Signals

Skinorth -

I also use an Arduino for train control, though I built an interface board to read third-rail sensors via the SPI interface.

What I did for signals was cannibalize modern MTH signals; remove the control board and you can control the LEDs directly.

However, they are 3-aspect signals, and the wiring is a little funky because of the way the LEDs are connected. But you can get RGY signaling with three wires total.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150641...e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Professor Chaos,

Your set up sounds really interesting. However, I am fairly new to working with my arduino and other electronics, so I plan on keeping my system simple and foolproof. Although it would still be interesting to see a schematic of your interface board.

Also, I saw the signals mentioned above for sale on ebay. Does anyone know if the seller is reputable. I don't want to spend money on something I will never recieve.

I have purchased signals from wehonest and they do indeed live up to their namesake.

Rick

With almost 42,000 transactions and a 99.9% rating, I think you are safe. I have ordered electronic stuff from this supplier as well as other like suppliers from China without ever having a problem, so far anyway. In fact I had a bad item from one and they immediately sent me another, no questions asked and they didn't even have me return the bad part. Pretty good service, probably much better than most ebay sellers.

Also you might check this thread: Which would you prefer of these three choices? 

It's possible that Inginerio No1 may be offering some single lamp signals sometime in the future?

I too am interested in Arduino and would like to see the progress on your project, please keep us updated as you progress. I think others here would have interest also.

I've bought from them and their name is accurate. Their stats back that up. The signals are molded plastic housings with LED bulbs. Resistors are typically included for 12-volt DC use I've bought a couple of sets of signals from them and plan to buy more.

** my last post had some unnecessary variables in the code

If anyone is interested here is the code I wrote. I am substituting an infra red reflector for a photo-resistor. The formatting is a bit strange since I copied and pasted it.

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
int photo = A1;
pinMode(photo,INPUT);
int Clear = 5;
int Block = 3;
pinMode(Clear, OUTPUT);
pinMode(Block, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
int Clear = 5;// green led
int Block = 3;// red led
int photo = A1;
int photovalue = 0;// set value to zero
photovalue = analogRead(photo);// read photoresistor
Serial.println(photovalue);// print value to screen
delay(100); // the number of milliseconds between readings

if (photovalue < 30)// train is over sensor
{
analogWrite(Block, 255);// turn red led on
analogWrite(Clear, 0);// turn green led off
delay(10000);// wait 10 seconds, this acts as a delay that keeps the signal red when the train has passed
}

else
{
analogWrite(Block, 0);// red led off
analogWrite(Clear, 255);// green led on
}
}

I just went on ebay and bought the signals from WeHonest. Thanks for the reassurance.

Here are a couple alternatives to 2 color LED signals you are looking for.

These are used Shiloh signals but quite a few for such a low starting price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shiloh...;hash=item3a8d1c1f8c

These are new from NJ International Signals:

http://www.njinternational.com/