Akihabara Station » LED

LED Driver: Test-Type Complete

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:52:10 +0000

Test-type in Cylon training school.

A couple of nights ago, I hooked my custom LED Driver up to an Arduino running some custom software, and 16 LEDs. And, who’d have thunk it: Worked on the first try! So many things could have gone wrong between the circuit design, the hand-soldering (jumpers, burn-outs), and [...]

Kato 651系 DCC Pt 1.5: Interior Lights Nearly Done

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:10:33 +0000

Just an update on this project. I managed three more cars in one evening, for a total of four out of seven. It’s tedious going, but I’ve got the hang of it now. What’s slowing me down is cleaning the trucks: They’re filthy! Spent the evening with a bowl of rubbing alcohol and a [...]

Kato 651系 DCC Pt 1: Upgrading Interior Lights

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:06:26 +0000

Kato 10-173 651系 'Super Hitachi'

So, you have just purchaed Kato 10-173 651系 (651-series) “Super Hitachi”, and want to know how to convert it to DCC. I’ve just begun this process myself; here is part one (of many!) of my report.

The 651系 is factory-fitted with interior lighting, a nice touch. But, being [...]

Next DCC Conquest: Kato 651系

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:48:54 +0000

The EF81 done, I’ve been trying to decide what DCC project to tackle next. I’ve settled on my Kato 651系 for several reasons. First, the set is being re-released next month, which means a new wave(let) of interest. It also means a new wave of spare parts if I mess up. Too, the pre-fitted [...]

Small Successes: SMD Hand-Soldering

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:24:15 +0000

Hand-soldered SSOP microchip in breakout board

I suppose that not all is bad, previous posts notwithstanding. Illness has conspired to prevent me from sharing much of what I’ve done lately, but as I’m feeling better now, here is something new.

Tonight I discovered that I can solder SSOP SMD components by hand with [...]

Current Draw

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:01:50 +0000

My latest purchase is a Kato model of the 651系 “Super Hitachi”. It’s quite the handsome model, and it includes interior lighting for all the coaches, out of the box. What a nice feature, ne?

A few minutes of running the train, however, and I begin to wonder. My throttle is very warm to [...]

Electric Company

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:11:10 +0000

Stock photograph of the BBB Arduino Rev E (mine's actually a Rev D)

This weekend, I completed assembly of my first Arduino, a BBB (Bare Bones Board) kit from Modern Device Company. Thanks to Chip for the board! I haven’t tested it yet, because I don’t have, as it turns out, a suitable [...]

Doing Things the Easy Way

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:34:31 +0000

Breadboard circuit

After success building circuit described here on breadboard, I began construction of something more permanent this past weekend. But, as I did so, two events conspired to frustrate my efforts. First was the discovery, thanks to a member of the JNSForum, of the Lenz LF101XF function decoder, which does precisely what [...]

DCC and End Cars: The No-Cut Conversion

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:17:13 +0000

OSHI25-901 circuit board

This is the lightboard from the OSHI 25-901 dining car from the Tomix 92950 “Yumekukan” set. This board sits in a fitted pocket in the galley of the dining car. There are three SMD LEDs (the three white boxes on the left); three long lightpipes run from the LEDs to [...]