Arduino as a DCC Programmer
I know some readers have been waiting for me to actually start on PrgmrArduino, my library for DCC programming with Arduino. Those readers will be pleased to know that I’ve made the first steps in that direction, and the initial code is available on GitHub. Right now, the library is only capable of Direct Mode writes, and is completely untested, but perhaps even that much is useful? For complete details on PrgmrArduino, including the hardware requirements (which are non-trivial), please see the reference page on this...
read moreOpenLCB Dev Board ICSP Header Fix
So, the REV B hardware has a problem, in that I brought the wrong SPI pins out for the ICSP programming header. Oops. The good news is that with a breadboard and a little ingenuity, the fix is easy. The better news is that, as far as I know, the JTAG header is just fine (but we’ll find out when I get my JTAG programmer in the mail). Read on for the fix. If you’ve ever gotten the dreaded “Device signature = 0×000000″ error trying to program an AT90CAN128, then the fix below is probably for you as well. First, the fix is much easier if you use female headers in the...
read moreOpenLCB Development Board: PCBs Have Arrived
They are here. They look good. I haven’t yet had a chance to sit down and test them yet, but I’m quite pleased with the quality of the results, especially given the price. Accordingly, I have not reservations recommending ITead Studio’s PCB fabrication...
read moreOpenLCB Development Board (AT90CAN ver.) REV B
Update 09 March 2011: Of course, one should always order parts and try placing them on a printout of the PCB before one ever commits to a layout. Naturally, that’s what I did, and indeed I found mistakes in some of the footprints (for example, in the AT90CAN128 footprint—that would have been a problem!). So, please note, I’ve just now uploaded an updated PCB and schematic file; check the date on the schematic, it should read “2011-03-09″. Schematics and PCB layout for my latest project, the OpenLCB Development Board, are now available. I expect to have these off for...
read moreLOLBooster: Prototyping
I know I haven’t yet posted the details on the input and fault-detection stages (the schematics are nearly finalized), but I thought I might nevertheless share some of my progress on prototyping the design. Behold: Not yet implemented on breadboard: Variable power supply for rails and DCC input (right now I’m using an Arduino to generate square-wave pulse trains).
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