Martin, While a base station is not ideal it could work so long as it is something that does not require being hooked up to the track to send signals. I be curious to see if it could be done an envy you have the skill to do it.
This would be the essence of the base station. It’s a Raspberry Pi as a web server, mounted on a generic wifi router. The Xbee module and antenna is to the left. The Xbee talks to the train network while the Rpi handles any user requests (ie phone/tablet inputs) It would be in an appropriate enclosure of course. There is a lot of horsepower in an Rpi linux box as tiny as it may be.
I have had multiple trains, switches, signals and 2-way real time feedback from multiple assets on a wireless self-healing mesh network I built for some serious players about 9 months ago. I’m now trying to finish it up with multi-sound control on different running locos and station announcements - all from the iPhone.
Within the same configuration, I was recently able to get the reverse use case - control and feedback from one loco to multiple handhelds (phones). Now why would anyone wan’t that ? To take a p-break while passing instant control on to someone else. You don’t really want to give your phone to someone else during a p-break, so this is one way to keep flowing.
Cheers,
Victor
That’s not bad love to see it in action. Question is on the engine end would it be a new decoder for everything or could it tie into an existing DCC decoder?
More on the control front.
The Okanagan Valley is famous for lots of very bright sunshine, which can play havoc with any display screen; tablets, phones, cameras, you name it.
Probably almost perfect for narcissists, who like to look at their reflection better than running trains, but I digress.
Time to find out how other Acer Iconia A100 owners solved the problem. Glowing reviews for just one screen protector: Great Shield. Fits the A100 item perfectly, is a fraction of the cost of other screen protectors - Can$8.41 for a package of 3 - and does the job. I tried it out moments ago at High Noon and I’m impressed. It was an exception to be out in the mid-day sun.
The other solution I considered; very wide-brimmed Sombreros and holding the tablet close to the chest.