Railway hobby friend Erik Holewijn came with the idea to add sound to the Arduino Function / Servo decoder. And moreover ... he had already made the Windows PC software to make it possible!

In a joint effort we shared some ideas and worked them out together. We're proud to present here ... the combined Arduino DCC Function / Servo / Sound Decoder with accompanying PC sound software.



The Arduino DCC decoder can:
• Control digital outputs (max 16)
• Control servo motors (max 12)
• Control playback of sounds on a PC that is connected via USB

With every function, one of 3 available modes can be selected:
1. Continu
2. One shot
3. Flasher (with 2 alternnating outputs)

Start and stop of a function can be delayed for a specified time. This makes it easy to create e.g. railway crossing, where the barrier should only start to move down some time after the lights and sound went on.

You do not need to be a software expert to create your own function decoder. All that is needed is to configure the functions, the servos and the sounds. It's all explained in the User Manual.

The software and the User Manual will be available for download on the blog, as soon as it has had it's final touch.


Here's a video of the railway crossing, with some outdoor sounds.



..

In a joint project with Erik Holewijn, the sketch for the Arduino DCC Function Servo Sound decoder and the accompanying Windows PC DCCSound software has been released this weekend.

It is available for download over here.

After downloading, unzip the file and you should end up with an Arduino folder, a DCCSound folder and a User Manual that explains how to get it working.

A movie that shows the possibilities is available in this blog post.

Hello Rudy,

i use your projects for my railroad and all i can say.... GREAT WORK ans many thx.

When compiling or uploading your DCC_Decoder software, chances are you may get an error that talks about ‘prog_char’. This happens with the Arduino PC software later than version 1.6. Reason is that the 'prog_char' command has been deprecated, while it was used multiple times in the Mynabay library. In the mean time the library software has been updated. The download links now contain the new version:

DOWNLOAD: DCC Servo & Function Decoder with PC Sound Software
DOWNLOAD: separate DCC Function Decoder and DCC Servo Decoder

Many thanks to Adam Whitehouse who modified the library and to Nico Teering who did some testing. As always … guarantee up to the door.

More info on the Arduino DCC-Decoder on the blog.