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When I did the layout I built the scenery around the track though you are right I could have laid the track base, built the scenery and then installed the track (though installing the wiring might have been a bit more fiddly).

Thanks 👍

I am still using the Raspberry Pi. The HM7000 decoder can work as a 'normal' DCC decoder and I have added all my TT120 locos to my JMRI Roster.

Morning. The front part of the layout is 183x90cm nd the back part (behind the backdrop) is 183x20cm.

I haven’t come across this problem so not sure I can help at the moment but will see if I can find anything out.

Thanks. All is well.

Thank you for the encouragement

Thank you

Hi David. I am not sure. I just have two coaches at the moment which it manages without any issues. I would expect it to pull at least 4 but as a couple of the curves are a bit tight it might struggle.

Points are Peco points. The Hornby TT120 track is code 80 while the Peco track is code 55

Oh that's sounds frustrating. Has a wire caught/broken inside the body? I hope you manage to sort it out.

@@AndrewH561 I’ll have take it all apart again 🤣

Right I’ve run it under DC again with the Hornby chip and it’s fine. Placed the Zimo back in and at least it’s not tripping the Z21 now 😄 would you know if CV 1 the Short Address is the actual loco address? So in my case does it need to be set to number 4 as that’s my shunter address. Ta

Glad there’s been progress. Not sure I fully understand the question, sorry. CV1 holds the short address and can be any value 1 to 127 (as a default it is set to 3) so can be set to 4 if that is what you need. The value in CV1 will be used to address commands to the decoder, if short address is being used by the command station. CVs 17 & 18 are used for the long address but CV 29 (bit 6 if I remember correctly) also has to be set to 1 to enable long addressing. Having said that I have a feeling I’ve not answered your question so apologies.

@@AndrewH561 thanks Andrew ever little helps. I’m trying to set my locos address which is 4. I’ve tried using the Z21 app on my iPad and using Itrain on the app it doesn’t seem to stick as 4. It’s a steep learning curve isn’t it lol

Hi Steve, thanks for the message. It is the 4 outer screws on the very edge of the chassis that release the body to get into the decoder space. And yes, you interpreted the books correctly, I am a follower of Jesus :-)

@@AndrewH561 aw great stuff matey so am I 👌😀❤️

And thanks 😄👍

Hi Steve, that is great to hear 🙂

Hi Steve, hope all goes well. There's not a lot of room but it does all fit (just).

Thanks for the suggestion. I put washing up liquid in the glue but will also try the water spray.

Hi Dave. Thanks for the comment. It was good to meet yesterday and hopefully both your wifi boards have the right firmware.

Thanks again for the comment. I've gone back and reviewed the video and have realised there are 2 points where a screenshot is missing and all that is shown is a black square 😞 Oh well will have to try and avoid that mistake in the future.

Thanks. It was good to meet you too.

:-) No its not.

Hmm not sure.

Thanks

Thanks for watching. Sorry it doesn't meet your approval but I will try and do better in future.

Thanks for the comment. There are a couple of GRN pins on the Wifi shield. If you have the board with the makerfabs symbol in the bottom right hand corner (so the M is the correct way up) then the pins on the top edge are labels 0-13 (right to left) with pin 14 (which in fact is the 15th pin) marked as GRN. On the bottom set of pins GND is to the right of the 5V pin (in the bank of pins on the left side) and this is the GRN I used. Hope that helps.

Thanks @@AndrewH561, I was looking for the male pin you held when you were flashing the chip. I saw you were holding the bare male pin on one of the tiny contacts (I guess number 4) on the ESP-12F chip. I was keen to know that pin and how to identify it. Hope I am more clear this time.

Ah sorry I misunderstood. Yes it is pin 4 (counting from the left when the shield has the 'M' in the right hand corner).It is a bit fiddly as you have to keep in contact with that pin throughout the whole process. It took me a couple of goes the first time I tried it.

Thanks for the info.

I may well give that a try as well. Thanks.

@@AndrewH561 I fitted the stay alive in the cab, it’s not really visible

I already had the Makerfabs WiFi Shield so I didn't think to try something else.

