COMPUTER CONTROL FOR PUPENHAUSEN.

I wanted to use DCC right from the start. Running more than one locomotive on the same track without having to worry about isolated segments and direction of travel seemed to be ideal. Then there was sound! Each of my locos had to be able to whistle and steam or start up a diesel motor. It was mostly just a question of availabilty and finding the cheapest way of doing it. The most difficult models were the BR 64 "Bubikopfs". I bought two Roco models for a very good price but they were the standard analogue versions. I decided to chip them myself. I used ESU micro Loksound v4 chips with the smallest 'sugar cube' loud speakers I could find and it all works very well.

RocRail & AnyDesk

Using RocRail on an old PC to control the layout, mobile access through a Tablet is done with AnyDesk. All that is needed is for AnyDesk to be installed on the PC and Tablet and the layout can be controlled from ANYWHERE which has internet access.

This is how the configuration looks with the Roco DCC system connected to the old PC and the Tablet via internet using the AnyDesk free installation for private use.

ROCRAIL (ROCVIEW) PROGRAM

The full screen RocView application

The image above shows a set of panels available in RocView.
On the left is the Locomotive throttle selection. In the centre is the schematic track plan (also shown on the right) with the dynamic objects like points, signals and level crossings. The right hand window is the 'Route Control' where points can be switched based on the start and end blocks with one 'click'.

The schematic track plan

The end-to-end layout has three main control points. Adelheim / Maiklingen, Pupenhausen and Thomasburg. Each area has a set of points and tracks for switching or storage.

Controls at Pupenhausen ...

At Pupenhausen are the control boxes for the points, signals and level crossing. Pupenhausen also has the main DCC controller, the Multimaus.

... at Maiklingen & Adelheim

Below the Maiklingen station is the Adelheim storage yard. These two areas are controlled by two switching boxes and a Roco Lokmaus 2.

... and at Thomasburg

The Thomasburg storage yard has a switch box for point control and a Lokmaus 2 for shunting activities. Each Lokmaus can be handheld with 2 meters of cable.

POINT MOTORS

The point motors are from Conrad Elektronik. They have automatic switch off and a frog polarisation switch .

TOGGLE SWITCHES

The motors are activated with a momentary miniature Switch. The switches are connected in parallel to the decoder outputs.

POINT MOTOR DECODER

In parallel to each switch is a DCC point motor decoder. A single decoder module can operate 4 separate point motors.

PC INTERFACE

The PC interface board connects to a 'slave' input on the Roco 10764 - Digital Amplifier and to the PC through a USB port.

The Point and Solenoid Decoders schematics

The diagram opposite shows the wiring for the eight DCC decoder modules.

Modules 1 to 6 are 'point motor decoders'. These create a pulse of about 500 mS which is enough for the motor to complete its movement.

Modules 7 and 8 are 'magnet article decoders'. These decoders produce a stronger but shorter pulse and are used for switching solenoids or relais. I use them for switching level crossings, semaphore signals and the frog polarity on the diamond crossing in Maiklingen.

Open the Diagram