The Train Experimenter Shield (TES) consists of a circuit board (an Arduino Uno Shield) and software that runs on an Arduino Uno (a Sketch). These two components work together to receive Lionel Legacy commands being broadcast in an RF signal by a Lionel Legacy #990 Command Set or equivalent. This RF broadcast is known as the Lionel TrackLink protocol. The TES ultimate reference is, of course, the TES User Manual.

The Train Actuator Shield (TAS) is a companion to the Train Experimenter Shield (TES) but does NOT require a TES for operation. It is simply an Arduino Uno Shield and can be used without the TES. The TAS receives control signals from the Arduino Digital Output Pins. Remember, the TAS does not provide power – it only acts as a switch and connects or disconnects external power. The TAS ultimate reference is, of course, the TAS User Manual.

Both TES & TAS are designed for the Arduino Uno (or clones).

There are several versions of the Train Actuator Shield (TAS) but all are generic Arduino Uno Shields which can be used for anything you want (such as home automation). No trains are required.

All work with a Sketch running in the attached Arduino Uno to act like a mechanical switch, turning on/off connected voltage. Note, however, only the TAS Relay works with DC voltage. All other TAS use triacs for switching and can only control AC voltage.

Advantages of the TAS Relay:

1. Can control both AC & DC voltage

2. LED indication of activation

Disadvantages of the TAS Relay:

1. The relays are physically too tall (more than 15mm above the PCB) to accommodate stacking another Arduino Shield on top.  Be aware that the TAS Relay must be the top Shield in a stack.

2. Engaging the relay coils takes a fair amount of power and some Arduino clones may not be able to handle such power demands.

See the Purchasing Catalog and TAS User Manual for complete information.

First, let me say there is a tremendous amount of incorrect information on the Internet about this topic. Second, the TrackLink design is very clever. I would love to meet the original designers. Anyway, half the transmitted signal is imposed on the house wiring and the other half is applied to the track. This creates a dipole transmission antenna (although a somewhat asymmetric one). That means, with respect to all TrackLink receivers (my TES included), half the signal is conducted (by the track) and half the signal is radiated (from the house wiring). The various train commands are encoded in a serial stream modulated onto a 455 kHz carrier. All radio waves travel at the speed of light, so lower frequency signals have longer wavelengths. The wavelength of the 455 kHz carrier is around 1/3 of a mile, so the two-inch antenna on my board is pretty insignificant. It is only the miracle of electronic amplification that allows the receiver reception to work.

For decades users have had legendary and historic problems diagnosing Lionel command reception problems on their layouts. So, unlike any other Lionel TrackLink receiver on the market, my TES provides a small signal strength bar graph to help the user.

The signal strength received by the TES can be affected by many things. Firstly, as with all electronics, there is some natural variation in the components and assembly of the TES. All TES, however, are tested and verified to comply with minimum operational standards before they are shipped. The received signal strength can further vary with the natural differences of the power of your Lionel transmitter, the quality of the wiring in your layout, metal or other blockage of the transmitted signal, etc. In short, any number of things can affect the signal received by your TES. BUT... every few seconds the LED bar graph updates to tell you what the board is seeing in near real time.

The TES User Manual has additional information about the Lionel TrackLink Signal Strength and archiving the real time signal strength in Arduino non-volatile memory for later examination.

Finally, see the Demo Video, "About That Received Signal Strength" for more information.

Genuine Arduino Uno and clones can have dramatically different power capabilities and demands. I’ve seen power consumption range from 20mA to 60mA while running my program on various Uno versions. In addition, the Arduino can receive power from several sources with various maximum limits. This gets complicated fast. See, “More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Arduino Uno Power” in the TAS User Manual.

Static Electricity is the enemy of the TES and of all electronics. Before touching the TES or TAS or Arduino board make sure you discharge any static electricity you may have accumulated. Also make sure all power has been turned off before connecting or disconnecting wires.

The TES Arduino Uno Sketch

The following instructions are written based on the "Arduino IDE 2.3.2" (but should help for many versions).

Step 0: Reminder. This Sketch only runs on the Arduino Uno (and most clones).
Step 1: Download the software zip file, 'TES_Sketch.zip'.

