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Advanced config.h settings for Command Station build

The basic Motor Shield, WiFi and Ethernet settings are covered in detail in basic config.h

The following additional settings are for special cases and are not normally created automatically by the EX-Installer.

These options should be coded in the file config.h which will be automatically included in the compilation process.

Non-standard Motor Shields

Further pre-defined shield names can be found in the code file MotorDrivers.h although their presence there does not necessarily mean that we can provide support for issues.

In extreme cases, it is possible to craft your own definition for example:

#define MY_SHIELD F("MINE"), \
 new MotorDriver( 3, 12, UNUSED_PIN, 9, A0, 5.08, 3000, A4), \
 new MotorDriver(11, 13, UNUSED_PIN, 8, A1, 5.08, 1500, A5)
#define MOTOR_SHIELD_TYPE MY_SHIELD

refer to MotorDrivers.h for details of parameter meanings. Do NOT attempt to alter MotorDrivers.h or you will face versioning difficulties.

NOTE: Before connecting these boards and selecting one in this software check the quick install guides! Some of these boards require a voltage generating resistor on the current sense pin of the device. Failure to select the correct resistor could damage the sense pin on your Arduino or destroy the device.

Motor shield max current

If you want to restrict the maximum current LOWER than what your motor shield can provide, you can do that here. For example if you have a motor shield that can provide 5A and your power supply can only provide 2.5A then you should restrict the maximum current to 2.25A (90% of 2.5A) so that DCC-EX shuts off the track before your PS does shut DCC-EX. MAX_CURRENT is in mA so for this example it would be 2250, adjust the number according to your PS. If your PS has a higher rating than your motor shield you do not need this. You can use this as well if you are cautious and your trains do not need full current.

#define MAX_CURRENT 2250

TCP/IP Advanced settings

  • Control of IP port (default 2560). We cant think of any reason why this would ever need to be changed.
#define IP_PORT 2560
  • DONT_TOUCH_WIFI_CONF means WIFI config will be done with the <+> commands and this sketch will not change anything over AT commands and the other WIFI_* defines do not have any effect.
#define ENABLE_WIFI true
#define DONT_TOUCH_WIFI_CONF
  • WIFI_HOSTNAME: The default is "dccex" but you can change this if you have more than one CS on you home router to make them show up with different names on the network. Host names starting with "dccex" are more readily found by WiFi throttles.
#define WIFI_HOSTNAME "dccex-csb1"
  • Ethernet IP_ADDRESS can be set but it is preferable to omit this and have the router assign an address using DHCP.
#define IP_ADDRESS { 192, 168, 1, 200 }

  • MAX_NUM_TCP_CLIENTS: If you on STM32 Ethernet (and only there) want more than 9 () TCP clients, change this number to for example 20 here *AND** in STM32lwiopts.h and follow the instructions in STM32lwiopts.h

    (*) It would be 10 if there would not be a bug in LwIP by STM32duino.

#define MAX_NUM_TCP_CLIENTS 20

LCD/OLED support

In order to avoid wasting memory the current scroll buffer is limited to 8 lines. Some users wishing to display additional information such as TrackManager power states have requested additional rows aware of the warning that this will take extra RAM. If you wish to include additional rows:

#define MAX_CHARACTER_ROWS 12

Disable EEPROM

The EEPROM feature is only there for backward support of deprecated methods of turnout, sensor and output creation inherited from DCC++. You are advised to turn this off to save memory.

 #define DISABLE_EEPROM

Disable PROG

If you do not need programming capability, you can disable all program track related commands. You might want to do that if you are building a command station that drives multiple tracks and you do not have a spare track output for programming.

 #define DISABLE_PROG

Redefine DCC boundary between SHORT and LONG loco addresses

According to NMRA the last short address is 127 and the first long address is 128. There are manufacturers which have another view. Lenz CS, for example, have considered addresses long from 100. If you want to change to that mode, do:

#define HIGHEST_SHORT_ADDR 99

If you want to run all your locos addressed long format, you could even do

#define HIGHEST_SHORT_ADDR 0

DCC-EX does not support using the same address, for example 100(long) and 100(short) at the same time, therefore there must be a border.

