LocoLinx on Arduino Duemilanove with Loconet Shield on Proto Shield

LocoLinx on Arduino Duemilanove with Loconet Shield on Proto Shield

The Arduino Duemilanove is a little bit outdated but has some advantages:

Is supports hardware handshake by CTS line
It has a real FTDI chip which means less trouble with drivers

If you do not have one at hand you can try to get a clone from ebay.

Here I will also show you a simple LocoNet Shield build on a Arduino Proto Shield.

The Arduino and the Shield in an acryl glass housing

Install Arduino IDE

Download from https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software and install.
I used Version 1.6.9 / Windows Installer.

Download LocoNet Library from MRRWA

Follow Instructions on http://mrrwa.org/download/ for download and import.

Install LbServer

Install on Windows

Download latested LbServer_0.NN_Win32_Setup.zip from https://sourceforge.net/projects/loconetovertcp/files/LbServer/, unzip and execute setup.exe.

Install on Linux

Download latested LbServer_0.NN_Source.zip from https://sourceforge.net/projects/loconetovertcp/files/LbServer/, unzip, build and execute make install. You can validate the installation by starting the help screen of LbServer with LbServer -h.

$ unzip LbServer_0.12_Source.zip
$ cd LbServer_0.12_Source/server/LbServer/
$ make
g++ -pipe -Wall -W -O2 -g -fexceptions ...
$ sudo make install
strip --strip-all Debug/LbServer -o Release/LbServer
cp Release/LbServer /usr/local/bin/
$ LbServer -h
LocoBuffer Server version 0.12.0.0, for protocol version 1, built Jul  7 2016,
released under GPL by Stefan Bormann.  Linux port by Ian Cunningham.
...
$

The Selfbuild Loconet Shield

A simple LocoNet Shield can be build by using a Proto Shield. I used the following schematic:

Schematic of Shield ([PDF Version](Loconet_Shield.sch.pdf)) — Schematic of Shield (PDF Version)

Setup Hardware

Required:

Arduino Duemilanove
(I used an original Arduino Duemilanove with ATmega328: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardDuemilanove)
Loconet Shield as descibed above.
USB Cable (Type A plug - Type B plug)
LocoNet Cable

Connect Arduino and Shield.

Connect the hardware handshake line CTS on the Arduino (X3 Pin 1) to Digital IO 9:

The connection of the hardware handshake line CTS

Connect the Arduino to your PC by USB.

Load Arduino with Sketch

Start Arduino IDE
Open Sketch:
File >> Examples >> LocoNet >> LocoLinx
Select Board
Tools >> Board >> Duemilanove or Diecimila
Connect Arduino to PC using USB-Cable
Select Port
Tools >> Port >> COM6
(port number may vary)
Upload Sketch
Sketch >> Upload
Wait until sketch has been compiled and uploaded

Test

Connect Arduino to PC using USB-Cable
Connect Shield to LocoNet (with CU)

Test on Windows

Configure LbServer
Start >> All Programs >> LocoNet over TCP >> LbServerConfig

Start LbServer
Start >> All Programs >> LocoNet over TCP >> LbServer
Connect some Clients and see if Receive and Send is working:

Test on Linux

Start LbServer from a terminal with required arguments.

Connect some Clients

$ LbServer /dev/ttyUSB0 1234 57600 true
LocoBuffer Server version 0.12.0.0, for protocol version 1, built Jul  7 2016,
released under GPL by Stefan Bormann.  Linux port by Ian Cunningham.

Loconet device port opened on /dev/ttyUSB0 with 57600 baud and CTS flow control.
TCP server started on port 1234.
Output uses single characters for increased performance:
R=received packet, .=nothing received but event was signaled :-(
s=send request, S=sent successfully, e=send error
C=client connected, D=client disconnected
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCsRSRsRSsRSsRSsRSsRSsRSsRSsRSsRSRRRRRRRsRSRsRSsRSsRSDR

Newer Versions

As of April 2023 there are newer version available of the software used. As there is a bug in the old LocoNet version so please use:

Arduino IDE version 1.8.19
MRRWA LocoNet library version 1.1.9
LbServer version 0.13

Other Resources

Dirkjan Kaper has designed the FremoLNShield:: http://nh-finescale.nl/fremo/dcc/fremo-ln-shield/FremoLNShield.html
John Plocher has also designed a nice LocoNet Shield (check pin numbers):: https://www.spcoast.com/pages/LocoShield.html
Schematic of Shield as PDF file:: Loconet_Shield.sch.pdf