I will be presenting the "LaunchPad for Model Railroading" clinic at the NMRA National Convention in Atlanta on July 19th at 9:00-10:30 am and again at 7:00-8:30 pm. So if you are going to the National, I'd be honored if you made some time to attend the clinic. Hopefully, the diorama will have the 3-color bidirectional signalling installed which was not ready for the Streetsville Junction convention (the signal heads are sitting at home, now all that I need is time to wire them in). Since this clinic is an hour and a half, I intend to demonstrate the entire programming sequence during the clinic - and maybe a project as well.
Item 2 - I will also present the "LaunchPad for Model Railroading" clinic at the C&P Junction, MER Convention, Rockville, MD, Columbus Day weekend (C&P Junction). The clinic will be from 1:00 - 2:00 pm on Friday, Oct. 11. There are some fantastic clinicians scheduled for this meet and I'm looking forward to hearing many of the other clinics.
Item 3 - I still have some code to clean up for the operating crossing flasher with optical detection. This code will be a "code bash" (to coin a phrase) based on my flasher code with the optical detectors added. This project is an outgrowth of my diorama for the clinic.
Item 4 - Jim Gifford, one of the denizens of Model Rail Radio, has a project that he's completing which showcases the best of open source projects and software. He's "bashed" code and circuits from previous projects on this blog to come up with a new application for them. He has built and is testing a system that will allow him to track trains in the helix on his layout the Hallett Cove Southern. Jim has provided a complete data package and I am just waiting for him to put the final tweaks on the code.
Item 5 - and this is a biggie - contributor Bill Hastings has created what we hope will become the first kit offering specifically for model railroading using the LaunchPad. Bill has created a stationary DCC decoder "booster pack" (as add-on boards for the LaunchPad are wont to be called) that will control DPDT relays and servos. The booster pack will decode DCC commands to close relays or and/or control the position of servos. The unit will take in external 12VDC, USB power or it can run off of the DCC track bus. A few units have been built (see photo below) and Bill is working on Rev. 2 of the circuit board.
Price has not been set (I have to see if I can find some of the parts on the electronics surplus market to make it as inexpensive as possible). The kit will not be offered as an assembled unit (sorry, there's no viable way to have these assembled and keep the costs down); and "through hole" PCB soldering will be required for assembly. The initial run of the boards will be for about 50 kits, so if you want one, please let us know.
The schematic, parts list and code will, of course, be posted for those who want to "roll their own."
