Rocrail raspberry pi7/2/2023 ![]() ![]() The server (Rocrail) can be used with a variety of controllers, namely Märklin’s 6051, Uhlenbrock Intellibox, Loconet, SRCP connection (such as DDL/DDW), etc. It also supports a web-based interface, enabling you to run layouts from various web browsers. Rocrail can be used from a single PC directly connected to the layout, and you can control the layout from any computer on the home network or the Internet. It is not mandatory to run them on the same computer. It is a lot to digest.The program uses a server and a client that work together through the Internet protocol. If your mfX decoders also support DCC then all you need is a DCC system and you can convert remaining locos with a DCC decoder and all the decoders will work with a DCC controller. Some modern decoders can support multiple protocols, Eg M new, DCC and mfX and analog AC sine wave. Now there is also mfX which added a feature to resolve loco address conflicts. Then there is DCC which has 126 speed steps. It had 27 speed steps.ĭelta decoders are digital but are limited to just a few addresses. Later Märklin decoders had a new version and that was called Motorola new. The first Märklin decoders had a digital protocol that was based on chips from Motorola. Now there are multiple protocols that exist in the digital current and some of these can even coexist. The loco decoder converts that either into a pulse width AC or DC signal that goes into an AC or DC motor.ĭon't get confused by people who insist on calling 3-rail trains 'AC' and two rail systems 'DC'. So the upshot is that in a digital system, you have digital square wave on the rail which comes into a loco decoder. This is not possible with an AC motor, so that is why we convert motors to DC. This allows load regulation, the decoders measure what is called the back EMF from the motor and can thus tell the actual speed the rotor is turning. Later (and better) decoders pass through a DC current to the locomotive motor, and that requires a permanent magnet to replaces the old field coils of the AC motor. Some of the older decoders passed pulsed width AC power to the motor of the locomotive, allowing them to work with the AC motors found in Märklin locos. ![]() Many digital decoders can handle both traditional sine wave AC as well as the square wave digital. The timing of the oscillations between positive and negative parts encodes the data being transmitted to the decoders and other accessories. It is a square wave current that does indeed switch polarity but is not a sine wave. The digital signal produced by all digital signals is not the traditional AC. That’s an interesting proposal! Would those decoders still function on AC or does this require switching the entire system to DC? Would the mfx decoders I already have become obsolete? One day, I may add a CAN bus module to the RemoteSign world so that any RemoteSign event can be triggered by activating any accessory address in a DCC system, but that wont help you yet until you have a DCC controller. I have just spent the last couple of months adding the ability to control train signals (and a whole lot more) with ESP8266/Wemos D1 as part of the RemoteSign ESP capabilities and I have not announced anything on that yet, but hope to do so soon. There are also Arduino projects that use a CAN bus shield to read and probably also generate DCC signals to control digital locomotives and turnouts. ![]() You would need to build a small DC power supply that has enough buffer to not reboot if the loco loses contact with the rails, or run it off a battery, or a battery that charges from the track. You could also use Arduino driven relays to switch power on and off to isolated parts of track so that each controller you have is only connected to one loco at a time.īuilding a decoder for controlling a locomotive is more complex but it could also be done perhaps using a Wemos D1 mini and some MOSFET outputs and use wifi to do the control. Remember to switch the relay off again after about 100ms! I am thinking you can use them to switch turnouts by hooking them up to a relay and that will switch the current that energizes the solenoids to throw the turnout. Well, you may be able to do something to provide some partial automation with Arduino/RPI devices. ![]()
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