Redefine locomotive state table size

This is the maximum number of locos that can be controlled at the same time. This defaults to 50 (8 on a UNO/NANO). If you have enough free memory you can increase this to a maximum of 255. If you are short of memory (typically a Mega with WiFi and lots of accessories) you can decrease it to a minimum of 2.

#define MAX_LOCOS 100

Define TURNOUTS and ACCESSORIES to follow norm RCN-213

According to norm RCN-213 a DCC packet with a 1 is closed-straight and one with a 0 is thrown-diverging. In DCC++ Classic, and in previous versions of DCC++EX, a turnout throw command was implemented in the packet as '1' and a close command as '0'. The #define below makes the states match with the norm. But we don't want to cause havoc on existent layouts, so we define this only for new installations. If you don't want this, don't add it to your config.h.

#define DCC_TURNOUTS_RCN_213

By default, the driver which defines a DCC accessory decoder does send out the same state change on the DCC packet as it receives. This means a VPIN state=1 sends D=1 (close turnout or signal green) in the DCC packet. This can be reversed if necessary.

#define HAL_ACCESSORY_COMMAND_REVERSE

If you have issues with that the direction of the accessory commands is reversed (for example when converting from another CS to DCC-EX) then you can use this to reverse the sense of all accessory commands sent over DCC-EX. This #define likewise inverts the behaviour of the <a> command for triggering DCC Accessory Decoders, so that <a addr subaddr 0> generates a DCC packet with D=1 (close turnout) and <a addr subaddr 1> generates D=0 (throw turnout).

#define DCC_ACCESSORY_COMMAND_REVERSE

Handling multiple serial throttles

The command station always operates with the default Serial port. Diagnostics are only emitted on the default serial port and not broadcast. Other serial throttles may be added to the Serial1...Serial6 ports which may or may not exist on your CPU (Mega has 3, CSB1 has 1, and STM32 have up to 6.). To monitor a throttle on one or more serial ports, supply a #define for each serial port required.

NOTE: DO NOT define here the WiFi shield serial port or your Wifi will not work.

// SERIAL1 in use by Wifi
#define SERIAL2_COMMANDS
#define SERIAL3_COMMANDS
#define SERIAL4_COMMANDS
#define SERIAL5_COMMANDS
#define SERIAL6_COMMANDS

Bluetooth serial ON ESP32

On ESP32 you have the possibility to use the builtin BT serial to connect to the CS.

The CS shows up as a pairable BT Classic device. Name is "DCCEX-hexnumber". BT is as an additional serial port, debug messages are still sent over USB, not BT serial.

If you enable this there are some implications:

  1. WiFi will sleep more (as WiFi and BT share the radio). So WiFi performance may suffer
  2. The app will be bigger that 1.2MB, so the default partition scheme will not work any more. You need to choose a partition scheme with 2MB (or bigger). For example "NO OTA (2MB APP, 2MB SPIFFS)" in the Arduino IDE.
  3. There is no securuity (PIN) implemented. Everyone in radio range can pair with your CS.
#define SERIAL_BT_COMMANDS

Booster input pin on ESP32 CS

On ESP32 you have the possibility to define a pin as booster input

Arduino pin D2 is GPIO 26 is Booster Input on ESPDuino32

#define BOOSTER_INPUT 26

GPIO 32 is Booster Input on EX-CSB1

#define BOOSTER_INPUT 32

ESP32 LED Wifi Indicator

GPIO 2 on ESPduino32

#define WIFI_LED 2

GPIO 33 on EX-CSB1

#define WIFI_LED 33

SABERTOOTH

This is a very special option and only useful if you happen to have a Sabertooth motor controller from Dimension Engineering configured to take commands from and ESP32 via serial at 9600 baud from GPIO17 (TX) and GPIO16 (RX, currently unused).

The number defined is the DCC address for which speed controls are sent to the sabertooth controller as_well. Default: Undefined.

#define SABERTOOTH 1

Tuning for deprecated UNO/NANO

By default VDPY and DIAGs are disabled on a Uno/Nano to reduce PROGMEM and RAM requirements.

They can be re-enebled if you have space by the commands.

It is also possible to save RAM using the MAX_LOCOS setting less than the default 8.

#define ENABLE_VDPY
#define ENABLE_DIAG
#define MAX_LOCOS 4