Electrocoupler Driver for Blunami Controller - Updated Gerbers

Karl,

Thank you so much for posting this information. You The Man!!!

I took Karl's design and shrunk it using surface mount to be .65" x .93" x .25" thick so it would fit in small spaces.

John,

Since your J2 is 2pin, you’re firing both couplers at the same time?

@Trainmstr posted:

John,

Since your J2 is 2pin, you’re firing both couplers at the same time?

Nope, the function outputs are only one wire, they share the common DC ground which is already accounted for with the power input connection.  I just didn't provide the extra ground connection as I didn't see the need.

Another check for the Blunami experience. It's getting harder and harder to ignore haha

Well, now that they're moving to strictly smart devices for the mainstream, the Blunami decoders are starting to look pretty attractive.  The ERR stuff is getting a bit out of hand price-wise now, sound and command are knocking on the door to $300!

@Trainmstr posted:

John,

Since your J2 is 2pin, you’re firing both couplers at the same time?

I used the 3-pin connector not because the common was needed, but to distinguish it from the 2-pin connectors, lest I plug things into the wrong slots in haste.  John used different 2-pins for the input and output connections, being more clever than I and having more parts on hand.

@BillYo414 posted:

Another check for the Blunami experience. It's getting harder and harder to ignore haha

Agreed. Unfortunately though it only really helps with the process of evaluating it.  Overcoming almost 30 years of inertia will be difficult to accomplish, but we may be forced to do it.

• Some of us will try installing Blunami in place of TMCC/Legacy, DCS, or conventional control.
• Some of us will like it as a result and then convert most or all of our collection.
• It will be a long time though before it becomes commonly accepted in place of the existing proprietary command control, because for non-tinkerers it's expensive to do a conversion, in the cost of the parts but also in the cost of the labor required to install; and because we seem to have more of these kinds of folks in the O Gauge realm than in the other gauges.
• Finally, it will be a long, long, long, long time before everything presently fitted with proprietary command control of any sort gets converted, if ever.  (I remember, back when TMCC was introduced, that folks actively thought about converting everything Lionel, and Williams, Weaver, etc. as well, ever made to TMCC.  It never happened of course; with good reason.)

It may very well be that all the non-command locomotives, nearly 125 years worth, will have to keep the hobby alive if we can't collectively sort this out.  Increasingly-fragmented command control probably won't die, but it could lose out due to availability, complexity, and cost concerns.

Mike

John,

Can you provide a component list? How difficult is it to solder surface mount components? Can it be done with a standard soldering pencil or is specific equipment required? This is coming from a non-electronics guy, I’ve done Ps2conversion kits but that’s it, even then I was surprised I didn’t smoke it.

It's possible to solder with a standard soldering iron, I use the Hakko FS-888D soldering station.  As for the difficulty, I typically design for easy of assembly like lots of room around the components, and I limit myself to components that I can easily handle.

My technique for soldering simple SMT parts is to put a dab of solder on one pad, and align the part with that tab while heating it with the iron.  Once that dab of solder aligns the part with the pads, I make sure it's flush with the board and then solder the other connections.  A small pair of tweezers is my main weapon for aligning parts.

If an 80 year old guy can solder up this board, most folks that can solder can probably build a simple SMT board.  There are only eight surface mount components on the EC driver board, the connectors are all thru-hole parts.

Attached are the files needed to build the SMT version.

Blunami EC Interface 1.0_gerber.zip

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Agreed. Unfortunately though it only really helps with the process of evaluating it.  Overcoming almost 30 years of inertia will be difficult to accomplish, but we may be forced to do it.

...

It may very well be that all the non-command locomotives, nearly 125 years worth, will have to keep the hobby alive if we can't collectively sort this out.  Increasingly-fragmented command control probably won't die, but it could lose out due to availability, complexity, and cost concerns.

Mike

As I've noted before, there's no substantial reason to convert DCS, Legacy, or TMCC locos to Blunami control.  As for PS-1 and DCRU "conventional" locos, that's a different matter.  Personal preference as to control surface and overall cost are the major decision drivers.  It's the 1990s components of my loco fleet that are being converted to Blunami - and then not all of them.  From my perspective, it's just another tool in the kit.

