Lets see pictures of your control panels
- Thread starter tankist
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NYC_George
Well-Known Member
Switch control panels
I have two panels that control remote switches I cannot reach. One for the right side of the layout that control about 8 switches and one for the left that control 4.
NYC_George
I have two panels that control remote switches I cannot reach. One for the right side of the layout that control about 8 switches and one for the left that control 4.
NYC_George
GrampysTrains
Member
Radio Super Chief with a DB150 booster.
Selector
Well-Known Member
To the right of the DB150 in my photo, you can see a coat-hanger wire turnout actuator that passes through eyelets mounted along the edge of a long wooden block. At the end of the hanger wire is a wooden bell crank mechanism with a long wooden lath riser actuating the throwbar about 12" above it. There is a sharpened nail driven into the middle of the top end of the lath, which in turn is inserted into a tiny hole on one end of the throwbar. There are several like that, and also some that are merely sliding blocks with the same lath setup. I like operating my turnouts by hand, so no electro-mechanical devices or power supplies needed.
-Crandell
CharlesH.
Member
Much to my chagrin, my wiring has long since been on stand-by, so the control panel has yet to be installed. But I can show the graphics.
The "do not touch" signage may seem a tad unfriendly... but there's a reason my roads are full of potholes and my utility poles are on a slant.
The "do not touch" signage may seem a tad unfriendly... but there's a reason my roads are full of potholes and my utility poles are on a slant.
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John P
Active Member
This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but it's a totally non-commercial product, programmed by me. When I saw that a surplus outlet was selling the LCD panels for $11.00, I just had to try it! In fact the same vendor still has them and now they're only $6.00, but maybe after keeping them on the shelf for 5 years they figure it's time to try and move 'em out.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-...0-LCD-W/-CCFL-BACKLIGHT-AND-INVERTER/-/1.html
The touch screen wasn't included, but another guy in the club bought a couple that just happened to fit. That was lucky.
Before you rush out and grab one of these LCDs, note that controlling it is quite complicated and definitely not a beginner project for use of microprocessors. Enough people asked about the technology that I put together some information on how it all worked:
http://www.nyx.net/~jpurbric/lcd/
Should I be selling these? It's nice to think that it's worth something, but it might end up being quite expensive.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-...0-LCD-W/-CCFL-BACKLIGHT-AND-INVERTER/-/1.html
The touch screen wasn't included, but another guy in the club bought a couple that just happened to fit. That was lucky.
Before you rush out and grab one of these LCDs, note that controlling it is quite complicated and definitely not a beginner project for use of microprocessors. Enough people asked about the technology that I put together some information on how it all worked:
http://www.nyx.net/~jpurbric/lcd/
Should I be selling these? It's nice to think that it's worth something, but it might end up being quite expensive.
tankist
Active Member
is the idea to only have pictures in that folder you linked to or is it missing the index?
it is definitely above what i'm prepared to do but it looks very cool to say the least. is it driven by PC or did you embed the software into the device?
edit:
oh yeah, and thank you for the link of the surplus store. looks like a good one
it is definitely above what i'm prepared to do but it looks very cool to say the least. is it driven by PC or did you embed the software into the device?
edit:
oh yeah, and thank you for the link of the surplus store. looks like a good one
LotoQuestions
Member
Panel Pro
John P -fantastic job but beyond me!!
an allternative for the rest of us might be Panel Pro - part of the JMRI/Decoder Pro effort. I don't know if there is a touch screen interface yet but it would be a heck of lot easier than coding directly for Johns development. Of course it means DCC and a computer interface ( best thing since sliced bread - even better than weathering!). Thinking about it - things should work on any touch screen PC right the way they are. IMHO
http://jmri.sourceforge.net/help/en/html/apps/PanelPro/PanelPro.shtml
John P -fantastic job but beyond me!!
an allternative for the rest of us might be Panel Pro - part of the JMRI/Decoder Pro effort. I don't know if there is a touch screen interface yet but it would be a heck of lot easier than coding directly for Johns development. Of course it means DCC and a computer interface ( best thing since sliced bread - even better than weathering!). Thinking about it - things should work on any touch screen PC right the way they are. IMHO
http://jmri.sourceforge.net/help/en/html/apps/PanelPro/PanelPro.shtml
Last edited by a moderator:
John P
Active Member
Tankist--Yes, I just shoved a bunch of image files into a directory and never set up an index file. It's crude, but they are there.
The way our control system works, we have a computer in charge, and serial communication with a bunch of microprocessors around the layout. In general the orders that get sent out are "throw this switch" or "set this train's speed to whatever", and there isn't the bandwidth to send complex instructions to a processor. The control panel unit does its own computing of the graphics, and what it receives from the master is a couple of bytes' worth of data, where each bit carries the state of a particular turnout. Based on that, the unit computes what needs to appear on the screen. Any route running from a left-hand end to a right-hand end gets shown as a heavy line; tracks that don't meet that criterion are only shown as one pixel wide. Routes stay set up unless a newer one conflicts with an older one.
The control panel is operated in NX (eNtrance-eXit) style. You tap the left hand end of a route, then the right hand end, and the route is set up. You can see on the diagram that there is one place where there are alternative routes, and in that case you call for the "variant" route by tapping the route at the middle before designating the right hand end. The most recently entered route is considered the "active route" and you can change the right hand end without needing to touch the left end. This is handy for switching, as you often need to keep going in and out of the bowl tracks while always using the lead. What gets sent to the master is an equivalent of what the master sends out--the data giving the new state of the turnouts. So you tap the screen for your choice of route, and after a brief delay for communication and the computer thinking about it, you hear the turnout motors whir (we're an all-Tortoise operation) and the new route appears on the screen. It's a lot of fun.
As an additional feature, you can enter a "magic sequence" of tracks and it'll disable any route selection that affects the main line tracks. That's for use during Open House operation, so we can let the kids play with the panel without risking a catastrophe with trains passing by.
But I must say, I like the look of the Panel Pro screen. Very slick.
The way our control system works, we have a computer in charge, and serial communication with a bunch of microprocessors around the layout. In general the orders that get sent out are "throw this switch" or "set this train's speed to whatever", and there isn't the bandwidth to send complex instructions to a processor. The control panel unit does its own computing of the graphics, and what it receives from the master is a couple of bytes' worth of data, where each bit carries the state of a particular turnout. Based on that, the unit computes what needs to appear on the screen. Any route running from a left-hand end to a right-hand end gets shown as a heavy line; tracks that don't meet that criterion are only shown as one pixel wide. Routes stay set up unless a newer one conflicts with an older one.
The control panel is operated in NX (eNtrance-eXit) style. You tap the left hand end of a route, then the right hand end, and the route is set up. You can see on the diagram that there is one place where there are alternative routes, and in that case you call for the "variant" route by tapping the route at the middle before designating the right hand end. The most recently entered route is considered the "active route" and you can change the right hand end without needing to touch the left end. This is handy for switching, as you often need to keep going in and out of the bowl tracks while always using the lead. What gets sent to the master is an equivalent of what the master sends out--the data giving the new state of the turnouts. So you tap the screen for your choice of route, and after a brief delay for communication and the computer thinking about it, you hear the turnout motors whir (we're an all-Tortoise operation) and the new route appears on the screen. It's a lot of fun.
As an additional feature, you can enter a "magic sequence" of tracks and it'll disable any route selection that affects the main line tracks. That's for use during Open House operation, so we can let the kids play with the panel without risking a catastrophe with trains passing by.
But I must say, I like the look of the Panel Pro screen. Very slick.
