Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

Today marks the end of the Greenly Northern, my office switching layout. Two of the turnouts used on this N-scale layout became more and more problematic, not throwing all the way, leading to derailments when switching. In addition, the baseboard had warped badly enough that cars started rolling on their own when leaving them on certain tracks. This layout had a good run . I learned quite a few things with it. I'm considering building another switching puzzle in N-scale, so I kept various parts and of course the electronics. The rest went into the trash.

To connect the AUI board on the Greenly Northern , my office layout, I want to fork the NCE cab bus from the command station in a box to the layout without much effort. The easiest way to do that is to add a UTP panel to the setup. Mark the cut-out on the side. Use a cut-off disk to cut through the outer layer and a keyhole saw for the hardboard and foam padding on the inside. Install the UTP panel. I used wood strips on the side, so that the screws have a little bit more depth to hold on to. And done. The RCA connector on the right is for connecting layout power. The NCE PowerCab delivers only 2 amps layout power, so I didn't feel like I really need a hard-core modular connector for this setup. For test setups I can always make an adapter cable if the need arises.

I've set up the portable command station in the office. Works as intended. However, I'm having trouble connecting the NCE AIU to the NCE cab bus so that train detection works properly. JMRI sees the feedback from the AIU, but sensors don't change state when the board LEDs indicate a train. More debugging needed. Update: Now that I had some time to think about this ... I believe I merely used the wrong sensor numbers. It's not NS0 - NS13, but rather NS48 - NS61. I have the AIU on cab ID=4, and the sensor IDs are calculatd as (cab ID - 1) * 16 + input - 1. I'll check this out when I'm back in the office after the long weekend. As a side-note, NCE AIU is supported with the NCE USB interface version 7 when used with PowerCab version 1.65 or higher.

The Greenly Northern, my office layout, so far had a Raspberry Pi3 hardwired to the layout along with my NCE PowerCab. I described how I set that up in a post last fall . I wanted the layout control to be more portable and more flexible. E.g. take home the layout box, Pi with JMRI, and PowerCab over the weekend for comfortable programming at the work bench. Or maybe in the future take it to a show easily. I decided that the occupancy sensors and the detector board are part of the layout. However, the NCE PowerCab track connection and the USB interface, as well as the Raspberry Pi need to be easy to transport. While at it, I also wanted a portable screen for the Pi. At first I planned to pack everything into the same small tool case I use for the Mobile Station,  and quickly realized that screen and electronics would fit, but the power supplies would not, so I decided to go for a larger aluminum case . The build quality of the case I chose doesn't come close to the black aluminum ca...

The Greenly Northern has moved back to the office and for now occupies an empty desk next to me.

The Timesaver module forms the heart of the Greenly Northern, my office layout. Today I pulled it from storage where it had been since a desk move left me with no space to set up the trains to much sadness in the team. My current desk location has sufficient space along the window sill to do something with trains again. I cleaned the tracks, rearranged electrical hook-ups a bit, and a short while later the little GE 70-toner was up and running again. For the puzzle web page to work, I need a computer nearby. Everyone has a smart phone, but I can't guarantee Internet connectivity to my server at home. Also, many switching moves take time, so the screen saver turns on while we run the train and having to unlock the phone all the time to plan the next move is annoying. What if I used the phone to operate the train? Been there, done that. JMRI   and  Engine Driver are well-known solutions for that. I already have the NCE USB adapter for use with my NCE PowerCab. Connect that to...