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Micron MR001d 2.4GHz DSM2/DSMX Receiver (from v1.9)
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The MR001d receiver is well suited for use in large scale live-steam or large scale battery powered locos. It operates on 2.4GHz using the Spektrum DSM2 or DSMX protocols; thus it operates just like any other DSM2/DSMX receiver but includes some useful features for model railway control. The MR001d is small (30x18x11mm) and space for it is easily found in most locos.
The MR001d free-air range, when used with a Micron low-power transmitter, is 50m-60m and approximately 200m when used with a full-power (100mW) transmitter. This range will be reduced indoors due to absorption by furniture / fittings and reflections from metal surfaces. Range is also reduced if the receiver aerial is in a metal enclosure. Ideally, the aerial should be placed outside the vehicle body and clear of any metal. The active tip of the extended aerial needs to 'see' the transmitter so should be placed through a hole in the vehicle body - e.g. into the cab space. The receiver aerial should not be cut short or made longer as this will affect operation of the receiver. It is important to perform a range check after installation to ensure you have full control of your loco/vehicle at all positions around the layout.
Features (top)
Connections and Indicators
MR001d has 7 set of JR style 0.1" pitch output pins, labeled P1 to P7 on the diagram below. Ports P8 to P11 are on the optional JST-SH connectors at the aerial end of the receiver. Although the JST-SH socket has 3.3V power, this is insufficient for powering a servo which must use an external regulator or by power directly from the battery.
MR001d can be powered from a battery of 3.45V up to 8V; use of a 4 or 5 cell NiMH rechargeable battery or the 5V regulated output from a speed controller is typical.
MR001d contains 4 configurations which can be selected using a Power-On Configuration Changes or by programming the receiver. The default configuration has servo outputs on P1 to P5, front/rear lighting on P6 and P7, and switched outputs on P8 to P11 - see the Configurations table at the end of this document. Other output configurations are available on request.
MR001d has a LED indicator on the top side to show receiver status:
Live Steam
For live-steam use, MR001d outputs can be connected to standard R/C servos to operate the regulator, reverser, blower, gas valve and whistle. MR001d will work with any servo that uses a standard (1ms - 2ms) pulse width control signal and operates off the selected battery voltage - e.g. Emax ES08MDII.
The throttle mode should be set to low-off for separate regulator and direction controls and to ensure that Emergency Stop (if configured) will close the regulator.
When used with a Micron model rail transmitter, throttle is on P1/ch1 controlled using the large speed knob and direction is on P3/ch3 controlled using the toggle switch (or direction control knob on Tx24 variants). The Micron transmitter should ideally be configured for low-off throttle with no centre detent and a non-biased direction toggle switch. When used with an aeromodel type stick transmitter, throttle is controlled using the throttle stick and direction is controlled by the elevator stick. Servos, plugged into MR001d P1 and P3, are linked to the regulator and reverser. The battery can be connected, via an on/off switch, into any of the unused pins.
Battery Powered Loco
An Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) that supports forward and reverse should be connected to P1/ch1 as shown in the diagram. The MR001d is powered from the ESC 5V output.
The throttle mode should be set to centre-off or low-to-centre - the latter allows use of a centre-off ESC while providing separate transmitter speed and direction controls.
A resettable fuse is essential to protect the battery in the event of a ESC or wiring fault. The switch must be capable of carrying the maximum motor current; if a suitable mechanical switch cannot be found, an electronic switch should be used instead (contact Micron for details).
Any of the Micron model rail transmitters can be used or a Spektrum compatible stick type transmitter. Tx21v2, Tx22v2 and Tx24v2 transmitters have an inertia control which gives a more realistic acceleration and deceleration by slowing down the rate at which the throttle channel is changed.
Binding (top)
MR001d must be bound to a transmitter before use. Once bound, the receiver remembers the transmitter identity and searches for this when it is switched on.
To bind a receiver, it is switched on with no transmitter active (for normal operation, the transmitter should be switched on before the receiver).
MR001d enters autobind approximately 5 seconds after switching on if it fails to find a previously bound transmitter signal. Binding may also be initiated manually by connecting the large jumper plug across P5 and P7 signal pins (top) row.
Bind mode is indicated by a rapid flashing of the receiver LED and the following steps should be followed to bind with your transmitter:
Throttle Mode (top)
The MR001d throttle mode determines how transmitter controls affect receiver outputs, the behaviour of Directional Lights and what happens if Emergency Stop is triggered or Cruise Control is disabled and signal is lost.
The throttle mode can be set using a Power-On Change using the large jumper plug on pins P3 and P5 or by programming. The modes are:
In all modes, the throttle output (P1) will not change until the transmitter control has been set to minimum throttle. This is to prevent the loco moving immediately the receiver is switched on.
Loco Selection - Selecta (top)
Many Micron model rail transmitters have a 12 way switch to allow control of up to 12 locos - Deltang originated this feature and called it 'Selecta'. Using the switch, locos are brought under control one at a time. When not selected, receiver outputs hold their current setting (e.g. a loco which is moving when deselected keeps moving) and the LED shows a 2-flash pattern. The default 'keep going' behaviour can be changed to stop when deselected by programming the receiver.
