A couple of pictures of my latest iteration of wireless DCC and train control. This one has been refactored a couple of times and I now have a nice compact executable that takes throttle and function commands from any controller (in this case, my new hand held design) and converts them to both servo pulses (for the motor controller) and DCC output commands to control the lights and sounds. The speaker is a 2 inch full range with a passive radiator, sounds nice and full. The lights are all surface mount LEDs driven by CL2Ns. I also have servos on the couplers, they are tied to the F6 and F7 functions on the handheld.
Here are the basic components that go into the locomotive:
Everything is now driven by a simple command structure- throttle commands and function commands. The throttle controls the servo 0 spot, I’m using a 20A ESC to drive the motors in the U25B. The throttle commands are also used to drive the DCC decoder for the engine sounds. Since this is an HO Economi decoder, it doesn’t have the current output directly. But it does have great sound and I also drive the lights with it.
Why Xbee everyone asks? Because this is true networking. Everyone is on the same network and can speak or be spoken too. True point to multipoint. This opens up all sorts of possibilities for automation, signals, detection blocks and computer control. Something Bluetooth cant’ do. It’s also ‘industrial strength’ in that Digi has been making Xbee modules for many years now. They are FCC approved out of the box and