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Interesting info about the single channel play. I hadn't noticed that issue as I tend to record the MP3's in mono fpr these units.

What command are you sending? I don't see a command for that in the data sheet.

@@digitaltown5442 0X7e 0Xff 0X06 0X07 0X01 0X00 0X05 0Xef and when i query the current equalizer it does say it is switched

@@digitaltown5442 0X7e 0Xff 0X06 0X07 0X01 0X00 0X05 0Xef and when i query current equalizer it does say it is changed

I have them on the workbench but want to do some more tests before doing a video. It's a case of checking how the libraries react.

I think most encoder modules have the push button. They should have pins marked GND, + SW (switch), DT and CLK Also make sure the module is the screw thread type if you are using a case as they are easier to fit. Example at www.amazon.co.uk/RUNCCI-KY-040-Encoder-Development-Arduino/dp/B07SV5HHM5/ref=sr_1_2_sspa

It worked without pull ups.

Try this video for multiple buttons th-cam.com/video/kXDviSgM22w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=SFzY3vFfTkl6Tiop

@digitaltown5442 I think it helps me. I need to use a method to set a clock, MAX7219 matrices, display with animations, so I don't have to mess up the timing using delay(). Maybe I can work this holiday season. I will come back.

Sorry just noticed the typos..meant to say "will this work"

No the throttle updates itself when being used but won't respond to other controllers. It would be possible from another nowRail controller but there can be issues when 2 controllers try to run the same loco.

Good question. I always stick to 1 each and it keeps clarity in the diagrams. I think you should be ok sharing a single resistor. I can't test as in hospital at the moment. Just give it a try. The LED will only be damaged with no resistor so I would just go for it.

That's a great idea! I'd be interested to know how it works as we have a squirrel problem.

You need to be running the Arduino UNO version of the sketch on www.digitaltown.co.uk/components18DYSV5W.php (Try example 5). This uses softwareSerial. Just changing the mega version and changing to Serial instead of Serial1 will not work as other parts of the coede and connections need to be changed.

Just did a quick test using an esp32 dev module using Adafruit_VL53LOX library version 1.2.4 Example Sketch VL5310x and Vl5310x_continuos and both sketches worked first time. Didn't test the other examples. I only connected 3.3v to VCC, GND to GND SDA to SDA (pin D21 GPI021) and SCL to SCL (pin D22 pin GPI022) The library has changed since the version I used but in my tests it did work... maybe time for a new video.

@digitaltown5442 thanks I appreciate your testing. I'll give it another shot.. one last shot before I just give it up. Could be bad sensors but 2 bad sensors? Possibly...

I shall upload them in a few days, just printing them all out to make sure I have the correct versions.

I use a similar system on the nowRail project, simple but effective

@digitaltown5442 a lot of solar panel monitors use broadcast mode. I found out the hardest, trying to debug my code, when it was really just other people's messages.

@@ismzaxxon That's useful to know

The 5v supplied through the V+ pin is supplying the power to the servos, the issue was my power supply was too small. You can connect the power supply through the green connectors but it's a lot messier when building connectors on the layout, hence the reason for using the V+.

On the ESP32 dev module SCL is GPIO22 Marked D22 on dev module) and SDA is GPIO21 (Marked D21 on dev module)

@@digitaltown5442 Thank you! It worked! :D

If you are powering LED's you want the yellow signal (+) and black GND as your connections. A multimeter might struggle as it's passing a PWM signal. If you use normal leds you don't need any resistor, however if you want to power a 12v led you are probably going to need to get the PCA8685 to drive a transistor that turns the 12v on and off to the 12v LED

@digitaltown5442 i plan on retesting with normal leds... From arduino kits and if works go from there.thx for the reply!

@@digitaltown5442 Turns out I had the arduino connected to the V+ and not VCC so when I switched that, I have LED that light now... well blink!. So great start!. Now I have to figure out how to get multiple LED to just come on at different power levels... but off to figure that out. Thx for your tutorial!

I can only quote the PCA9685 datasheet that says: The PCA9685 has 4096 steps (12-bit PWM) of individual LED brightness control That said I find that the difference between steps is so small that even a 10 step difference would not be visable to the eye.

Have you run the first sketch that checks the button and IR sensors are working correctly?

@@digitaltown5442 Yes I did. I rebuilt the whole thing using a Nano rather than an Uno and still cannot get the values on the screen to change from 0. I wired the breadboard as illustrated in the video. Should both the green and red LEDs on the sensors be on or only red? Currently I only have the red LEDs on. When I pass an item in front of them, they flash green and return to red. Please help!

@@michaelmatsumura422 When you tested the sensors in sketch 1 what value did you get when the sensors are being blocked? With my sensors I got values below 50 so used a value of 50 or less to trigger the timing set in the variable int isSensitivity = 50; If your sensors when triggered give a value greater than 50 you will need to increase this value. Or you may be able to adjust that value with the pot on the board. Regarding the red leds...my boards don't have a red led. I do see a green led light up when the unit gets triggered and go off when it's not but colurs of led are not standard across the boards... probably whatever they have in stock when they build a batch.

