Layout control with JMRI

JMRI is Java so it should not create any issues. I use a Mac and I opted to use a mac for layout control since the RDP software i use on my ipad does not lock out the computer like it does on windows. I wish the was a LAN option for the RDP but it still works surprisingly well. Im goona have to try to run trains with WiThrottle on my phone. I have not had time to set up the full size layout with all the SC-2's and other TMCC control devices so my experience is on my test layout. Needed to prove the feasibility before I dropped a couple thousand bucks and a bunch of TMCC equipment, computer and what not

Full control of my Legacy GP9 on my iPhone using WiThrottle. This is pretty **** cool

Are you sure you have full Legacy control. As far as I know only TMCC codes are published and included in JMRI. So the Legacy features should not work, only the TMCC functions.

I'm very interested in JMRI and plan to use it in the future along with CMRI. This combination should result in a fully automated railroad.

Ive been playing with this for the last couple of hours and I am not exactly sure of all of the function buttons but I am controlling 90 percent of the functions of this loco. Even have them in a roster and am pulling them from the roster, starting them up, driving them, running couplers, horn, bell, crew talk, boost, brake, volume down(havent figured out volume up), smoke down(havent figured out up on this either), lights, direction & speed. So yes, I would say i have full control

It still sounds like you just have the TMCC functions. There are quite a few.  But for what I want to do that, is way more than enough. All I need is forward and speed control on multiple trains. It doesn't get more basic than that.

Ok, glad issues with panel display on my Mac plus JMRI was making my system incredibly unstable and prone to freeze up after changing the preferences so I switched to a windows computer and now have layout control, throwing switches and dual throttles on the withrottle on my iPad. This is so friggen cool.

I used that software with HO. Worked great..

Made all those CV headaches go away... Why

everyone in the HO world does not use it is beyond me...

On the Ipad app... Did you have your PC setup as a server ?

then the server is hard wired to the command base via serial port ?

Bruce.....

You will have TMCC only, no Legacy features

The loco starts and stops, forward and backward plus I can use some of the accesory functions. Legacy snobs

What are the minimum requirements on the software?  Or in other words, how old a Mac can I run this on?  And can you run conventional with it, or does everything have to be TMCC?

After trying both my Macbook Pro and my windows laptop, I got much better results with my Windows machine. I had huge system stability issues on the Macbook and was prone to frequent crashes when saving preferences on the Mac. I dont think it needs a very powerful system as long as it has the ability to run Java. This software only runs TMCC equipment so if you want to run in analog you will need to add a tmcc TPC-300 or TPC-400

Ok trying this on my layout.  So far all is great, panel switch control, throttle etc
Flash  : Running under linux, with touch screen monitor for full layout switch control !! as well as web server / tablets

Next a questoin:

Anybody using accessory functions on a SC-2 ? just a cant see it at the moment (if there at all)

Hey Matt....

Santa is bringing me a CAB1-L this year. I'd like to try the JMRI software

but I have a question on the cable from the base unit.

I have the TMCC-DCS cable. Can I plug that into the computer and have it work ?

OR, is it a 9 pin straight through or null modem cable ?

Thanks

  Bruce..

In addition to the answer to Bruce's question, above, I would like to know:

• Could a Legacy Base could be used even if only the TMCC functions were available?

Thx!

Alex

Alex, I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say the answer is YES. If the Legacy base can control a TMCC engine, then JMRI should work.

Since a TMCC base "talks" serially to the Legacy base then I would also say yes it should work.

It's a 9 pin cable, but is it a straight through cable or a cross over cable ?

Does it only use 3 pins ? send/Receive/common ? 

I'll did through to documentation to see if it there, So far no luck...

I've used this software on the HO side and it works as advertised,

Curious to see how it is on the TMCC side....

It should be a straight through serial cable.

Communication from computer to command base is one way only.

The base has no data to send (that I know of) back to the computer.

You would use a straight cable, not a crossover, to connect your computer to the base.  Or a USB-Serial adaptor if your computer does not have a serial port.  Shouldn't make any difference between Legacy and TMCC.

The base echoes commands received from the remote to the computer through the serial port.

I use JMRI + a touch screen monitor to provide a graphical control panel for my layout, but in my case I use an Arduino to mediate between JMRI and the TMCC/DCS command bases.  That way I can transfer any information I want between the layout and JMRI;  the Arduino pretends to be a set of C/MRI nodes to send and receive information from JMRI.

I would be interested in knowing/seeing etc about your Arduino as an intermediary.  This woudl eb a nice way to include some homebrew sensors etc..

I use a legacy base station to run the layout and a windows PC :-(. I tried using my Macbook but got severe system instability. I use a straight serial cable modified to split the signal to several other components it goes to the TPC and 2 other things but I havent seen it in a while since i got busy doing other stuff so I don't remember why I needed a 3 way splitter on my serial cable but I built one and it worked well with no issues. I use a USB to Serial adapter that I got at MicroCenter but anyone you find should work just fine. The biggest time investment was in the JMRI layout I built and programming the table(which was later lost) it took less time to wire in 10 SC-2s under the layout than it did to setup the JMRI. I also used the WiThrottle full version to run the JMRI on my iPad. I was quite impressed with the functionality of the system as a whole and the interface on the iPad was clean and slick with all kinds of display options to customize. As a whole this is great for large layouts but has a considerable investment in time to set it up. Ive played with Lionel's LCS app and was not impressed. It is a nice feature if your running your little basement layout but for large layouts the system is not appropriate being that displaying tracks is servery limited and one cant properly display things the way they should be displayed.

Any questions, email me directly since I turned off the email feature for the forum. Too many emails about stuff I dont care for

A while back someone had posted a wiring diagram where you basically had a looped wiring at the end of the serial cable that then connected to the command base. Am I to understand that does not need to be done any more? Just a straight serial cable will now do it? I have used my Android phone and iPod on other HO layouts that have JMRI installed and it works great. Hoping to make it work on my Lionel layout.

I upgraded to version 3.6 this afternoon and figured I'd see what would happen once I got the WiThrottle up and recognizing my Android phone and iPod Touch. It works great! For a basic throttle to run trains, with a throttle interface that many are used to already, this is great for operations.

Not to override my previous post, above, to which I would still welcome your responses - - -

Any ideas of how long before Legacy may be added to the systems supported by JMRI? I know that TMCC already is listed, but with the recent Lionel disclosures regarding Legacy it seems that it, Legacy, would soon be added.

Thx!

Alex