Monthly Archives: March 2022

Loconet – Part V – Wireless Loconet

While using ESP32 for Loconet, we have WIFI onboard our microcontroller module.So, why not use it for wireless Loconet ?You could use one ESP32 as a “gateway”, that does the actual communication with the wired part of your Loconet, and … Continue reading

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Loconet – Part IV – More powerful controller !

While the Arduino UNO and Arduino Mega is “enough” for most projects, sometimes you need something more powerfull … In my case, I always grab an ESP32.Let’s begin with a comparison, ESP32 has a much more powerfull microcontroller AND has … Continue reading

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Loconet – Part III – Lots of I/O with only a few pins

Number of pins, you always have less pins available on your microcontroller, then you want …There is actually a simple solution for this, and the magic word is “I2C”.The I2C protocol let us communicate with other “devices”, over only 2 … Continue reading

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Loconet – Part II – Stationary sound decoder

I still had some DFRobot Mini MP3 player modules laying around.A stationary sound decoder, based on Loconet on one hand, and these MP3 player modules on the other hand, became to emerge as a new project. Those MP3 modules are … Continue reading

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Loconet – Part I – Introduction

No, this has nothing to do with LocoMotion (which I will continue in the future for sure …)Loconet is a protocol, designed by DigiTrax. Simply said, in a few words:Loconet can be seen as a “network topology” for modelrailroading.Modules are … Continue reading

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ESP32-Cam (and AZ-Touch as display)

While in my search for a cheap video monitoring system, I came across the ESP32-CAM.This is a very tiny and cheap camera (OV2640) with a max resolution of 1600×1200, with an ESP32 as the main “controller” of this “system”. (for … Continue reading

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Birthday present – Thank you Christel :-)

Because my H0 modelrailroad layout gets an upgrade in size (and staging yard), I need a few hundred extra C-rails.So, Christel ordered 15 KG om C-rails for my upcoming Birthday 🙂 Thank you Christel, for this nice present 🙂

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New trackplan + no music anymore

Throughout the years, I “tried” several other hobbies: making videos, RC cars, electronics, making “big” trains(scale 1/10 with my own lathe & mill …), making music …– Video-making I did start, because of the birth of my daughter (in 1998), … Continue reading

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HA – Sonoff NSPanel+ESPHome+Home Assistant+Nextion

While in my constant search for “better” home automation, I stumbled upon the Sonoff NSPanel.I already use several Sonoff devices, and with a Tasmota firmware ( https://tasmota.github.io/ )flashed on it, they do exactly what I want. (and are of course … Continue reading

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Showing locomotive info on control panels

While my new layout will be bigger then my current one, I will start to use some control panels.You know control panels, with a graphical representation of (a part of) your model railroad.it consists mostly out of “lines”, “switches” and … Continue reading

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Xojo – a multi-platform development environment

While designing my Loconet modules, I had a need to develop a configuration tool (that runs on the PC).Because I don’t want to be “stuck” with windows applications, I did have a look around on the internet.I stumbled upon “Xojo”. … Continue reading

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