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What is on the tag?

The first 16 bytes of data in the tag (in what is known as block 4 in the tag memory) contains the following information (you don't need to know the numeric values shown, the Tag Programmer will set that for you correctly):


The second 16 bytes of data in the tag (in what is known as block 5 in the tag memory) contains the name of engine or car (in whatever format you care to use).

	example :      "A&S SW1200 #1208"

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The Programmer

The tag programmer uses the same Arduino/PN532 Reader as is used in the tag detection system. When you start the program, you should see this screen (although the values in each may be different as I've used this copy of the program to write data to many tags)




First, set the RFID COM port value. This is the USB COM port that was selected when you plugged the Arduino's USB cable into the PC. For my computer it is COM7.

Then press the [Connect] button.



The program connects up with the Arduino and shows its number (6) and how many RFID tag readers are attached to it.

At this point, the program is a simple tag reader. You can pass any tag over any connected reader and the program will display information about that tag:



I passed a tag from P&LE engine#1561 (my DCS engine #8) over the RFID tag reader #1 on Arduino detector board #6.

To get ready to write data to the tag, set the Detector Number and Reader Number in the spinners (in my screen shot, they are already set to 6 and 1 but that will probably not be the case on your computer).

Next, create the 16 bytes of data to be written into block 4 on the tag. Some of these fields, you can type in a number, select an item from a drop-down list or type in words. Here is what each field means:

• Not an Engine/Engine Number - set to 0 if it is a car rather than an engine otherwise set to the DCS engine number
• Tag Location - select from the drop-down list
• Engine Type - if it is an engine, select the engine type from the drop-down list
• Coupler - select from the drop-down list.
• SXS - if it is an engine, select if it has the SXS sound
• Engine/Car Model - select the model from the drop-down list
• Railroad - select the Railroad name from the drop-down list
• Length in Inches - the distance in inches between the coupler faces
• Tag Offset in Inches - the distance in inches from where you mounted the tag to the nearest couple face
• Engine/Car Number - 6 characters that represent the actual number on the side of the consist.

Then press [Write Block 4].


The program will ask you to place the tag over the tag reader (actually tag writer). When you do this, the tag will read up what ever is already programmed in it. Then press the [OK] button.

That's it.

Next create the 16 characters of Engine/Car name to be written into block 5 of that tag. Up to 16 characters and can be any characters/numbers/special characters on your keyboard.

Then press [Write Block 5].

The program will ask you to place the tag over the tag reader (actually tag writer). When you do this, the tag will read up what ever is already programmed in it. Then press the [OK] button.

When you are done, press [Disconnect] and then [Exit].

Some other features:

    [Clear Message Buffer] will clear out the Message Buffer
    [Read Block 5] will cause the tag reader to read up block 5 instead of block 4 (which is the normally done)
    [Erase Tag] will erase all of the engine/car data from the tag
    [Decode] will take the information from the last tag read and put the data into the input fields
    [x] Beep on Detection causes the program to beep each time a tag is place over a reader
    [T] places a time stamp into the Message Buffer
    Debug Level spinner causes the program to display more information as it runs.
   
    Right click in Message Buffer lets you select and save all or part of the Message Buffer

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Customizing the Tag Programmer for your Layout

You may have noticed that the dropdown lists presented by the Tag Programmer only contain selections for my layout. Well, you can customize the programmer for your layout.

The first time that you run Tag Programmer, it will create 5 files in its folder:

• CarModels.txt
• EngineModels.txt
• EngineTypes.txt
• RailroadNames.txt
• TagLocations.txt

These files contain the selections presented by the dropdown lists. Each line in each file is one selection. For example, here is the RailroadNames.txt file:

RailroadNames.txt file Unknown or other P&LE A&S NYC B&O P&E LE&E PRR NH RDG J&L Isalys LV AC ATSF AC BAR B&A BM BCR&N BN BNSF CPRR CNJ CSX CV CO CBQ MILW CGW RI CNW C&S CR D&RG D&RGW DTI EJ&E EL Erie GT GN IC LN MCR MSTL MKT MP NS OW NKP NS NW NP PC SAL SP SPSR SPSF TNO WM WP WC PRC

The first item in the file is the first selection presented in the dropdown list. Internally, it will become selection 0. Before you start programming your tags, you can edit this file (using a text editor like notepad, metapad or notepad++) to add or change railroad names.

You can do same for the other 4 files. I would suspect that you would not want to edit the EngineTypes.txt or TagLocations.txt files as they are pretty well defined (but you still can if you want to). The CarModels.txt and EngineModels.txt are good candidates for editing. Here are those files:

CarModels.txt file Unknown or other Boxcar Tank Flat Caboose Tender Gondola Coal Hopper Ore Hopper MOW Flat MOW Crane MOW Coach Observation Baggage

EngineModels.txt file Unknown or other GP38-2 GP7 GP9 U28B Berkshire Doodlebug SW1200 SW1500 0-6-0 0-8-0 2-8-0 H9 SW9 RS-3 MP15DC PCC

EngineTypes.txt file Not an Engine Diesel Steam Gas-Mechanical Gas-Electric Steam Turbine Electric Turbine Diesel-Mechanical

TagLocations.txt file Tag not on Truck Tag on Front Truck Tag on Rear Truck Tag Location Unknown Tag on Truck Tag at Midpoint

As you program tags, just remember that the tag does not contain the words in these files, it contains only the numerical index (starting at 0) of the item that you selected. So once you start editing these files, don't change a previously used item unless you want that change to be reflected in all tags.

Now, the most useful part of these files is each time that you edit them, you should copy them to the folder that contains the Remote Train Control (RTC) program. Then when you start the RTC program, it will notice these files and it will use them for all of its decoding on the Program Control windows.