Hi Guys, If anyone is interested in building a simple do-it-yourself DCC command station, you should look at www.minidcc.com I do have the EasyDCC system and wanted to have a hand-held throttle but the throttle would have cost me more than this do-it-yourself project. You can control up to 4 loco's at a time from the keypad. I was able to make a small modification to the EasyDCC booster to supply 5 volts to the MiniStation so I did not have to build a booster. However the author, Robert Cote said he is in the process of building a very small but efficient booster. He is also working on other projects that make his system upgradable. So check it out; www.minidcc.com [This message has been edited by JohnnyZ (edited 30 January 2001).]
JohnnyZ, First Hello and Welcome to Trainboard! It is always great to hear from new folks around these parts, and your comments and questoions are always welcome !! Thanks for the info on the do it yourself DCC system. Since you already have one, maybe you could tell us a bit more about how it performs, the size railroad you use it on etc.!! Happy Modelling!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!! Proud to be NARA Member #14
Welcome to the "Family" JohnnyZ. New people are always bringing new things to light. Do it yourselfers abound here, so you will fit right in. ------------------ Watash #982 "See you in the Pit"
Thanks for the warm welcome. As far as the MiniStation project goes, I like this project very much because the author's main goal is to keep things affordable and simple for beginners. You do not have to buy anything from him to complete this project. The source code for the PIC microprocessor can be obtained from him for free, and you can buy the necessary parts locally. But you can buy a pre-programed PIC and keypad and Printed circuit board for convienence. I was really impressed with the simplicity of this circuit. He put months of work into writting the code for the PIC to make it fit on the 16F84 microprocessor. I took it one step foward buy designing a Printed Circuit Board and he obsorbed the cost to keep the price down buy ordering a bunch of them. For now, control of the loco's are done from the keypad and not from a dial ( but he is in the process of adding dials). Each row of keys controls a loco. The first button increases the speed, the second decreases, the third direction and the forth F1. You can change CV's from this unit. I use it on my 3x6 N-scale and also on my 6x13 Clinchfield layout. I use a long telephone wire so I can walk around the layout. The author is now writing some new code for turnout ganging. What is neat about this is that the new microprocessor has more memory space to allow both the loco code and turnout code. The PIC has the same pin configuration as the 16F84 so you can still use the PC board. What's neat about the turnout ganging is that you program a route of turnouts and then during operation, you select the turnout route with 2 or 3 keystrokes and then they all start to flip. You can probably use this MiniStation just to control turnouts if you like. Just run a separate dcc bus to all turnouts. Also the author is looking into using a 4x20 character display so you can see more info, however this software code is not ready at this time. Future projects down the line will include 8 or more hand-held throttles. There is also a very small but very efficient DCC booster in the works. That's all I can think about for now, If you have any questions, let me know. [This message has been edited by JohnnyZ (edited 31 January 2001).]
