It's a somewhat momentous day for me. After medical issues sidelined me from the hobby for awhile, I experienced a serious downturn in my creativity and consequently my passion for the hobby. As most of you that keep up with my doings here know, my creativity has returned with a vengeance. Even so, the time of inactivity took it's toll on my little pike largely in the form of it becoming a piling place for all manner of disorganized junk.

Decoders,  and Solders, and Programs, OH My ! 

In this blog I will share a little about my experience as a first time decoder installer. 

What I did right, and what I did different. And what I would do different next time. 

The Kato F3A takes a drop in decoder, and these are not super difficult to install in and of themselves. 

Hey everyone, finally back with something other than Trainz livestreams, as fun as they are. This trip was a gem, with a great selection of locomotives. Probably the most notable items you'll see in the video is a GP40 sitting on some Alco trucks, two 45-tonners, and an SD40X. Speaking of which, weren't the SD40X's specific to SP???? Somebody put in the comments below. Anyways, link to the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUwOBneE8bE&t=12s

If the photos don't work, you can see this here.

Wow, what an battle. Despite the best planning and research, you always learn a lot when you do something for the first time, and boy were there a lot of firsts here in the last few weeks. 

But since this is my first blog post for MRHmag forums, some background. 

Hi I’m Richard. 

There are many modelers who for various reasons, use DC throttles to control the locos and trains on their layouts. What if you could combine the simplicity of a DC throttle with the sophistication of JMRI control, signaling, sensors, and even WiFi throttles? Yup! WiFi throttles for DC train control! …and what if you could  put such layout control together for less than the cost of an old dual throttle power pack? Interested? Let’s see how it can be done!

Nice looking SD40/45 set leads a short mixed around the main level passing slow moving Santa Fe Geeps at Martinez. 

I don't know how to if the photos work, I don't know an easy way to make them show. You can read the post here.

Every once in a while there is a need for something a bit more than the 1-2 Amps of DCC power that the typical DCC++ combination of the Arduino plus motor shield can deliver. With a separate H-Bridge driver board and your Arduino Uno or Mega2560 you can put out a DCC signal with 15 Amps of power. Let’s see how you can do it.

Yes I got the Sensors on line and running in JMRI....Tips on wiring, a look at the JMRI panel, and a question from a viewer 3D printing vs Laser cutter. Hope it is helpful to someone.

Happy Modeling

Mike