I agree with Karl, I'm not considering any command stuff for conversion.  However, conventional locomotives in the stable are certainly game for the upgrade.

I agree that the most applicable candidates for a control system upgrade are conventional locos. Most of my many upgrades to various systems were conventional locos with one exception, a LionChief. The one reason to reconsider this rule would be if you want to switch to battery power.

Well, with LC/LC+/LC+ 2.0, the switch to battery power is as simple as feeding the battery in the AC inputs since all of those run fine on DC using Bluetooth!  I did an battery powered LC+, it was a piece of cake.  I even made it dual/power, track or battery.

Caught me. Forgot about the LionChief exception which I took advantage of as well. My battery powered LionChief was described in the June 2019 Lionel Collectors Club magazine. It's still running very nicely.

@BOB WALKER posted:

Caught me. Forgot about the LionChief exception which I took advantage of as well. My battery powered LionChief was described in the June 2019 Lionel Collectors Club magazine. It's still running very nicely.

Yep, probably the easiest battery conversion possible, even a cave man could do it!

Here's my rendition of a shrink version of the EC driver for the Blunami.  Using surface mount components, it came out to be 5/8" x 7/8" and about 1/4" high including components.  Obviously, the mating connectors will make it a bit taller.

I used 8 amp Darlington transistors for robustness.

@KarlDL posted:

A description of the card is attached, along with the pertinent Gerber PCB files.

Karl, I looked at your Gerber Files, and you don't have any drill file, hence that board could not be built from the files you posted.

OSHPark spits it out with this error.

Drill files added to original post.  I'm new to PCB fab files.

Karl & John,

l had six boards made of Karl’s design and purchased all the components Karl recommended. I have never “built” a board. I have a Hakko FX-600 pencil iron. My question is do I bend & insert all the components then solder from the back side? Does the board & components need to be pre-tinned? What temp should I set the iron? Leave the leads long and snip after soldering? What’s the best tip to use on the iron?

Thanks

@Trainmstr posted:

Karl & John,

l had six boards made of Karl’s design and purchased all the components Karl recommended. I have never “built” a board. I have a Hakko FX-600 pencil iron. My question is do I bend & insert all the components then solder from the back side? Does the board & components need to be pre-tinned? What temp should I set the iron? Leave the leads long and snip after soldering? What’s the best tip to use on the iron?

Thanks

I'm curious how you got them made without the drill file?

I use 550F for most thru-hole work, and 500F for SMT components.  For virtually all the work I do with the soldering station, I use a needle-point tip.

Insert the shortest components and solder them from the other side, that repeat with the next size.  I typically keep the boards in a panel and build a bunch at the same time if I can, makes it go faster.  You do not have to pre-tin components or the board, at least not in my experience.  Trying to tin the board or components would crease all sorts of issues!  Yes, solder the leads, then trim them.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm curious how you got them made without the drill file?

He may have used the KiCAD file I sent him, which OSHPark will import directly - no Gerbers needed.

I generally stuff the interior parts of the PCB first, solder them, and then add the outer ones.  Going from shorter to longer leads is also useful.  For these boards, be sure to stuff and solder the sockets, if you use them, before the TIP125 transistors.

Thanks for the quick and thorough responses.

@KarlDL posted:

He may have used the KiCAD file I sent him, which OSHPark will import directly - no Gerbers needed.

Makes sense, I couldn't figure how he did it.

FWIW, DIPTRACE generates a ZIP file with all the Gerbers and drill file in one step, very convenient.

Gerber files in original post have been updated to r3 version, corresponding to the pictured compact PCB.  The earlier r1 files were for a larger PCB that poses greater mounting challenges.

In case anyone wants to build the SMT version, here's the build data.

Blunami EC Interface 1.0_gerber.zip

Gunrunnerjohn, is there a place where I could buy a made board from you or someone else? Im not entirely sure what to do with these files you guys are sharing, but would love to install working electro couplers in my blunami conversions. Thanks!

You could see if you can find someone that will assemble them for you, truthfully, I just don't have the time to start building these.

Bare boards can be had from a number of sources, depending on how many boards you intend to build.  All the information and files you need to build them are in my post.  It does make a nice compact package to to the job.