My Railroad Empire HolzValley (Still Under Construction... Forever)

[dreezy73]

@ctclibby and @insomniville thank you very much for the response!

Unfortunately I don't have a scope at the moment, but maybe I'll look into it in the future. A good option you gave @ctclibby!

Okay, I threw out the pca9685s and added an extra arduino Mega (I still had it lying around). This will be a slave of the original arduino Mega so that the master can tell which track block should be activated (if the master is not connected to the correct track block).
These two arduinos will communicate with each other so that I have enough ports left for the blocks.Because I want to be able to control the speed and the direction, I need a connection for each piece of rail in a block (2x). This will now work because of the 2 MEGAs that I now have in my possession.

So the problem is actually solved now. First tackle all this and then on to the next story

 

[dreezy73]

@ctclibby:
I would also like to have a scope, but unfortunately I don't have the money to buy something like that.Also, I really have to get used to working with a scope. But maybe sometime in the future...

 

[ctclibby]

@ctclibby:
I would also like to have a scope, but unfortunately I don't have the money to buy something like that.Also, I really have to get used to working with a scope. But maybe sometime in the future...

Dreezy: For most Arduino work, this will do you just fine. Maybe the future is now?

That is at Amazon. There also is a single channel one for ~$39.

L8r

 

[dreezy73]

That is at Amazon. There also is a single channel one for ~$39.

L8r

and this one

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005644784105.html

Is this enough for my needs for my model railroad?

 

[ctclibby]

and this one

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005644784105.html

View attachment 224304

Is this enough for my needs for my model railroad?

Dreezy: Ya, should be. 10Mhz bandwidth, 48M samples second. It does not look like it has an external trigger. If you can stretch it, get a 2 channel one as you can trigger on one signal to see what is happening with the other signal at a specific point in time. If I remember correctly, Arduino still uses ATMel Mega324's @ 10Mhz which are pretty much 1 instruction per clock cycle; in other words, 10M instructions per second. To write to a port it does take some processing time. For a tight loop, 6 cycles to twiddle a bit. Port writes are about 166Khz with that. If timer is used, I think System Clock can be divided by 2 ( or more ) for Timer Clock with a count match of 1, so 5M port writes a second. Note that both of the above are pretty much useless other than testing. You have to do something somewhere in the code. I do not know the Arduino overhead and that could slow things down a bit. The DSO510 will be fine although you may not see rising/falling edge ringing or spikes. Probably overkill for a relatively slow MRR.

L8r

 

[dreezy73]

Dreezy: Ya, should be. 10Mhz bandwidth, 48M samples second. It does not look like it has an external trigger. If you can stretch it, get a 2 channel one as you can trigger on one signal to see what is happening with the other signal at a specific point in time. If I remember correctly, Arduino still uses ATMel Mega324's @ 10Mhz which are pretty much 1 instruction per clock cycle; in other words, 10M instructions per second. To write to a port it does take some processing time. For a tight loop, 6 cycles to twiddle a bit. Port writes are about 166Khz with that. If timer is used, I think System Clock can be divided by 2 ( or more ) for Timer Clock with a count match of 1, so 5M port writes a second. Note that both of the above are pretty much useless other than testing. You have to do something somewhere in the code. I do not know the Arduino overhead and that could slow things down a bit. The DSO510 will be fine although you may not see rising/falling edge ringing or spikes. Probably overkill for a relatively slow MRR.

L8r

Thanx L8r for the info, i want to look at this in the future....

 

[dreezy73]

Building a Turntable for N-Scale – My Exciting Adventure with an Old CD and a Stepper Motor!

Ever wondered how to turn your tiny train around without picking it up and making the engineer dizzy?
Well, me too! That’s why I got to work with an old CD, a 28BYJ-48 stepper motor, and an Arduino Mega.
Sometimes it was sweaty work, sometimes it was laughs over wobbly parts, but the result is worth it.

Want to know exactly how I did it, including 3D printing and Tinkercad tinkering?
Check out my full story packed with excitement, humor, and tech wizardry here:
Building a Turntable for N-Scale

Curious about more model building adventures? Visit my website:
modelbouw.kloppenburgweb.nl

Good luck building, and remember: if it doesn’t spin right away, just try again (and laugh)!

GreetX
DreeZy

 

[ctclibby]

Thanx L8r for the info, i want to look at this in the future....

Guys, L8r is a shortcut for Later.....I be Todd or CtcLibby; hey you plus some others sometimes works.

 

[dreezy73]

Turntable Trouble & the Victory of Gravity – My N Scale Build Continues!


So, remember that N scale turntable I built a while back? It spun like a dream… but balanced like a drunk flamingo.
Time to fix that.


What followed was a journey involving a failed 3D print (RIP filament), a stubborn motor, and a heroic comeback with laser-cut rings, 3D-printed supports, and Action glue (yes, the cheap stuff that actually works). I even used a 697g battery block as a clamp. Because why not.


The result? A rock-solid, wobble-free, good-looking turntable that actually behaves itself.


Curious how I did it? With photos, a full breakdown, and plenty of humble mistakes along the way?
https://modelbouw.kloppenburgweb.nl/draaischijf-voor-n-spoor-stevig-stabiel-en-zelfgemaakt/


Want to see more crazy DIY model train projects from my workshop?
https://modelbouw.kloppenburgweb.nl/


Let me know what you think — or what you would’ve done differently (besides not gluing your fingers together... again).