The Micron implementation of Loco Selection / Selecta is fully compatible with the Deltang Selecta feature and uses R/C channel 2 by default. When Selecta is enabled, the controlling R/C channel (e.g. 2) may still be mapped to a receiver output but, of course, this will not change as the transmitter switch is rotated.
The receiver has a 800ms delay before enabling when the transmitter Selecta value is changed. This is to avoid obeying the transmitter while the Selecta switch is being moved - e.g. a receiver on Selecta #4 should not change any outputs while the transmitter Selecta switch is moved from #3 to #5.
Selecta may be enabled by default (see the receiver configuration information) and may be enabled or disabled by using a power-on configuration change (see Power-On Configuration Changes) or by programming.
If Selecta is enabled, the transmitter's Selecta switch value will be saved when the transmitter and receiver are bound. A new Selecta value (i.e. switch position) can be stored either by rebinding or by using the power-on changes to disable and then re-enable Selecta.
Note: when the Selecta switch is changed to control a different loco, the newly selected loco responds to the transmitter control settings. The current range of Selecta enabled transmitters have no model memory so cannot have different throttle settings, etc. for each loco. Thus, although Selecta may be used to manage many moving locos, this must be used with care and is not recommended. Micron intends to introduce a transmitter with model memory but the release date is not known.
Directional Lighting (top)
The default configuration has pins P6 and P7 setup to drive front and rear LED lights; P6 powers a forward LED and P7 a backward facing LED. The directional lighting pins can be changed by programming the receiver.
MR001d has an on-board 3.3V regulator and 220 ohm resistors in series with the signal pins so limits the LED current to approximately 15mA. The LED should be connected between the signal and negative pins (top and bottom rows).
The default setting is for the LEDs to follow the throttle channel with 'centre-off' and is appropriate for a battery loco with ESC. For live-steam use, the LED behaviour can be reprogrammed for 'low-off' and this uses full-range throttle on ch1 and directional control on ch3.
To change the way that directional LEDs respond to throttle movement, set the appropriate throttle mode using a Power-On Change or by programming.
Cruise Control (top)
Cruise Control keeps a loco running if a receiver loses the signal from the transmitter, for example when going through a tunnel or behind a garden building or some dense bushes. All receiver outputs hold their current setting until the transmitter signal is reaquired. Outputs also hold when a Selecta-enabled receiver (see Selecta) is de-selected.
Cruise Control allows you to switch off the transmitter if, for example, you are running the loco round a continuous circuit.
The default MR001d setup is Cruise Control enabled. It can be disabled using a Power-On Change or by programming. If disabled, servos on pins designated as throttle/regulator will be moved to the stop position when signal is lost. Failsafe positions for all R/C channels may optionally be enabled; in this case, the values of all R/C channels are saved after a successful bind and restored when signal is lost. The time delay between loosing signal and initiating throttle close and failsafe is configurable between 1s and 4s - 3s is set when cruise control is disable using the Power-On Change.
Emergency Stop (top)
Any of the transmitter controls can be used as an 'Emergency Stop' function to bring the loco/vehicle to a stop. Emergency Stop is not enabled by default and must be configured by programming the receiver.
To enable Emergency Stop, you need to choose:
Power-On Configuration Changes (top)
A few configuration changes can be made without programming. A link across the output pins using one or both of the jumper plugs is used to action the change. It is best practice to do this with no other connections to the receiver pins. A change is made by connecting the appropriate P pins with the receiver off, switching the receiver on and observing the LED flash pattern, removing the connection which is confirmed by a rapid LED flash and then switching the receiver off. The exception are the P1/P3 options:
Servo end point adjustment and reversing may also be performed using the small jumper plug to select a servo and then using the large jumper plug to adjust - see Servo Throw Adjustment.
The changes all cycle though the flash counts while the jumper is installed. Each flash count is repeated once (i.e. shown twice) and then increments to the next, cycling back to 1 when the maximum is reached. When the desired flash count has been shown, removing the large jumper acknowledges the selection by showing a rapid flash. There will be a short delay between removing the jumper and the rapid flash due to the time taken to write the changes to permanent memory. The receiver should be powered off when the rapid flash starts. If you switch off before removing the jumper connection, the configuration is not changed. If you switch off after removing the jumper and before the rapid LED flash, the receiver data is likely to be corrupted and you should perform a reset.
This is a summary of the configuration changes that can be made, performed using the large and small jumper plugs. A '-' in the Small Jumper column indicates that the small jumper is not used.
Receiver Programming (top)
The behaviour for each MR001d pin can be changed using a bound transmitter. MR001d must first be put into programming mode and then the direction toggle switch (knob on Tx24 type transmitters), or elevator on a stick type transmitter, is used to enter a program sequence one digit at a time. The LED (and LED2 if enabled) flashes to indicate the value of the current step in the programming sequence. For example, if the current value is 4, the LED flashes 4 times, pauses and repeats - this is called a 4-flash.
