Silicon Junction - What's New

I have dusted off my old N scale layout and resumed my work on the DCC command station.

Added xmlobj, which is a small collection of classes that allows an XML document to be used to load an object tree and vice versa. The mapping between the XML file and the object tree is done using a config XML file. A simple example followed by a more complicated one is described.

I built a system based on a PIC communicating with a java front-end on a PC through a serial port. It captures IR signals from remotes and displays the waveform. The results are in an analysis of IR signals along with details of the remote control signals I have analysed(JVC, Sony, Thomson).

I also added the javascript based menu you should see on the left side of the window.

Resuming my work on the DCC project, I plan on how programming can be implemented on the command station. A description of implementing service mode has also been added.

I added a section describing how I used transition curves on my new layout.

Recovering from eye surgery, I had a bit of time on my hands. I started building a new N scale layout to sit on top of a wall unit.

The page layout has been revamped. It uses frames along with all its attendant idiosyncrasies.

Description of a protocol to connect several PICs together has been added. I have also described an approach for computer control of a turntable.

I've added some pages on simulating the motion of a human body using java and VRML2.

Dying to use my new toy(an AcerScan 610Plus scanner), I scanned images of my first attempt at making a PCB and my Accessory Decoder PCB. The images appear in the relevant pages.

A week's break between jobs has allowed me to spend some time on my N scale layout. This gave me enough material to flesh out my description of the layout construction.

A PIC interface to a vacuum fluorescent display has been added. This page also debuts a Java applet to show timing diagrams generated from a trace file from MPSIM(DOS).

Details of a PIC 16C84 based IR receiver which receives Sony remote control signals and sends them on an RS-232 port have been added. The PIC source is also available and the listing has been produced by the ASM to HTML converter.

A baby boy is born to me and my wife Pradnya at 4:38 PM. He weighed 8 lbs and has been named RISHIK meaning the virtuous one!

A section on a Java program that makes an HTML file out of a PIC assembly file has been added.

A section on a preliminary design of a DCC turnout decoder has been added. A description of my attempts to fit a Lenz decoder into a Fleischman loco can be found here.

A section on using Microsoft Excel to generate stimulus files for MPSIM has been added. A section on a couple of VB programs to display MPSIM trace files like scope traces has been added.

Several pages outlining a DCC based system have been added. Two sample spreadsheets - one for testing serial input at 1200 baud and the other for testing a DCC input are also in there.

A GIF picture for illustration and a Postscript file for the actual template have been added to the Cubic Spiral Template section.