Of course as more 'functions' are utilised it means Apps will need to adapt but I also expect Accurascale to be more mindful when setting up their decoders.
@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway9 ай бұрын
I agree Andrew
@Lee.Willcox10 ай бұрын
Hello, had you considered selling as a working layout. Someone would have purchased it, possibly me. I wonder how much you would have valued it. Such a lovely layout and worth far more than the sum of the parts.
@AndrewH56110 ай бұрын
I thought about it but had no idea what it would be worth. I will probably reuse the buildings and point motors.
@Lee.Willcox10 ай бұрын
@@AndrewH561 I saw you did that. Well done for a delicate break down. Keep those parts and hope the new build is even better. I have been through this myself with my father just before he passed away. I didn't have space to take it all so one day we got together and dismantled it all. We had fun though. Remembering all the intricate work that was unseen and forgotten about. Thanks for the video, much appreciated.
@AndrewH56110 ай бұрын
Thanks for the encouragement. It wasn't easy to take the decision to take the layout down as I enjoyed building it and using it. However, it was always an 'experiment' to see if I was capable of putting something together and I think I am ready to build the next layout (once I can find the time to get into it).
@andrew_beverlacensis10 ай бұрын
Thank you for looking into this, but could I ask if there is any way the CV's for F2 and F29 can be adjusted / changed using a NCE powercab, as I don't have the JMRI, or Lok programmer systems? (Its not the cost, but the apparent complexity of the software looks a little scary to me!) ....... or am I being too timid? Kind regards.
@AndrewH56110 ай бұрын
Yes there is a way to adjust CVs using the NCE PowerCab. However, I do not have a detailed description as I don't own a PowerCab, sorry. I would suggest looking on KZfaq. As regards using JMRI I have found it reasonably straight forward to use, however as it is currently my main way of controlling the layout it does mean I have installed it on a Raspberry Pi etc. It is not hard to do but if you are using the NCE PowerCab there shouldn't be any need to add a JMRI based system. The Lok Programmer is a good solution if you have ESU Decoders and runs well on a Windows PC but getting the Programmer itself can be hard (they seem to be in short supply). All the best Andrew
@tonyshield536810 ай бұрын
Like the discussion about how your control architecture evolved, that's not really covered in other people's videos. I'm also interested in using Arduino(s) to control points and associated signals - of you ever go down that path it would be great to hear your thoughts.