Blacktop Crossing: DCC, LED, & JMRI oh my. . . .

Well, apparently I got so excited about working with lights and the DCC control board that I forgot to take photos. But, I did get the headlight working on the F3 loco; there is no taillight to worry about. I also put LED's in the SW1 loco along with resistors as recommended. The F3 using a 1.5V incandescent bulb as I recall from doing this several weeks ago. I am still amazed at what DCC can do. The F3 now has the "Mars" headlight effect. I can vaguely remember seeing "streamline" locos show up at the Kingstree, SC, station with the headlights doing some sort of funny, sweeping action. I think that is the "Mars" effect. I couldn't help myself in programming this for one of the locos.

The SW1 loco still has some headlight problems. Maybe it's the + and - ends of the LED that I didn't figure out correctly. Otherwise, it's running well. I've programmed this little switcher to ring its bell at low speeds automatically. It will also honk the horn once when stopped, twice (I think) when first moving forward, and three times when first backing up -- again, all automatically.

In the meantime, I've been messing with the JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface). It's free software, but seems more complex than it needs to be! Since the DCC system I have is MRC, I've been using their software primarily to "adjust" the locomotives through computer and wireless interface. However, the wireless possibility with JMRI plus potential for iPad and iPhone throttles has me pursuing JMRI.

Of course, I had to obtain a wireless "receiver" for the MRC system, as well as an extension outlet so the wireless and handheld throttles could both work.

Fortunately, our local Internet, landline, and cable TV supplier has upgraded our modem and it now includes wifi capability. That meant I could remove my Linksys router from the house and put it where? In the workshop with the train layout! Now, for essentially no additional cost to me, I have two hand-held, wireless thottles -- iPhone and iPad.

The only additional "device" needed was an app called "WIThrottle". While there's a commercial version available, WIThrottle LITE is free. To get the additional throttles working, my iPhone and iPad have the Lite version installed. I'm not sure I would need the commercial product. I had to use the iPhone to photograph the iPad, but I've had both devices running locos at the same timeCheck it out: