EX-RAIL Command Station Build

Here I show you all the components and the reasoning behind my madness of building the Command Station to support EX-RAIL on my Test Track!
This will be a multi-part series, this is the hardware portion. Future videos will include:
* Software sequence code for the automation
* Adding more automation
* What's new in Version 5.0 when it's released
S U P P O R T THIS C H A N N E L
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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge.
Intended for viewers over the age of 14

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I may need to pick up one of those buck converters and the 24v power supply for my next DCC++EX build to eliminate having to run two separate things to wall power as i'm doing now.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Easiest way to go!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@TomsTrainsandThings Sure looks that way! Looks like DFrobot is out of stock of the buck boards so I am taking a chance on an ebay one that looks similar. lol.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

@@Trains-With-Shane Jus make sure you have the range to adjust. Some are up, some are down, some are both ways!

[@MomentumChaser0331]

Tom Sir I built that other one and I am starting up on this one and I can say that the first build I did is up and running and Outstanding Tom Sir so Thank You

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Great to hear!

[@MomentumChaser0331]

@@TomsTrainsandThingsYes Sir and I sure will be checking in on your next videos Sir and Thank You for Sharing with us

[@tonyclixby]

You’re a star

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks

[@geraldstewart]

The project is looking Great Tom. the display is a very cool addition, It will be a good way for your viewers to see what is going on with the automation.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks Gerald. Had the display out on the bench, but totally forgot about adding it when I first drilled the holes. lol

[@smokinbigdavebbqandtrains]

Tom, thanks for posting the videos on DCC EX. I built my first command station yesterday. Did not use wi-fi or ethernet shield just USB to pc and JMRI. I run JMRI on an old Linux laptop. I had to set up the command station on a Windows PC using EXInstaller and then connect it to the Linux pc - worked like a charm! Sharing in case others have trouble with Linux. You cannot run WebThottle on a non-Chromium based browser either. JMRI throttles and Engine Driver work perfectly. Likely going to ditch the Digitrax equipment. Looking forward to more automation and finally getting my layout up and running.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Your welcome. I run exclusively on DCC-ex now. My Digitrax components are still under the layout but idle. So much more possibilities and the developers keep coming out with improvements.

[@tonyclixby]

Thank you

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

You're welcome

[@Steelerfan820]

Nice enjoying my learning curve

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Good to hear Frank!

[@ThisWorks4Me]

Nice job on your board. I have used old computer power supplies. Lots of 3.3, 5.0, and a few 12 volt power outputs.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Those old power supplies work great

[@russrockino-rr0864]

Nice Build, Tom!

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@tonyclixby]

I would love to be able to do this. You have lots of expertise.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

It's not very hard. You can find everything you need to know on the DCC-EX web site

[@OTRWA]

Always an interesting feed Tom...Cheers for sharing the drill sound effects...lol

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Glad you enjoyed the sound fx. lol

[@jimmykelly5320]

Thank you so much for making this video!

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

You are so welcome!

[@pwilliamssa]

Pretty much did the same thing only I use an old 500w PC power supply for all my rail, accessory, Arduino etc. I have a couple old Android phones using WiThrottle for quick throttle control the rest of the layout is controlled via JMRI with several Arduino's via DCC and CMRI on an old laptop controlling signals, points, MERG current block detection, and IR detection at specific spots. Cheap and easy.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Whatever it take and what we have on hand!

[@tgribbon1962]

Brilliant project Tom

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks! Having a lot of fun with it!

[@kevinschroll4890]

This is amazing, thank you so much for making this content. I have just started planning out my first railway since my dad’s HO setup we had when I was a little kid (until the mice in our basement ate it). I am a computer/electrical person and wanted to make a DCC-EX setup with a variable power supply just like this but was struggling to figure out what voltage and amperage I’d need so I’ll try the power supply you recommended and see how that works for the HO build I’ll be starting soon. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series!

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

The power supply I used in this video was recommended by one of the members of the Dev Team at DCC-EX.

[@kevinschroll4890]

@@TomsTrainsandThings Thanks again for putting this all together. I may have missed this in your breakdown of the wiring, but how are you breaking out the power from the power supply to the buck converters and the motor shield for the trains. I was able to power the buck converts to 5V and 9V output but I'm not sure how you were splitting the power for the buck converters and motor-shield as well as the Voltage you have your power supply set to.. I'm guessing it's a terminal strip or breakout board. I just want to make sure I understand how to wire this up before I fry anything. The other question I had is that none of my Arduino's have the VIN solder on the back of the board to break the connection, I'm not sure if I just need to bend the VIN pin from the Sensor Shield or Motor shield. I don't have a wifi shield since I went with an Arduino mega with wifi built in. The install was simple I just hit a bit of a roadblock with not knowing what to do about the VIN pin and want to make sure I'm powering this up properly.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

@@kevinschroll4890 15 v from the power supply is on the input of both buckk converters, it's also jumpered to the motor shield . Outputs of the converters are 9v to mega, 5v to sensor shield. If your motor shield does not have a vin soldering pad on the bottom, chances are you do not have the correct motor shield. Send me an email since these stacked comments do not go to my icomments section they are hard to find

[@thomasgrassi8817]

Tom Looks very good.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thank you

[@FunWithHOScaleStuff]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnbanicki7232]

Very nice!

