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Affordable Electronic Solutions for Model Railroads

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Calvin Henry-Cotnam

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Feb 1, 2012, 12:12:19 PM2/1/12
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Full disclosure: I am behind the operation of the site described here...


Circuits4Tracks has been started to provide affordable electronic
solutions for model railroads.

This means that instead of simply offering a circuit for sale, you have
a choice between building the circuit entirely by yourself (free circuit
schematic, you do all the rest of the work), assembling your own
components on a purchased circuit board, assembling the parts in a kit,
or purchasing that fully assembled device.

At this time, the only product is a block occupancy detector, but free
"tips and tricks" articles are being added.

For more information, see http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca

ALL circuit board manufacturing and board assembly is done in North America.

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam

Robert Heller

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Feb 1, 2012, 1:54:01 PM2/1/12
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At Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:12:19 -0500 Calvin Henry-Cotnam <cal...@remove.daxack.ca.invalid> wrote:

>
> Full disclosure: I am behind the operation of the site described here...
>
>
> Circuits4Tracks has been started to provide affordable electronic
> solutions for model railroads.
>
> This means that instead of simply offering a circuit for sale, you have
> a choice between building the circuit entirely by yourself (free circuit
> schematic, you do all the rest of the work), assembling your own
> components on a purchased circuit board, assembling the parts in a kit,
> or purchasing that fully assembled device.
>
> At this time, the only product is a block occupancy detector, but free
> "tips and tricks" articles are being added.
>
> For more information, see http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca

The URL
"http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca/Products/PDF/OccupancyDetector.pdf" is
404 from the page at "http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca/Products.html".

What I'd like to know: do these boards include some sort of computer
interface or do they just provide a logic output (ie. that can be
connected to a Chubb CMR/I or to a logic input of some stationary DCC
decoder or something. *Please* let me know if you ever start making
boards that connect to a computer (eg via USB or something else). I'd
like to add code to the Model Railroad System to talk/listen to such
devices. More info on the Model Railroad System is available here:
http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem.

>
> ALL circuit board manufacturing and board assembly is done in North America.
>

--
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
hel...@deepsoft.com -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/

Calvin Henry-Cotnam

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Feb 1, 2012, 5:32:19 PM2/1/12
to
Robert Heller (hel...@deepsoft.com) said...
>
>The URL
>"http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca/Products/PDF/OccupancyDetector.pdf" is
>404 from the page at "http://circuits4tracks.daxack.ca/Products.html".

Sorry about that - everything had been tested on a Windows server, but
the hosting system is UNIX, and an uppercase/lowercase typo caused that.

It's now fixed.

>What I'd like to know: do these boards include some sort of computer
>interface or do they just provide a logic output

It provides an open collector output. I use them with a proprietary
embedded system computer for inputs, so these pull the inputs to
logic 0. They can be used to turn on anything up to 24 volts DC.

The intent is to keep it as low cost and as versatile as possible.

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"Unusual or extreme reactions to events caused by negligence
are imaginable, but not reasonably foreseeable"
- Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, May 2008
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