The programming table is large and presented in a separate document (see micronrc.co.uk/mr001-progtable) which lists all of the functions that may be changed by programming. The table is split into 5 blocks of related functions each with the same value in the first column.
The programming table columns contain the values which must be entered to change a particular function. For example, to change the throttle behaviour from centre-off (forward and reverse on one control) to low-off (separate throttle/regulator and direction/reverser controls) the program sequence 1, 1, 2, 1, 3 is entered. Each digit of this program sequence is taken from the columns, left to right:
One function can be changed at a time. The general method is:
There are 2 methods of getting the receiver into programming mode:
When programming mode has been successfully entered, the receiver LED will show a 1-flash - this is the 1 from the first column of the programming table. If you do not get the 1-flash, repeat the procedure to enter programming mode. It can take a couple of attempts to get the SOS method correct if you have never done it before.
One programming change requires up to five choices to be made. These are called 'levels' and each has several options. They are documented in the programming table. Completion of a programming change exits programming mode and requires the receiver to be placed into programming mode again for the next change.
It is a good idea to write the programming sequence on a piece of scrap paper and cross off each digit as it is entered so that you don't lose track of where you are in the sequence. You always start at the top of the first column and 1-flash is displayed on entering programming mode.
Most Micron transmitters have a toggle switch on R/C channel 3 which is marked A/B, or forward/reverse for a low-off transmitter:
The receiver LED will flash rapidly while R/C channel 3 is high or low and then return to a slower repeated flash when the control is back to the middle.
After accepting the flash count for a level, the LED displays a flash count for the current value of the next level. This could be higher than 1-flash if the function is set in the receiver configuration or has been previously programmed. For example:
When the last level for a sequence has been accepted, the LED will light continously and the receiver is back in normal operating mode. There may be a short delay between accepting the last sequence value and the LED lighting continuously - this is is due to the time taken to write the changes to permanent memory. The maximum number of levels is 5, but not all sequences use all 5; if level 5 in the table is blank, the LED will light continously after level 4 is accepted.
Programming changes are accepted only when the LED lights solid at the end of the sequence. If a mistake is made mid way through a sequence, switch the receiver off to abort.
These examples assume MR001d is in as-received configuration and a Micron transmitter with toggle switch on R/C channel 3. Tx24v2 transmitters have a variable control on R/C channel 3 - the Reverser; the equivalent actions are:
The programming table for MR001d can be found at micronrc.co.uk/mr001-progtable.
Servo Throw Adjustment (top)
Servo throws (low and high end points) and reversing can be configured in 2 ways:
The servo centre position does not change, it will always be at the mid-point of normal servo rotation.
WARNING: never place the small jumper across the positive (middle row) and negative (bottom row) pins. This will short the battery.
The method comprises 2 steps:
Only one servo output can be changed at a time, the method must be repeated for each servo that requires adjustment.`
Servo outputs are on P1 to P5. The small jumper plug is used to select one of these outputs for adjustment, it is placed across the wanted signal pin (top row) and the adjacent signal pin. For example, to select P1 (throttle), place the small jumper plug across signal pins 1 and 2 as shown in the image (the black connector in the image is the battery plugged into P4).
Steps:
The servo output is now selected. Jumper plugs are used on P6 and P7 to reverse the servo or adjust the travel end points. Reversing or end point adjustment can be repeated as often as desired while the servo is selected. To stop the process, remove power from the receiver.
The selected servo may now have its direction reversed or have the travel end points adjusted:
The small jumper plug is placed across signal pins (top row) for P6 and P7 to reverse the servo direction. The image shows a servo plugged into P1, a battery plugged into P3 and the small jumper across P6/P7.
The servo direction will reverse each time the procedure is executed.
The servo travel end points can be increased or decreased using the large jumper plug on P6 (decrease) or P7 (increase). The adjustment is done in small steps every ½ second and the LED flashes for each step.
To make an adjustment:
The LED will stop flashing and the servo will stop moving when the adjustment limit is reached.
When the increment or decrement jumper is removed, the LED will flash rapidly for 2 seconds while the servo offset is being saved. You may continue adjusting after the flashing has stopped.
When complete, remove power from the receiver to stop, all changes are stored to the memory. The next time power is applied, the receiver will operate normally.
To adjust a servo, the servo output is selected first and then the travel adjusted using either the throttle control or direction toggle if the throttle servo is being adjusted.
The steps below assume a Micron transmitter is being used. If the transmitter is an aeroplane type stick transmitter then the elevator stick corresponds to the direction toggle.
Only one servo output can be changed at a time. Go through the above steps to adjust a different servo output pin.
Configurations (top)
The pre-loaded configurations are shown below. Unless otherwise specified when the receiver was ordered, config 1 is enabled by default. The other loaded configurations can be selected using a power-on configuration change or by programming.
P1..P7 are the JR style pins at the front of the receiver, P8..P11 is the optional JST-SH connector at the rear of the receiver.
This configuration table is for firmware version 1.1. For other versions, refer to mrxxx_version.
Other configurations are available to special order or you can configure yourself by programming.
