DIY DCC

For the last couple of months locally there has been some experimentation with a DIY DCC setup, DCC-Ex. This is an open source project based on the Arduino minicomputer and add-on's. 

At this point I should introduce the beast. The computer box on the right contains the Arduino with DDC-Ex loaded and a motor shiled for the track power. All this is powered by a computer powerpack. The Arduino is connected with a USB cable to the laptop running JMRI. In the first iteration, the laptop is connected into the house WiFi network. 

 The throttles are smartphones running the Engine driver app, free to download which can run 2 locos per handset at once.

The speed is controlled by a slider on each side of the screen. At first I was skeptical about it, being a knob man myself, but I now quite like it. 

The test animal is an On30 layout that I've been working on slowly for nearly 10 years. A few months back I tried to sell it, but there was a lack of interest. It was all rather fortunate as this became the test bed for the DCC-Ex setup.

Drew brought the setup round one afternoon and it was on to the show. We spent the afternoon just getting used to running trains using the system. There were a couple of WiFi dropouts due to the positioning of the laptop, this was solved when the laptop was moved 3 feet closer to the home WiFi router.I took some photos but Drew is quite shy so theres just some layout shots

Number 1 and Number 2 on shed waiting for the next turn.

Number 3 about to depart with a surburban service

Number 6 moves off to the port (still to be built).

 

 

After the first session revealed a few inprovements that need to be made, mostly to get the track more level and a few out of guage bits of track that had revealed themselves. We then got together for a second operating session. Drew had made some modifications to the setup by adding a router off trademe which added the unit its own WIFi hub. He also had found a couple of old phones at home which could be used as throttles (and don't require a SIM card to connect into a WiFi network). This no longer had the connectivity issues. We also found that 3 hours use only drained the phone batteries 20%.

For the 3rd operating session another local modeler Q was added to the circus.

So what are my opinons on DCC-Ex? The simple one is, I like it. Its untethered to the layout. The phone apps are easy to use. For a small layout its ideal. Cons are that it requires a bit of computer nouse to set it up, and currently I don't think theres any way to set up a network system with separate boosters.

So, the question that you are asking is, how much?

The Arduino bits can be had off Ali express for $30. The router was $1 off trademe. The laptop and phones were from the old electronics pile which most houses now have. Compare this with a Digitrax setup where just a separate throttle is north of $200.

Its a budget DCC system for those who don't mind tinkering and for a small home setup its christmas. I have one opn order and will be reviewing it when I can find an old laptop that works (the 2 I have here have transformers that run red hot aftre 30 minutes).

I'm not sure how it would go in an ehibitiioon situation, but it might be fun to try.