Hardware

• Decoders
• DCC Track Wiring Information
• Power Supplies

• Microcontroller Boards
• Default Pin/VPin Allocations and Recommendations
• Supported Motor Drivers
• WiFi Boards
• Ethernet Boards
• Supported Bluetooth Devices
• I2C Hardware
• Accessory Controllers

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Microcontroller List

Type / Brand	R e c o m m e n d e d	S u p p o r t e d	Level	Shield Format	HAL / I2C	E E P R O M	EX- RAIL Sup- port	Track Man- ager Sup- port	D C Sup- port	W i F i	Wifi # Con- nect- ions [9]	Comments / Notes
EX-CSB1	Yes	Yes	Conductor	UNO / Mega	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	~11	This is our stable, well supported platform
Arduino Mega2560	Yes	Yes	Conductor	UNO / Mega	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [2]	yes [1]	4	This is our stable, well supported platform
ESP32-WROOM	Yes	Yes	Tinkerer	-	Yes [5]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes [2]	Yes	~11	Inexpensive and includes both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, limited in I/O pins
STM32 Nucleo	Yes	Yes	Tinkerer	-	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes [2] [4]	Yes [1] [4]	4	Lots of memory and 32 bit architecture, still in the convenient Uno form factor but with more I/O pins
Arduino Uno R3	No	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	No	Yes	Limit- ed [3]	No	No [2]	No	-	Ok for small layouts with no programming, or a dedicated programmer with JMRI
Arduino Uno R4	-	No	-									Different architecture to the R3. Will never be supported.
Arduino Nano	No	Yes	Tinkerer	-	No	Yes	Limit- ed [3]	No	No [2]	No	-	Similar to Uno, but without the convenient Uno footprint
Arduino Mega+WiFi	No [6]	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [2]	Yes	4	This is our stable, well supported platform, but with WiFi on board, but beware quality issues
SAMD21	No	Dep- re- cat- ed [7] [8]	Engineer	-	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No [2]	Yes [1]	4	Limited support only, will be removed in 6.0.0
Nano Every	No	Dep- re- cat- ed [7]	Engineer	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No [2]	Yes [1]	4	Limited support only, will be removed in 6.0.0
Teensy	No	Dep- re- cat- ed [7]	Engineer	-	Yes [5]	Yes	Yes	No	No [2]	Yes [1]	4	Limited support only, will be removed in 6.0.0

[1] (1,2,3,4,5)

Requires an additional Ethernet or WiFi shield

[2] (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9)

Requires a supported motor driver that supports TrackManager

[3] (1,2)

Limited EXRAIL scripts are possible only when disabling EEPROM and programming

[4] (1,2)

Features and support in Beta testing can and will change regularly, be sure to keep up to date with developments on our Discord server

[5] (1,2)

HAL/I²C connectivity is only available via the blocking Arduino Wire library at present

[6]

While the Mega+WiFi boards seem like a good option and are based on our well-known, stable Mega2560 platform, there are many reports of quality issues with these, so buyer beware, and use of these is not recommended

[7] (1,2,3)

The core development team no longer have access to these, and testing is limited to ensuring the software compiles for the board type

[8]

The core Arduino library has a bug affecting serial console output which can be patched but renders the device unsuited for future development until fixed in the main Arduino core library for SAMD21

[9]

Direct WiFi connections. If connected via JMRI, more are are supported

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Motor Board List

Type / Brand	R e c o m m e n d e d	S u p p o r t e d	Com- fort Level	For- mat	S t a c k a b l e	Short Cir- cuit Pro- tect- ion	Cur- rent Sen- se [10]	DC Sup- port	No. Out- puts / Tra- cks	Max Amps [11]	Comments / Notes
DCC-EX EX-MotorShield8874 RevA	Yes	Yes	Conductor	UNO / Mega	Yes [12]	Yes	Yes	Yes	2	5
Arduino Motor Shield R3 [13] [14]	Yes	Yes	Conductor	UNO / Mega	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	2	1.3 - 1.5
Deek-Robot Motor Shield [14]	Yes	Yes	Conductor	UNO / Mega	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	2	1.3 - 1.5
Flashtree Motor Shield	No	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	2	1.3 - 1.5
DIY More L298NH	No	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	2	2
YFRobot L298P	No	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	No	No	No	No	2	2
L298N (dual)	No	Yes	Engineer		No	No	No	No	2	2	It doesn’t have current sense
Dual Module H-bridge MOSFET IRF3205	No	Yes	Tinkerer		No	No	No	No	2	15
Pololu MC33926	No	Yes	Tinkerer	UNO / Mega	No	No	No	No	2	3	current sense is not acceptable. We recommend using an external current sense board like the MAX471
MiniIBT L6201P (single)	No	Yes	Tinkerer		No	No	?	No	1	5
BTS7960 IBT_2 (single)	No	Yes	Tinkerer		No	No	?	No	1	43
Keyes/Fundumoto (“Beeper Board”)	No	Yes	Engineer	UNO / Mega	No	Yes [13]	Yes [13]	No	2	2
Makerfabs H-Bridge	No	Yes	Engineer		No	No	No	No	2	8
Velleman KA03/VMA03	No	Yes	Engineer		No	No	No	No	2	2
DFRobot 2x2A DC Motor Shield (DRI0009)	No	Yes	Engineer	UNO / Mega	No	No	No	No	2	2
VNH2SP30 - SparkFun Monster Moto and others	-	No	-								Does not work. It can’t switch fast enough to generate a reliable DCC signal
IFX9202ED - Infineon Dual H-Bridge	-	No	-								Does not work. Can’t switch fast enough.
DFRobot Romeo V2	-	No	Engineer	-							Well, an Engineer could perhaps get this one to work.
Kuman Board (and any L293D based boards)	-	No	-								Does not work. Not enough current.
Pololu TB9051FTG based motor shield	-	No	-								Does not work. It can’t switch fast enough to generate a reliable DCC signal

[10]

CV Programming

[11]

Per output

[12]

Requires modification of the board to stack the second board

[13] (1,2,3)

Requires modification of the board to support Current Sense

[14] (1,2)

The Arduino Motor Shield R38 and the Deek-Robot Motor Shield are interchangeably referred to in this documentation as the standard motor driver