Hi Y'all. I have an arduino and arduino motor shield v2. at the track with a 15v power supply I am getting 12.6 volts to the rails on a test track. I can throttle most locos without issue. However I cant read most of them for decoder pro. I have read that i will lose ~3volts from the shield. Would a bigger power supply fix this?
Hi, You don't say what scale your layout is but this problem is often found with 'N' or smaller because the current drawn by a loco is less than the threshold of the CV reading software is set to detect. You could try changing the value of ACK_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD in the PacketRegister.h file in DCC++ from the default value of 30 to something smaller. Many have found a value of 15 to work but some have needed to take it down as low as 3.
Hey, thanks for the reply man. HO scale is my scale. Will try and do this tonight. Where is the latest official source ? people still using Github?
Hi Guys I also get about 4 to 5 volts drop at the tracks using an Arduino Motor Shield! Well apparently the Arduino Motor Shield steals Voltage! It is a very poor (inefficient) performer due to the chip on it. If you dont wnat that type of power loss then look at getting a Pololu motor shield instead. Look at this from Costin's post - very interesting: https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/37192 Regards Shelton
Shelton: I am not sure what you problem is, but my Arduino Motor Shield works finE with maybe a 0.05 voltage drop, about the same as my NCE PowerCab. Beware of the Pololu. It doesn’t support standard HO Auto Reversers. It has its own overload circuit which trips in 12usec, much faster than most Auto Reversers.
12.6 volts on the tracks would mean about 11 volts after the decoder, as a maximum to the motor ... a little low but not terrible ..i think you should look elsewhere for your inability to read
That’s why the study you linked to had the power off issue. See all comments. Pololu May work fine without frog-juicers and Auto Reversers, but .... To my knowledge, many of the other shields out there have not been thoroughly tested with frog-juicers and Auto Reversers either, so if you use these devices, beware for now. I plan to use my Pololu on my standalone programming track and my Arduino Motor Shield on my layout which has two Auto Reversers.
The op posted this over 6 months ago and didn't report back if changing the ACK_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD value made a difference. In fact he's not posted anything since!
Hi All Yes I am aware of the auto juicers and reversers issue - but it is not a concern for me as I have neither. Regards Shelton
Hi H0Guy! If I understand well, You have Arduino with Arduini Motor Shield and the voltage drop is very low. (Less than 0.1V) I use Arduino Mega + Ardino Motor Shield V3. I Use 18V power supply but on tre track I have only 16.6V. I tought, it is normal, but after reading Your post, I am thinking about what I made wrong. This is a big problem to me, because some of my turnouts do not work on 16.6V but work on 17.3V what is the voltage of my Roco booster. So my question is only, that Your system is like I have, and You have only very little voltage drop? I mean if I compare the 18V DC power supply and the PWM signal. Thanks, Mike
I am new to DCC. Thanks for keeping the DCC++ project alive as DCC++ EXtended. I really appreciate all of your work and efforts. My question is also about voltage. I have 0v on both program and main track outputs B, A after sending the power command <1>. I do receive a response <p1> Am i suppose to run a separate power supply to my track? Or is the main track output ( terminals A ) expected to have voltage on it all the time? I am able to send the command for power <1> and see the led's light up behind the terminals A and B. I am able to send the diagnostics command <D> and see them blink with dcc signal. During diagnostics I am able to read voltage. I am working with H.O. scale and using Gregg E. Berman original base station code ( mostly because i just found this and didn't know EX existed until last night ). My setup Arduino Uno DIY MORE Motor Shield HN ( jumpers between 10 & 12, 5 & 13, Vin pin removed to avoid back feeding voltage into Uno) 15V 1.5A power supply Gregg E. Berman original base station code Serial Communication to send commands ( during testing ) My own Web Server to send commands from User Interface Steps to reproduce send power command <1> no power on terminals A or B Thanks for your guidance, appCurious
Well...I'll file my mistake under 'learning'...i was testing for dc voltage. i have the expected output of 16Vac
Hi appCurious! It is a good news, You found the solution. I was in the same situation too even after a lot of AC measuring, on another day I tried to measur DC and only after a lot of try I recognised my mistake. I think it is a common mistake. Tapatalkkal küldve az én Nokia 7.2 eszközömről