​@@AndrewH561Ah, okay cool. I use them all. I got a few setups since I started with original DCC++. Thx

So my wi-fi shield now works! A tip for those who have purchased a 6 pin USB to Serial adapter you may to loop RTS to CTS (if you are old enough to remember serial ports on computers this will make perfect sense!)

Hope all goes well.

Thanks for the information.

Thanks

It will be interesting to see if a stay alive will work. As you say it would make it very reliable for shunting.

Yes, I’m a bit miffed at Hornby selling the 08 now (I bought two) but not the 6 pin HM7000 decoders until next year.

Agree it would have been nice if the HM7000 decoder was available but the Zimo decoder seems to work fine.

Evening. It usually only takes a short while (around a minute or so) to load the DCC software onto the Mega.

Thanks. I've found using DCC-EX works well (I usually link to the DCC-EX Command Station via wifi from my Mac on which I run JMRI).

Thank you for the feedback. I hope all goes well :-)

Morning. What version of Windows do you have. On Windows 11 the file can be opened with File Manage and then extracted. However I also use the NCH Express Zip File Compression Software, which is able to handle several of the compression formats (e.g. rar, zip, tar). If you install the NCH app then you should be able to extract the v2.3 software.

That's the idea :-) The track is now all laid and although there are a couple of 'pinch' points where a slow moving train struggles (especially with carriages) in general it seems to work well. On to the scenery.

Thanks. The track is all laid now so it is on to the scenery. There are a couple of 'pinch' points where a slow moving train struggles but in general it all seems to be working :-)

Good point

Going through the same process of laying track. Even if you signals etc… later. Easier now to solder wires onto the track.

Another good point :-) Hope your track laying is going well. Mine is a little frustrating at times as I am using the Peco Flexi track and while it is very good I sometimes find fixing one end causes the other end to move more than I need it to :-) But still it is fun and hopefully I'll have a complete circuit in a week or so. Off to the NEC on Saturday so I expect I'll come back with lots of ideas.

I am also only using Peco flexi track. I stuck down the cork strips using copydex. Then use some pvc glue not too much to hold the track in place. Weigh it down and let it dry before adding the next section. Then test with a locomotive. The glue allows me to easily adjust as needed. Do a couple of sections every day. Not the fastest method.

I am doing the same thing. Cork strip then track with a small amount of glue 😀 And then test with a loco.

Thanks John. I'm working on it 🙂

Thanks Greg. Hopefully there will be more progress in a couple of weeks (bit occupied with work related stuff at the moment 🙂)

Track laying has started but will be a couple of weeks before I get to do another video 😀

Hopefully a phoenix, in the form of Little Wotton, will appear :-)

@@AndrewH561 can’t wait to see it buddy

I agree, having the two functions made no sense to me which is why I modified F2 to actually slow the loco down (which also meant I could ignore F29). I also needed to have the brake function activated using one of the functions in the range F1 to F28 as I am using the Engine Driver App on an old Android phone and it can only show 28 functions. Of course as more 'functions' are utilised it means Apps will need to adapt but I also expect Accurascale to be more mindful when setting up their decoders.

I agree Andrew

I thought about it but had no idea what it would be worth. I will probably reuse the buildings and point motors.

@@AndrewH561 I saw you did that. Well done for a delicate break down. Keep those parts and hope the new build is even better. I have been through this myself with my father just before he passed away. I didn't have space to take it all so one day we got together and dismantled it all. We had fun though. Remembering all the intricate work that was unseen and forgotten about. Thanks for the video, much appreciated.

Thanks for the encouragement. It wasn't easy to take the decision to take the layout down as I enjoyed building it and using it. However, it was always an 'experiment' to see if I was capable of putting something together and I think I am ready to build the next layout (once I can find the time to get into it).

Yes there is a way to adjust CVs using the NCE PowerCab. However, I do not have a detailed description as I don't own a PowerCab, sorry. I would suggest looking on TH-cam. As regards using JMRI I have found it reasonably straight forward to use, however as it is currently my main way of controlling the layout it does mean I have installed it on a Raspberry Pi etc. It is not hard to do but if you are using the NCE PowerCab there shouldn't be any need to add a JMRI based system. The Lok Programmer is a good solution if you have ESU Decoders and runs well on a Windows PC but getting the Programmer itself can be hard (they seem to be in short supply). All the best Andrew