Progress Report 31 October 1999
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The track bed for Level 0 has been laid and all the track is cut and pinned in place.
Take a quick look at the Level 0 Plan. All the wiring for the track is connected
on a DCC 2 wire bus with connections approximately every 2 metres on all tracks.
As it is intended to wire the main part of the layout with the same polarity on both tracks we have included a reversible section on the dumbbell that allows for power changeover between the up and down tracks. We have built the TMW processor board and tested it with an oscilloscope and all works well. We obtained a copy of the original Assembly Program for this board from TMW (Thanks Lars) so that we could gain a better understanding of the programming required for the PIC16F84 that the processor board uses. In gaining our knowledge on the PIC16F84 we have produced a fully documented version of the program and sent it back to Lars. We also purchased the Matrix-Multimedia PIC development kit (Software on CD and Deluxe Development board) so that we could learn PIC programming for ourselves as we may make other uses of the PIC16F84 in other parts of the Onehouse Model Railway. Who knows? Having got the processor board built and tested we loaded the DCC-MB program on to an old 486 PC and started to test out the functionality of this program using Mike Brandt's DCCTEST program. So far, so good, all appears to be working correctly. All we have to do now is build the NMRA8 booster board (6 Amp) and will be ready to apply power to the track. We have already purchased a ZTC203 locomotive decoder and intend to install it in an old diesel for testing purposes. So by the end of November 1999 we should have all the requisite parts hooked together and our first DCC locomotive running. We should also have a much better understanding of how DCC works.
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