Xanderb

I would be interested in the Mac OSX version once it's ready. I cannot test it at the moment as the layout is not connected to the Mac yet.....

Hi Mark and Adrian,

Yesterday I succeeded to get the serial port connection up on Mac OSX (Panther) via a Keyspan USB-serial adapter. I made a test track with one loc that could be controlled. Later this week I will take my Mac to the train room and test it on my real track layout.
The development is done in Eclipse on the Mac and sometimes on Windows, but normally an older notebook (Pentium 1, 233 Mhz, 128 Mb ram) with Windows NT is connected to my track layout, but I can synchronize the sources of both in Eclipse via CVS. Okay for the non programmer this is a lot of technical detail.

The program will be running locally and you have to install Java 1.4 (I recommend 1.4.2 for speed).

Xander

The big challenge is that come people, like me, do not use their best computer hardware to run trains.

IPAQ sounds good, but they are expensive down here.. Wifi IPAQs start at $900, but I only paid AU$150 for a second hand Pentium Celeron 466 PC with 128Mb RAM and a 4Gb HD (I thought it was a PIII 500 - sigh).. I do have an old Palm Pilot III around somewhere..

xanderb,

I am aware of that, but I reduces the portability and the easiness of use/installation IMHO. 3 files to copy is even too much for the lazy user ;-)

I should have been clearer, I want to use it as an applet. Wouldn't it be cool if you could use my applet in your website, to be able to connect to a host computer running the host applet? And then using any browser/Java capable tool to run trains? You could use a pc, a PDA, maybe even a cellphone or a java-enabled wristwatch ;-)

We can dream :)

I'm reluctant to restart programming because I now have a new time-consuming job, and the new central station is supposed to have an ethernet interface with which we will be able to do a lot more than the 2400bps COM interface now.

Greetings from Belgium,
Bert

Thanks Bert for the update on your applet ideas, but because you need to create a configuration and setup your com part I think it is not useful to run it in the browser. Another idea is to use an older PC as a hub that connects with your PDA via the network (TCP/IP sockets). Only the old PC needs the serial communication. I try to make everything so that in the future multiple computers can be used to control one layout and only one is connected to the layout.

McLae thanks for your information. I had already read the P50X.zip file, but without knowing the IB and having it to test it is difficult to process. The big difference besides the wider address range for accessories and locs is also the feedback you get from the IB when the user changes something on the IB like loc speed or turnouts. With the 6051 you cannot use the 6021 anymore or it will lock up locs without feedback.

Does anyone have a summary for the IB so I can address the wider address range and read feedback from the IB so I can first make a quick implementation without being limited to loc address from 1-80 and speed 1-14 and accessories from 0-255. Route control can be skipped I think, because that is what I do in my application.
Maybe my question is strange, but this is what I understood from the IB until now.

I will not need beta testers right now, because until now only the locs can be specified in the GUI and the rest is in an XML file. But now I know people are interested I can make it better and easier configurable. My idea is that when the track layout can be drawn in the GUI and basic IB support is in I will put a version on my website (under construction right now).

Thanks Juhan,

I have changed the pictures. The p50x.zip is from Uehlenbrock itself. I am not a member of the IBX Yahoo group, but I will first study the zip file in more detail.

Hi Xander,

In response to your question in the 'Digital' section: I have written a program using LabVIEW, which is a software package mainly intended for professional data acquisition and control applications. In my previous job I worked in a gas turbine test cell, and we used LabVIEW to collect and process measurement data, as well as to provide a user interface to the control system. As home I have a not quite completely legal copy [}:)][:I] that I use to control my layout.

Programming is graphical, and there are many display/control functions like switches, lights, bitmaps, dials, sliders and so forth. Since it comes with many preprogrammed modules, like serial port communication, it was for me an easy choice.

This weekend I'll post some pictures of the software panels, I hope someone answers my question on bmp -> jpg conversion in the 'Marklin-users.net' section of this Forum, so the pictures will look better.

Gregor

Hi Gregor,

You could better not convert BMP files to JPEG, but to GIF or PNG. JPEG is only for photos and has loss and GIF or PNG for schemes and have no loss. All my pictures are PNG.
I will replace my simple speed slider with a more advanced speed control in the future, but for now it works okay. Double-click with the mouse stops it and again double-click changes the direction

I will happy to test your program in the Microsoft Windows environment and in the future under Linux O.S.

Bye

Renato