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 moreLOLbooster Update: Power Supply Design Issues Pt. 3
After struggling all weekend with the problem of regulating the track voltage, I’ve decided to simply remove this feature from LOLbooster. The fact that the LMD18200 shuts down when its voltage input drops below 10V presents a problem too difficult for me to surmount. Perhaps later, I will design a more advanced booster that uses discrete switching elements that will permit relatively easy track voltage regulation, but for the sake of my own sanity, and to keep the project manageable, such will have to wait. I’ve got nearly the rest of the booster breadboarded, with only the...
read moreLOLbooster Update: Power Supply Design Issues Pt. 2
A little fiddling on the breadboard revealed some interesting results. The LMD18200 shuts itself off when the input voltage falls below 10V, as a safety precaution perhaps. When this happens, if the LM338 voltage regulator is monitoring the LMD18200 outputs, and the LMD18200 is shut off (because, e.g. of a fault condition, or because I shut it off manually), the voltage on the outputs becomes 0V, and the LM338 output falls to about 3–4V. And stays there. No matter what. Re-enabling the LMD18200 does nothing, nor does twiddling the adjustment trimpot. The whole system has to be reset. The...
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