March 2024
| Published by: | Model Makers and Collectors Association | Editor: | David Kettlewell |
| PO Box 461 Glenorchy 7010 | Publisher@mmaca.com |
In this edition of MMACA News:
A lot has been happening since January MMACA News.
As noted in the last MMACA News, James Fisher had taken leave and moved for the time being to Queensland. He has since formally resigned from the position of MMACA president. So the vice president, David Kettlewell is continuing to act as president. We will definitely be looking for a new president at the next AGM, but the committee at least is happy to continue with the current situation until then.
Since Mykel Salter resigned from the position of secretary, Mark Harrington has taken on that job (if you need to contact him, email secretary@mmaca.com)
And to make the MMACA committee just a bit more compact, David Hunt has also resigned. Thanks go to David for his long term involvement with and work for MMACA.
A working bee was held recently at the Goodwood Model Park to do some clean up/tidy up/repair work. A good start was made although there is more to do. A bit more information and a few pictures a below.
Thanks to all those who came and got involved.
In the last edition we covered the speculation concerning a potential move of the model park to a different venue. For the moment at least interest in the Model Park site by a potential developer has evaporated due to the expected high cost of moving the MMACA facilities.
For many years MMACA has enjoyed the kindness of David Burtt allowing us to use his personal mail box. Now, however, MMACA has a new postal address of it’s own:
POX 461
Glenorchy 7010
(Third instalment from RC toys. For RC Toys model boat activities see previous editions of MMACA News)
Flying Group
Many of the members of RCToysTas indulge in the RC planes side of the hobby.
We are NOT members of the MAAA or any other “mainstream” flying group and as such are happy for anyone who is interested in this side of the RC hobby to come along and join us to see what goes on and (if you are game) have a fly of one of the groups planes (on a Buddy Box if you’ve never flown before).
If you like your test flights & wish to pursue the hobby then you will need to be covered by the MMACA Public Liability Insurance, either as an existing member of another MMACA affiliated group, or by joining RCToysTas.
The majority of our members are in the older (retired) age bracket & most only started flying late in life.
By utilizing the latest technology in flight stabilizers/auto pilots etc it is relatively easy for a newcomer to learn to fly within a short period of time.
We fly for the fun of it, not to comply with all the rules & regulations of many other more “mainstream” flying clubs.
Our current flying field is located on private property (behind usually locked gates) at Sandford so if you are interested in attending please check the RCToys calendar to see when we are next flying.
Members generally build and fly electric powered “foamies” as they are cheap, easy to repair & good fun. With wing spans from under 500mm up to over 3000mm there are plenty of options available.
Several members also fly quadcopters.
As well as the ever present “foamies” there are also some very nice scale & semi scale models built in the traditional balsa & covering method.
There was some good work with the brush cutters around the fence line helping to make the place look cared for. (I don’t know what we can do about the fences).
Much needed paint was applied to exposed plywood patches, and a start made to re-painting the south end of the building. Looking good.
The door into the “gent’s toilet” aka extra store room was opened. This was a major breakthrough, but will need to be followed up with a new lock. The BRMA stuff which had been stored in the working toilet and mower shed has now been moved to the “gent’s” store room.
A start was made in clearing the main store room – aka the lawn mower shed. But more needs to be done there to make the space more useable. This includes moving a mountain (roughly 2 cubic metres) of dry ginger ale (well past it’s use by date) and bottled water (also past it’s use by date). And BTW there are a number of big (10 litre?) containers of black bituminous paint. Does anyone out there know anything about them? It would be nice to be able to reduce the mountain of partly used paint pots as well.
Southern Tasmania Model Car Club recently hosted the state championships for model car racing over a weekend. Unfortunately some of the racing was held up by rain, but that didn't slow down the activity in the pits. A few pictures:
Things are a quite busy in the pits
Practice session under way
Always things to tweak, or put back together
Set for a timing start
Maximum concentration (mostly)
When I was a teenager, model (electric) train controllers were very simple. If you looked inside your Triang controller you would find a transformer (to bring the voltage down to about 12), a rectifier (to convert from ac to dc) and a part of a toaster element (well that’s what it looked like) with a wiper that moved over it to control the speed. Great if you just had a single loop of track and one train going round and round! But we always want more.
As I write I have in front of me an article from “Practical Electronics” from 1980 describing a system which would send control signals through the tracks to control up to 4 trains on the same track. I didn’t build it. The whole think was quite involved and quite bulky. You definitely wouldn’t get the decoder in any n-scale train, and even for HO/OO you would need a wagon or tender dedicated to the decoder.
Things have come a long way since then. Very widely used is the DCC (digital command and control) system, standardised by NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) which allows a large number of locomotives to be controlled on the same layout – potentially hundreds if you have a big enough layout. Commercially available DCC systems are available for about $300 and up (eBay prices), on top of the cost of the extra smarts in the loco.
DCC decoders. The larger would be suitable for HO/OO.
The small one will go into most N scale locos. These ones cost under $20
So my interest was piqued by Peter Rowland’s layout at the recent model railway exhibition (see MMACA News December edition). For his show layout Peter uses a DCC system dubbed DCC-EX. A couple of comments and questions from readers led to me purchasing the necessary components to assemble a DDC-EX controller. Total cost excluding the track power supply and a usb power supply for the system: $41.52 from AliExpress including postage (you could also get a 12v-to 5v convertor to supply the Arduino from the track power for under $10). DCC-EX is built on an Arduino (a micro controller development board) with a plug in motor driver. The trains are controlled by a free app that runs on a smart phone (Engine Driver for Android users or WiThrottle on an iPhone) or tablet, that connects to the DCC system by WiFi.
The Arduino Mega+Wifi. Looks complicated, but someone else did the complicated.
The motor driver board.
The only connections needed are power in and DCC out through the green screw terminals on the left.
There is a DCC-EX website which has all the necessary instructions for implementing DCC-EX (with or without WiFi), some advice about what parts to use. There are lots of versions of the Arduino and some may not be suitable. I just picked the cheapest Arduino with built-in WiFi, and a motor driver brand that I knew. (Not all Arduino motor drivers are equal. I have used Deek Robot motor drivers a few times and found that they do exactly what I expect, and are not expensive.) BTW, if you decide to build one of these systems, take note of instructions to break a link on the back of the motor driver board – if you don’t you will probably destroy your Arduino).
It's not really a complete dcc system. You need a track power supply and a usb power supply for the Arduino
To install the programming in the Arduino, it needs to be connected to a computer (PC or MAC), and the install program run from the website. This offers lots of (too many) options to the point of having the whole thing set up and running. It gets a bit messy in places, but persist.
The whole thing in working order, and Engine Driver on the phone.
The big box is for track power. For my home system I actually use a 12v plug pack - good enough for 3 or 4 n-scale locos
I couldn’t figure out how to get my phone to connect to the WiFi and ended up downloading the software and installing it using the Arduino IDE. This should not be necessary. At one point (Testing your installation) a monitor window is opened. In the monitor window you need to find the ip address and port number to tell Engine driver how to connect and possibly password for the wifi connection.
It works. Cordless dc for under $100.
DK
That's your lot for this month. I'm still hoping for input from locomotive collectors, model builder, car racers and who knows what else.
Next time perhaps.
THE END