zeroOneman

I'm using sg90s & a points decoder I built myself using an Arduino nano. It's not the easiest thing to do, but the results are very pleasing. https://shedendrly.wordpress.com/points-decoder/

Although the mallard doesn't always trip the elink in the same place, does it always do it when passing through sets of points?

Up until a couple of years ago, one of the best airshows in the south of England was the wings & wheels show at Dunsfold. Unfortunately some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to turn the airfield into an housing estate, so the show is no more. during one of my trips to the airshow I took some photos of the airfield with the intention of using them as a backdrop for any models I may make in the future. So was mighty pleased when the 2022 club model was announced. I finished the 'Dunsfold' version last weekend. The weather was quite nice today, so I set the backdrop up in the garden this afternoon and took a few pictures. Thanks for looking Andy

No success here either. I managed to get RM to think it was connected to an ld module, but totally stumped from that point onwards.

If you think having another set of hands also trying would help, I have plenty of kit here to have a go. I can be contacted through my website.

i've just been catching up on this thread - just when i completely give up on LD there is a flicker of hope from Hornby. The LD module emulator is a cracking idea - if this could work & just send messages back to RM indicating when a digital input is active/inactive i could ditch all the logic in my current arduino based decoder & just use my block detection modules. Any joy since you established the initial handshake?

As I mentioned, there is information on my website, but if you want further information on making your own BM1 modules, or would like some made for you, please don't hesitate to contact me via the website. Also, if there is anyone out there that would like to implement the same style of "signal detection" that I have done, I'd love to hear from you & to help you achieve what you're after.

I made my own and modules, you can find details on my website

i used EZ-line (fine) for the rigging, which is 0.25 mm in diameter, the control wires were done using ultra fine black rigging thread from Black Mike , this stuff is 0.048mm in diameter & is almost invisible in the photos. If you haven't used ez-line (or the alternatives that Black Mike sells), it's basically very fine elastic - it can stretch to around 12 times its' original length before getting close to breaking, because of this it can be pulled taught with very little actual tension.

Another great kit from Airfix - all the newly tooled kits that I have built so far have been an absolute joy to build.

Yes, the only thing to look out for is that the braking only starts when the loco enters the braking zone, if you need help you can contact me through the web site. My branch line has an EMU running from one end to the other, I have a braking module at each end , which stops the train in the station, I then just reverse the direction of the train in Railmaster and it moves off back to the other end.

If you're still running into the buffers I would highly recommend putting braking modules at the ends of your lines & if your decoders don't support ABC, swapping them for zimo ones. The most impressive bit about ABC braking is, that once you've got it set up, it doesn't matter what speed your loco enters the braking zone at - it will always slow down and stop in the same place.

I gave up waiting for loco detection long ago. But I do like using RailMaster, so I have developed my own Arduino based signal decoder to automate my railway. The decoder currently controls 15 signals. Each signal has an ABC braking module associated with it. All the loco decoders that I use support ABC braking. By doing this, whenever a loco approaches a signal set to danger it stops at the signal. Once the signal is cleared, the loco moves off. I have also developed my own block detection modules that feed into the decoder. If a section in front of a signal is occupied it will be set to danger regardless of what it has been set to by RailMaster, once the block is cleared the signal is returned to the 'railmaster state'. I like to think of this as signal detection rather than loco detection. I have started documenting all of this at: Mega signal decoder | Shedend Railway

try the 1/48 version - it's fabulous

you cut the panels out & there are replacement panels to fit in - I was a bit worried about this, as my cutting skills aren't great, but it turned out to be very easy.