Electronics – BTB Blog

No strings attached!
Dead Rail Prototype Project

January 21, 2018 MB_BLOG_HOST

I stumbled across the topic of radio controlled model trains, powered by onboard batteries several times in recent years. Especially within the 0-scale narrow gauge community there seems to be a growing interested in this kind of operation. As there are no ready to run train sets available at the time, “Dead Rail”- as the experts call it, is for tinkers who like to experiment. Well, that for sure triggered my curiosity and I started my own little Dead Rail…

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Arduino powered
Signal Controller
Part 1/8 – An Introduction

March 4, 2017 MB_BLOG_HOST

Since moving back to Europe I did not occupy some space for a model train set yet. What to do for the avid model railroader lacking a layout? Well armchair-modelrailroadign os one option but I look forward to some “Teppichbahning” (“Carpet Train-ing” – German model railroader slang for “running trains on the floor) as well as toying around with electronics. After years of neglecting programming and HW design I went back and looked at the options available today. I…

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Picture of the day
Bolack Electromechanical Museum

July 28, 2016 MB_BLOG_HOST

One never knows what the next day will bring and the the Bolack Electromechanical Museum in Farmington NM is definitely a pleasant surprise on this tour- especially for a dedicated engineer like me. The museum is located at the B-Square Ranch, a private wildlife refuge, working farm and home of two museums established by Tom and Tommy Bolack. The collection occupies three large halls as well as considerable outdoor space. Besides of the (most likely) largest collection of pintype glass insulators in…

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A DIY signal generator

May 16, 2016 MB_BLOG_HOST

After having a lot of fun building the digital oscilloscope from a kit I decided to tackle a signal generator kit next . This makes a perfect match for the scope and will be useful checking circuitry. The design is centered around a “classic” ATMEGA16 μC paired with a common OpAmp to boost the signal and a two line LCD with some push buttons as user interface. Somehow this reminds me of a typical project for student at a technical college and the…

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