The control of the system can take place in different ways. This makes it a bit more complicated, which can make it difficult for the newcomer to immediately realize the possibilities

Therefore, below a (brief) explanation of the different ways.

You can control in the following ways:

Independent control without external influence Independent control with e.g. the automation functions in theDC-Car decoder Independent control with influence by existing Faller Car System control components Short-range infrared control with DC-Car Function Building Blocks Short-range infrared control with a DCC central and a possibly connected PC Control by way. long-range infrared with the DCC Booster,a DCC central and possibly connected PC Control by long distance infrared with the PC transmitter and a PC with software Widigipet

1. Independent control without outside influence.

This is the simplest way to create a realistic road behavior with multiple-drivered cars. The cars can drive completely independently without external influence. Provided that the cars are correctly set with a speed difference, the cars will be able to find their way without collisions. It goes without saying that there is no security at crossings and we are considering steering without outside influence.

2. Independent control with e.g.v. the automation functions in the DC-Car decoder.

If you want more variety and certain vehicles to perform functions independently, you can use the built-in automatic functions such as bus stop automation or fire brigade automation. For this, the vehicle in question must be provided with the HG1 Hallsensor option. By means of two magnets, which are hidden in the road surface, the functions are put in place. At the bus stop, this means that when passing the honorable magnet, the right direction indicators are on and the speed is lowered. When passing the second magnet, the bus stops during a time programmed in the decoder. After the entanglement of this time, the left direction indicators turn on and the bus will leave again. The fire department automation works in a similar way. Of course, these automations can also be used for other vehicles such as a garbage truck or a courier service.

However, do you already have a Faller Car System track which is equipped with the well-known FCS control components such as eg. the stop coil then we come to the following possibility:

3. Independent control with influence by existing Faller Car System control components.

The operation is as outlined above however by using the standard Faller socket and circuits, which activate the reed contact in the car, we can affect the cars. The braking is abrupt, but the brake lights light up. The pull-up is delayed by the decoder. If a car is stationary on a stop coil, the rear traffic will stop behind the predecessor by the Anti Collision System. If the predecessor goes away, the traffic behind it will also pull up neatly one by one, as it actually does

This already gives a realistic road traffic it can be even better….

4. Steering by short-range infrared and DC-Car Function Building Block.

The cars are equipped with infrared receivers at the front as standard. These receivers "look" forward to see if there is a predecessor and at what speed it is controlled.

Through these infrared receivers it is also possible to use infrared transmitters (LEDs) to command the cars. These LEDs must be placed within the range of the receivers. This can easily be done on the side of the road in parked cars, road marking bollards, bins, etc. The range of the receivers is several centimeters.

Claus Ilchman has developed a Function Building Block that broadcasts the DCC commands for certain functions. In this way, we can turn on the direction indicators at a certain location, reduce the speed or operate another desired function. The function is independent of the address of the car and therefore applies to every car. By means of circuits, the IR transmitter LEDs can be switched on or not so that commands can be selected. The road behaviour is extremely realistic because the Anti Collision System is fully exploited. The cars can slow down (by sending different speed commands) and pull up slowly (also adjustable by CVs.>

5. Short-range infrared control with a DCC power plant and a possibly connected PC.

It goes a step further with the direct control from a DCC power station such as eg. Intellibox. With the DC-Car System, this can already be done with an investment of only a few Euros. Through the infrared LEDs, on the side of the road, through a resistance and a diode on the rails output of eg. to connect the Intellibox, it becomes possible to control the cars addressed, so individually. This makes it possible to control the speed and functions via the DCC central. The cars react like locomotives or train sets. And can therefore also be operated simultaneously in a mix of train and car. It will be clear that we have to choose different addresses for the cars than for the traction material on the track.

However, this way of steering does involve a problem around the corner. A DC-Car decoder can receive conflicting orders in this way of guidance. For example, a vehicle in front allows the speed to decrease while the DCC power plant might then just indicate speed increase. The signal from the vehicle in front is given priority in this case. This means that the car can no longer be operated via the DCC power station.>

In this way of steering, it is also possible to have a PC connected to the DCC centrally controlled PC steer the road traffic. Totally super yet….!!

6. Steering by long-range infrared and DCC Central.

Even more beautiful would of course be if we could steer the cars with 1 or only a few IR diodes that are placed above the track. This would significantly simplify the construction of the system. Well, this is also possible with the optional infrared receiver TSOP7000 that is built into the cars.

Why another IR receiver if one is already built in by default, you might wonder. Well, that's what you can explain:

The standard IR receiver works with an unencrypted signal. Infrared light is light with a certain wavelength and also occurs in nature in the form of sunlight or light from a.o. Fluorescent tubes and (halogen) lamps. These light sources therefore act as a kind of jammer for the standard IR receivers. That's why the range of these IR receivers is only short. And that's exactly what's needed for the application as anti collision system in our model cars. However, this also shows that direct sunlight or a strong light source a short distance from our car can throw traffic into the food. Steering with an unencrypted signal over a longer distance is therefore not recommended.

By using now encrypted/modulated IR signal, as is also the case with the remote control of your TV set, we can significantly increase the range. After all, your remote control of the TV also works over a considerable distance and also has little problem with ambient light. Well, the TSOP7000 is a receiver with built-in decoder/demodulator. By building these into the cars, we will be able to drive our cars over a considerably greater distance. However…… there must be a coding/modulation of the signal because the TSOP7000 will not be able to receive and transmit our DCC commands untranslated. For this, Claus Ilchmann developed the DCC Booster. The DCC Booster encodes/modulates the DCC signal to a signal that the TSOP7000 can receive. By switching one or more special IR transmitter LEDs to the DC-Car Booster and hanging it above the model runway, we are now able to steer the cars over a range of several meters with a few IR LEDs.

In this way of steering, it is also possible to have a PC connected to the DCC central pc steer the road traffic.

It is a beautiful piece of technology that will help us as modellers.

But it can also be done without DCC central……..

7. Steering by long distance Infrared and PC with software.

Modellers who do not want to install an (expensive) DCC power station and still want to drive computer-based can use the PC transmitter.

The PC transmitter is sent directly from the PC and ensures that the signal bite is ready for the TSOP7000. The operation is similar to the method described above, however, the DCC central is "cut out" of it. The decoder works with the Infracar protocol. As a control program, Windigipet can serve from version 8.5 (free demo version for a limited number of vehicles: www.windigipet.de) or self-written programs.