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Post by lemiceterrieux on Jul 20, 2024 9:37:49 GMT -5
After DigiTasts (in 2018), interlocking push buttons (like the range selectors in radios of the 60's ! ) and even a touch screen (not good ... ), I will go back to the DigiTast solution (still with Leds, but with more keys). Now I have the choice between 2 designs ; the first one is somewhat reminiscent of the control keyboard on a tape recorder of the 60's, the second one looks more "serious". I know none of them is "prototypical", but they are the most ergonomic solution for my console. Which if them would YOU choose ? Thanks for all answers ...
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Post by Commodore on Jul 20, 2024 11:16:33 GMT -5
Donno??!?
...I like the one with more color.
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Jul 22, 2024 3:03:43 GMT -5
Nobody else ? It seems that DigiTasts are not really popular for model railroading ...  I must admit that manufacturing has been apparently stopped, and that they are very difficult to find. Fortunately I have already those which I need !  |
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Post by dazed on Jul 22, 2024 8:44:17 GMT -5
(a) I don't know what DigiTasts are.
(b) I'm not sure what the purpose of the panel is
(c) I don't know if the LEDs just indicate on/off, or if they change color for different indications, or ? ? ?
My initial thought is a vote for the more monochromatic version, and let the LEDs "do the talking", color-wise. But again it would definitely depend on the application. The colored panels could definitely aid in ease-of-use.
Personally (as I've stated before) I'm pretty well anti-control-panel. So it's not something I think about very much.
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Jul 22, 2024 11:08:22 GMT -5
Personally (as I've stated before) I'm pretty well anti-control-panel. So it's not something I think about very much. Anti-control-panel ? But You MUST use a kind of panel to control Your layout ... Or do You use a "virtual" model, i.e. the display on a tablet/smartphone or even PC/Mac (like me in the past, with my touch display) ?
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Post by dazed on Jul 22, 2024 13:52:18 GMT -5
Yes, in a nutshell "virtual". I typically use manual control of switches for industrial tracks. For mainline turnouts, decoders that can be controlled by the handheld throttle or via a "dispatcher desk". (laptop) It's DCC so no switches needed for block control.
Like you, there are other things I've experimented with. For mainline turnouts, I'm going to trying using a pushbutton switch embedded next to the turnout so the prototype remote motor will actually be the button face. So you just push the motor down and it moves the points. That would be if operating without a dispatcher and just to make it a little quicker/easier than using the throttle. I may also end up with some touchscreens as well, in certain cases.
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Jul 22, 2024 15:06:16 GMT -5
Since the beginning my layout has been controlled by a sequencer, Atmel based. It's a bit like a washing machine : I choose only the train and the itinerary, start and lean back till the train has finished. All turnouts (there are only 4 in the lower station, the village station has only a "passing through" track), speed and direction are automatically controlled. For example, the freight train can roll out of the track of the freight depot, go to the village, wait at the corresponding freight depot (along the track), start again and run into the town station, and finally roll backwards into the dead end track ; or the railcar can run to the village, stop, wait and then roll back to the town in the same or the opposite direction. Only one of the 3 trains can move at once, don't forget, it's a "secundary" line, not a mainline used by express trains.
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Post by Commodore on Jul 22, 2024 16:21:46 GMT -5
Nobody else ? It seems that DigiTasts are not really popular for model railroading ... I must admit that manufacturing has been apparently stopped, and that they are very difficult to find. Fortunately I have already those which I need ! Still like the one with more color... |
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Post by ptitrainrouge on Jul 23, 2024 14:47:39 GMT -5
hello le mysterieux
I must confess that I do not understand what you are talking about.
all of this "no DCC" is far too complicated for me.
just hope that you will find the system you need, or may be it is just a technical challenge ?
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Jul 28, 2024 3:43:51 GMT -5
I put the Digitasts temporarily on the PCB ... and noticed that finally, despite of the fact that there would be a printed front plate and the PCB no longer be visible, the "old" pushbutton panel, with its "vintage" keys, looked better and was more in accordance with the era (around 1965) of my layout ...
What do You think ? Thanks for any ideas ... |
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Aug 7, 2024 22:24:58 GMT -5
Meanwhile I found an USEABLE configuration for my Nextion touch display and will probably go back to this system (  ) ; the main advantages are that : 1) It is better readable than Leds and does not need an additional printed metal front panel with explanations. 2) From the technical point of view, switches (and Leds) need MANY connections, for example 16 with the Digitast solution ; but the touch screen needs only 2, connected to an UART of the processor (ATMega162). The second UART will be used by the speech recognition board ; and the Nextion provides audio feedback, too |
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Post by tikigrotto on Aug 7, 2024 22:53:07 GMT -5
What are you talking about lol
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Aug 7, 2024 23:45:10 GMT -5
It's a control panel imagined by a mad hacker and nerd ...  Don't forget : in the past I have been working in I.T. for 17 years ; and there exist not only DCC and readymade software on PC's, tablets and smartphones (and Mac's ? ) to control a layout ! |
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Post by lemiceterrieux on Aug 9, 2024 11:38:58 GMT -5
Nextion touch screen, end, over and out ... I began writing the program, I had already written more than 3 printed pages of Pascal only for the touch function (without speech), it worked, but this is not the problem ; I noticed that the display became dirty very quickly with fingerprints (with mechanical switches it is the same, but it is less visible ). So, to clean it, I wanted to know if the front is made of glass or plastic (polycarbonate, in this case forget it, it gets scratched very easily). For this, only one solution : contact Nextion via their site. And here it begins to be funny. I typed my usual mail address and password : "wrong" ; using the copy-paste function for the address (to avoid typing errors), I used "request password" ; answer : "unknown address" ... Very strange ! So I decided to create a new profile and pasted the same address : "address already used" ! No comment. A little later I remembered that I had already the same issue a few weeks ago. This is the style of a novel by Douglas Adams in the seventies, "The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy", where he writes : "Take tea and no tea". So finally tomorrow the display will be brought to the local waste reception centre.
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Post by tikigrotto on Aug 10, 2024 2:59:07 GMT -5
Might want to try decaf next time
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) ; the main advantages are that :