Step 2: Unzip the file in a convenient directory, perhaps "Downloads". This will create the folder "TES_Sketch". You will notice "TES_Sketch" contains the following:

• TES.zip - The main source code project module

• MF_ACTION.zip - My "mini operating system" library

• MF_EEPROM.zip - My Arduino Uno EEPROM management library

• MF_SignalStrength.zip - My Signal Strength units conversion library

• MF_TrackLink.zip - My Lionel TrackLink reception library

• TES_basics.zip - Generic definitions of project symbols

Step 3: Move TES.zip to the directory where you do Arduino development and unzip it. This will create the folder 'TES'. Inside this folder will be 'TES.ino'. You can delete TES.zip after this.
Step 4: Double click on 'TES.ino'. Your Arduino IDE should start. Fix that if it doesn't.
Step 5: In the IDE, go to Sketch > Include Library > Add .ZIP Library... and add from "TES_Sketch" each of the zipped libraries. You will have to do this five (5) times; once for each of:

MF_ACTIONS.zip
MF_EEPROM.zip
MF_SignalStrength.zip
MF_TrackLink.zip
TES_basics.zip

Step 6: Verify all the above libraries are installed. TES_basics is not a library. It is an include file needed by all the subsystems. Go to Sketch > Include Library and scroll down the list. There should be several libraries that start with, "Mike Ficco". You should see all those listed above plus perhaps others if you have installed additional Sketches authored by me.
Step 7: Set the board to Arduino Uno (Tools > Board > Arduino Uno) and build the program. It really should build with no problem. If it doesn't, use your Arduino skills to figure out what went wrong.
Step ∞: You can delete "TES_Sketch". It is not needed after the libraries are installed.

The TAS Arduino Uno Sketch

The following instructions are written based on the "Arduino IDE 2.3.2" (but should help for many versions).

Step 0: Reminder. This Sketch only runs on the Arduino Uno (and most clones).
Step 1: Download the software zip file, 'TAS.zip'.

Step 2: This Sketch has no libraries, so simply move TAS.zip to the directory where you do Arduino development and unzip it. This will create the folder 'TAS'. Inside this folder will be 'TAS.ino'. You can delete TAS.zip after this.
Step 3: Double click on 'TAS.ino'. Your Arduino IDE should start. Fix that if it doesn't.
Step 4: Set the board to Arduino Uno (Tools > Board > Arduino Uno) and build the program. It really should build with no problem. If it doesn't, use your Arduino skills to figure out what went wrong.

The IR Experimenter Arduino Uno Sketch

The following instructions are written based on the "Arduino IDE 2.3.2" (but should help for many versions).

Step 0: Reminder. This Sketch only runs on the Arduino Uno (and most clones).
Step 1: Download the software zip file, 'IRExp_Sketch.zip'.

Step 2: Unzip the file in a convenient directory, perhaps "Downloads". This will create the folder "IRExp_Sketch". You will notice "IRExp_Sketch" contains the following:

• IRExp.zip - The main source code project module

• MF_IR.zip - My library that receives and interprets data from the infrared sensor

• MF_LCSCMD.zip - My library that generates Lionel LCS commands for Engines, Switches, and Accessories

Step 3: Move IRExp.zip to the directory where you do Arduino development and unzip it. This will create the folder 'IRExp'. Inside this folder will be 'IRExp.ino'. You can delete IRExp.zip after this.
Step 4: Double click on 'IRExp.ino'. Your Arduino IDE should start. Fix that if it doesn't.
Step 5: In the IDE, go to Sketch > Include Library > Add .ZIP Library... and add from "IRExp_Sketch" each of the zipped libraries. You will have to do this two (2) times; once for each of:

MF_IR.zip
MF_LCSCMD.zip

Step 6: Verify the above libraries are installed. Go to Sketch > Include Library and scroll down the list. There should be libraries that start with, "Mike Ficco". You should see those listed above plus perhaps others if you have installed additional Sketches authored by me.
Step 7: Set the board to Arduino Uno (Tools > Board > Arduino Uno) and build the program. It really should build with no problem. If it doesn't, use your Arduino skills to figure out what went wrong.
Step ∞: You can delete "IRExp_Sketch". It is not needed after the libraries are installed.

See the Shop page on this site. For more information, see the Purchasing Catalog.