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks John.

[@momandsontrainrailfans]

Good evening

[@momandsontrainrailfans]

Fascinating

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thank you

[@Kevincsmith0708]

Excellent start Tom, You are going to have a lot of fun with EXRAIL Automation scripts. 10x easier to setup Layout accessories and create Automation scripts & Engine Driver throttle buttons than with straight IDE C++ sketches or JMRI Jython.py scripts. Stop by when your ready to try a sample DCC-EX EXRAIL plug & play setup for your layout. Kevin

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks Kevin. Sure will!

[@KenN.OXN.805]

Excellent work and clean sir! Great work! How much for all the components?

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Thanks Ken. It's posted on my web page. Approximately $126

[@gargaroblaster]

Very nice guide! I myself built my DCC-EX for testing, however I used the Ethernet shield (instead of Wi-Fi) and a cool I2C OLED screen (128 x 64 matrix) that has more lines to display at once. I am more curious at adding servos, buttons, sensors and signals though - haven't done it on this "platform" yet. EX-RAIL is also interesting and I am planing to dive into this sooner or later. Any guides on these matters? It would be easier than a long RTFM thing, hehe.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

That OLED screen sounds great. My next video will be the automation with servos and IR sensors. I have some dwarf signals that I may add also. On my main layout I have the same thing without the expansion board and display. I may add them later. That one is replacing my Digitrax system

[@WilliamChandler-ch3st]

Thanks for replying. Do you mean that the single power supply, powers three branches, one to the motor shield and one to each buck converter.? Is the power supply set to 15 or more volts also?

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

That is correct

[@WilliamChandler-ch3st]

Thanks for the video. This is something I want to try. I am confused about the power connections. Is one power supply powering the 5, 9 and 15v's?

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

That is correct. I have two buck converters, one each for the 5v and 9v. The 15v is straight from the power supply to motor shield and inputs on the buck converters.

[@GavinNogarthCoates1982]

@@TomsTrainsandThings Hi Tom if there a diagram you have for this as im trying to work that part out as well as i can see you used the terminals and the VIN+ VIN- on the bucks and thought that might have overloaded it. as im intrested in this as i use them but didnt think you can use them in parallel like that. Ive tried freeze framing the videos on that side of things but dont think there is anytthing i can trace from the power in to them. any info would be great on that side of things.

[@sspence65]

Why did you need a i2c hub? Were both i2c devices hard coded to the same address?

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

The Hub is for additional spaces to plug them into. They are already different addresses

[@neilmckechnie673]

The passive hub you see there is just a set of pins connected together parallel, i.e. a way of allowing multiple devices to be connected to one bus rather than chained to one another. A multiplexer will allow multiple I2C devices with the same address, and that's supported in the next version of DCC-EX (in preparation for release).

[@OB1canblowme]

Must show my dad this. He used to fiddle with Märklin and did a lot of electrical repair and retrofits for his friends shop and now he's in his late 50s and has no active hobbies, and a man without a hobby isn't a happy man😂

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Go for it. He'll love it!

[@jrrailroadmodelrailroadhos5014]

Do you build the for people

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Too many irons in the fire! They are easy dcc-ex.com/index.html

[@HumancityJunction]

I watched the first 5 minutes. What is EX-Rail? And I thought you were going to use DCC-EX++ on your test track.

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Am I going to have to make a special Playlist For you?

[@HumancityJunction]

@@TomsTrainsandThings I am not sure I can handle more than one of your videos at a time. (I thought this was the first in the series, you didn’t reference another intro video)

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

EX-RAIL is a feature of DCC -EX. They dropped the ++ a few weeks ago. It,s for automatic operation using simple code to operate the movement of locos, operate turnouts, signals and other lighting and fx.

[@HumancityJunction]

@@TomsTrainsandThings so it’s like a DIY Motorman :) How much did it cost? Materials and Time?

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

About $125. Already had most of the items laying around from other projects. About four hrs to build. The longest part was setting up & drilling holes the mounting those little standoffs.

[@railartist001]

BUT ...... How much does all this cost????

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

On my web page along with where to buy. Approx $126. Can be cheaper but I used an Arduino Motor Shield.

[@railartist001]

@@TomsTrainsandThings Very much within reason .... IF I were into DCC... I stay DC 'cause I am olde skool and cheap ... living on my Social Insecurity, you know... heheheheh

[@railartist001]

Nice thing being, IF I should decide to go minimal DCC my best friend here in town IS an electronics genius....