[Coco] Model Railroading with a CoCo...

[George Ramsower]

John,

  I think it's time to re-check prices on the Digitrax stuff. When this 
stuff first began, there were more than one maker of control systems and 
they were all very expensive. I know the Digitrax protocol is very good, but 
I couldn't afford to do what I wanted then. The last time I checked, they 
were just beginning to make N-scale stuff. HO is much easier to make because 
of the larger size.

  This topic has re-kindled my interest.

  And now the research begins.... again.

George

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Donaldson"

>   If you look at Digitrax's DCC system, this is exactly what they do. 
> IMHO, the best way to use a COCO for model railroading is the use the 
> serial port interface on a DCC system. Use the COCO as programmable 
> Throttle. You can sense track detectors and such, talk to muti-engines, 
> switchs, and etc. Thus you put the layout on the screen, sense the 
> engines, and plot them on the screen as they move. There are open source C 
> programs that you can get, that will speed things along. Why re-invent the 
> wheel, unless that is what you want to do and if so, they by all means go 
> for it.
>
> John Donaldson
>
>
>
> George Ramsower wrote:
>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aaron Banerjee"
>> <snip>
>>
>>> I was wondering if anyone had ever worked with pulse encoders -- like 
>>> the kind pulse telephones use.  I'm working on finding new and unique 
>>> ways to connect a coco to a model railroad...
>>>
>>>                   - Aaron
>>
>>
>> Aaron,
>>
>>  I've pondered and studied using a Coco to run a model railroad for 
>> years. Studied the internet and even have a small N-Scale layout just for 
>> testing some ideas.
>>  I wanted a way to identify the location of two locomotives on the layout 
>> so I could make them operate on the same track without colliding. The 
>> problem is identifying which loco is which when they cross over 
>> detectors. There are devices today that can do that and report back to 
>> the computer the info.
>>  I can't imagine how a dial pulse could help with this, unless you are 
>> thinking of using pulses to control speed and direction. If this is your 
>> intent, then you may be on the right track. Today, Pulse Width Modulation 
>> (PWM) is the way to go.
>> To control speed and direction with PWM, you can make a loco go so slow, 
>> you can't even see it moving. It's speed is almost always constant 
>> regardless of the load as PWM uses the full voltage potential with each 
>> pulse. The longer pulse on time and shorter off times makes the loco go 
>> faster. The high voltage pulses will burn through poor connections on the 
>> wheels that make the electical connections and result in a more reliable 
>> drive over not so perfect rails.
>> I started playing with PWM back in the seventies and I loved it. Would 
>> never go back to variable voltage DC again.
>> What was you original thinking on this subject?
>>
>>  George
>>
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