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….......--- Very Inexpensive DCC Wireless Physical Throttle – Part 3 ---
….................. --- 3D Printed Housing/Platform ---
NOTE: If you came to this page from the “3D Printed Objects” page to learn more about this throttle go back to Part 1 ( HERE ).
I used Fusion 360 to design a housing/platform for the phone and USB Volume Control that could be 3D printed. It was fairly quick and easy to design but the print time for the 3 prints was about 15 hours total using the Ender 3 Pro set on standard print quality. While the printer was doing the first print I made the wooden platform for the phone and USB Volume Controller shown on the two preceding pages. I'm happy with those results and if I didn't have a printer the project would of stopped there.
But I do have a printer (highly recommend getting one) so finished the 3 prints and put together the housing/platform shown on this page. Love the outcome. It is clean, looks good, easy to hold and works even better than I thought it would. I'm as happy with it as I was with the wireless DCC throttle that I used at one of the club layouts in Phoenix that I visited when I got back in the hobby a couple years ago.
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I used the 1/4” long screws shown above to mount the top to the sides and 3/8” #4 screws to mount the bottom to the sides.
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It is easy to get the circuit board for the USB Volume Control out of its case. Pull the knob off the pot shaft and remove the two side screws from the case and the nut on the pot shaft and the PCB is free to use in the 3D printed housing.
I ordered the short 6” USB cable to have less cable inside of the housing. The volume control was about $26, short cable $4 , OTG cable $5 and I also ordered a longer 6' Male/Female cable for $5 to go from a charger on a power strip to the OTG cable charging cable (top right USB male plug above).
Here are links that hopefully will stay current for a while:
USB Volume Control
Short Cable
OTG Cable
6 foot Charging Cable
I worried that the tops of the screws might interfere with the use of the Velcro and thought I might have to switch to flathead screws but they didn't. The two pieces of Velcro at each spot raised the phone above the screws. I thought also about adding more Velcro in the middle but the four pieces shown do a really good job of securely attaching the phone to the platform.
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When I got back into the hobby I got to run a wireless throttle at a club layout and knew right away that this is the way I wanted to go. The least expensive way to get into that was about $180 and that was for a throttle and a very limited DCC command station (basically the throttle). To add the items I would need for multiple throttles and a more powerful command station I would soon have over $400 invested.
Now going with DCC++EX ( Web site here ) I've got a command station with a lot of flexibility and a dedicated train room computer running JMRI and DecoderPro and the wireless throttle show above with physical throttle control for just a little over $100. Now that I have a phone throttle with good physical tactile feedback I feel I have a throttle every bit as good as the one I used at the club layout.
Click ( HERE ) or on the image above to see the throttle that was mounted on the wood platform in operation and more info about it. The throttle on this page operates in the same manner.
Again, thanks Jimmy, for the great idea and your video ( HERE ).
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The 3D print files for the case are on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ).
NOTE: I sliced the prints with Cura and set them up like in the next three images:
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The 3D print files for the case are on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ).
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Additional Info:
A question came up about using the knob with it above the phone and possible contacting the screen and toggling a function with your palm.
I haven't found that to be a problem for me. I've found that holding the throttle as show above is unnatural for me and feels awkward.
In my case, at least, it feels more natural when the throttle is at an angle. With it like that it is easy to operate the the knob (throttle/direction control) and I can also see the screen. If I want to hit a function key, for say the lights or a sound function, I remove my hand from the knob and press whichever function key is appropriate.
If you don't like the phone with …
.... the control knob at the top you have …..
….... the choice of having it on the side or ….
…. on the bottom.
Steve's EngineDriver has an auto rotate option in 'preferences' but I couldn't get it to rotate 180 degrees in the portrait mode. I did find a free Android app ( Screen Rotation Control ) that is free and quick to download that rotated the screen 180 degrees in portrait. It will rotate it to any position. Your phone might not need the app if you like the knob at the bottom.
I like the knob on the top but now that I've tried the bottom I think I'll stick with it for a while. Show me a commercial throttle that offers you these choices. One could also turn the phone around but that presents a problem with the USB cable that goes to the printed circuit board for the knob running into the knob.
The image above and the next one is of the USB Volume Controls circuit board. It is the single component under the knob. I'd thought about finding a circuit that I could put together to do the same thing but after looking at it decided that $28 for the USB Volume Control was a better routed to take as it works out of the box. Also I only really needed physical control of the throttle and don't mind doing everything else using EngineDriver's screen which can be configured in a number of different ways.
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