Sounds incredible, what sensors do you use for a project like that?

I tried several times and had no luck. How should the sensors look? Should both the red and green lights be on or should only the red light be on?

Any board that needs to read from a card or memory will always have a slight lag. For a game I would look to the xtronical internal DAC method with small sound files im memory as the sound timing for games should be very accurate.

Glad I could help!

The board can only play one sound at a time, it would be nice if it could play two.

@ thank you - I thought as much, but it was worth checking. All the best

@@WiggyRussell If you want to be able to play multiple sounds at the same time you could try the DAC audio library for the ESP32 by Xtrinical at www.xtronical.com/the-dacaudio-library-download-and-installation/

@@digitaltown5442 Thank you, I’ll take a look

Which sketch do you start to see errors? Did sketch 1 work with the buttons and busy pin? Did you test sketch 2 to make sure uart is connected the right way round. Tx -rx with voltage divider.

@@digitaltown5442 I did sketch 2 with the voltage divider.. and then code arduino dyhv8 and the mp3 are made with 00001.mp3 and so on tip is 3 on the others and it doesn't work

@@danielma2824 Start with the first sketch, don't worry about the buttons. Just make sure the busy pin is reading HIGH when no track is playing. That checks the GND and busy pin connection. If that is succesful move on to sketch 2. Make sure you have the TX and RX connected to the correct pins.... and the GND Also check the formating of the SD card. It needs to be FAT32.

The signal from the PCA9685 board is powered from the external power connection if available or the VCC when not available. With a single board of LED's it won't make too much difference, but if you have a lot of boards working together the signal pins between them will start to draw more power than your Arduino5v can supply.

It depends who you buy the screen from. Some sellers seem to know exactly what they are selling. However I have had some, especially Aliexpress when the actual seller does not seem to know so there are often a few trials involved.

If you take a look at the code in the video for the DY-HV8F th-cam.com/video/TxMwZyBVwEg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4hvxVNIMo5jV7Tph (They use the same instructions) you will see in example 3 how you can set it to play random tracks at random intervals... written specifically for model railways. If you then look at the video on deboucning buttons th-cam.com/video/kXDviSgM22w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tHyYOzsv5lDepV16 Take a look at example 4 in the code and change if (buttonPress > 0) { //only run this if a button is pressed buttonMillis = currentMillis; if (rightBlueLEDState > 0) { //if it is pressed change the state of the blue LED rightBlueLEDState = 0; } else { rightBlueLEDState = 1; } digitalWrite(rightBlueLED, rightBlueLEDState); //turn LED on/off } to something like if (buttonPress > 0) { //only run this if a button is pressed buttonMillis = currentMillis; int soundTrack = 2; playTrack(soundTrack); } This will cause the debounced button to play whatever track you have selected in soundTrack =...track to play The track will play once and when it finishes should resume playing the other tracks at random.

I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your resource. Your videos very clearly and thoroughly expresses you inherent knowledge. Thank you! I'll send an update when I have one.

HIi just use the latest version of nowRail, Version 1.0.1. as each version just gets more functionality and the odd bug fix. The issue is caused by a change to the ESP32 board library when it went to version 3 with changes that broke some of the esp functions. The later versions of nowRail can cope with both versions of the library.

@@digitaltown5442 many thanks. Looking forward to getting this working.

If a variable isn't given a value at start up it's value is by default Zero, that value will be updated after the first press. There is a better video in the new lessons series at: th-cam.com/video/kXDviSgM22w/w-d-xo.html

@@digitaltown5442 Okay thank you. Living on the edge with variable defaults being Zero. :) Makes more sense now. I wonder though if that is good idea. Also, thank you for always finding ways to not use "delay".

I plan to do some videos on the wireless controller as well as a set of videos actually building the items rather than just a theoretical bench test. With the controller I wanted to give it some real testing first to check for any issues so it ran the layout at an exhibition for about 8hrs non stop so seems OK. I have a new one on the bench as a breadboard model so just need to finish some other videos first. It would be possible to just put a voltage divider to get the TX from DCC-EX but there is no information that is needed as DCC EX is being used to just create the DCC signals sent to the track. nowRail just sends it a list of commands for speed, and loco functions as well as any accessory decoder instructions. nowRail keeps track of everything it's done with data being stored to an external EEPROM as needed. On my layout the only accessory decoder is for the Traverser, mainly because I built it and it works so why change it. The rest is controlled directly from the turnout panels sending messages directly to the nowRail node on the individual board so the plan is to do videos on the different parts of the build.

Thank you for the reply! I’ll look forward to your future work and any information about the controller. I’m currently using JMRI and DCC-EX with WiThrottles and various types of physical controllers in concert, and am always interested in new ways to control our trains. Thanks again, and glad the exhibition went well! Cheers! D