FireBox: A Tiny DCC Train Controller

[dcutting]

Today is the last day of the campaign! I just posted another update to the project, which can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wasatchscalemodels/firebox-a-tiny-dcc-train-controller/posts

Most exciting part of the update is that the WiFi module has been upgraded from an ESP8266 module to an ESP32 module. That means that there's now onboard Bluetooth and BLE available!

Anyways, as the campaign comes to a close I look forward to getting boards out to everyone. Thanks again for making this possible!

[IronPenguin]

Thanks for the reminder. Been busy, forgot to pledge earlier. looking forward to getting it.

[thomasjmdavis]

Today is the last day of the campaign! I just posted another update to the project, which can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wasatchscalemodels/firebox-a-tiny-dcc-train-controller/posts

Most exciting part of the update is that the WiFi module has been upgraded from an ESP8266 module to an ESP32 module. That means that there's now onboard Bluetooth and BLE available!

Anyways, as the campaign comes to a close I look forward to getting boards out to everyone. Thanks again for making this possible!

Dave,

I got the email earlier today on progress.  Thanks for keeping us updated!

This is a very impressive project to date.  I hope that others who are trying to "bootstrap" a project are taking notes.  A few things that have impressed me so far...
1) You made a working prototype - and had photos and info for potential investors/pledges/crowd-funders BEFORE opening the page and asking for money.
2) Throughout the process you have been adding improvements so the product that will be delivered will be better than the prototype specs (which were good to begin with).
3) You have kept us informed of progress.

This is a HUGE improvement over a couple other "crowd funded" projects I have participated in.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Dave,

I got the email earlier today on progress.  Thanks for keeping us updated!

This is a very impressive project to date.  I hope that others who are trying to "bootstrap" a project are taking notes.  A few things that have impressed me so far...
1) You made a working prototype - and had photos and info for potential investors/pledges/crowd-funders BEFORE opening the page and asking for money.
2) Throughout the process you have been adding improvements so the product that will be delivered will be better than the prototype specs (which were good to begin with).
3) You have kept us informed of progress.

This is a HUGE improvement over a couple other "crowd funded" projects I have participated in.

Yep! All of this.

[VonRyan]

Today is the last day of the campaign! I just posted another update to the project, which can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wasatchscalemodels/firebox-a-tiny-dcc-train-controller/posts

Most exciting part of the update is that the WiFi module has been upgraded from an ESP8266 module to an ESP32 module. That means that there's now onboard Bluetooth and BLE available!

Anyways, as the campaign comes to a close I look forward to getting boards out to everyone. Thanks again for making this possible!

Will there be a way to purchase one after the campaign which supports using PayPal?

[dcutting]

This is a very impressive project to date.  I hope that others who are trying to "bootstrap" a project are taking notes.  A few things that have impressed me so far...

Thanks for the kind words!

Will there be a way to purchase one after the campaign which supports using PayPal?

Yes, the price will be higher but they will be available through my webstore.

[POVC]

I've been following this thread for a while... finally took the plunge today and put in a pledge for 2x Fireboxes.

Looking forward to experimenting with them and see how they perform.

Tim

[u18b]

Thanks for the reminder.    I ordered two. Don’t tell Chessie System fan what he’s getting for Christmas.

[DStastny]

Will get one to tinker.   Will make handy off layout programming test stand.

Regards
Doug

[delamaize]

Dave,

I got the email earlier today on progress.  Thanks for keeping us updated!

This is a very impressive project to date.  I hope that others who are trying to "bootstrap" a project are taking notes.  A few things that have impressed me so far...
1) You made a working prototype - and had photos and info for potential investors/pledges/crowd-funders BEFORE opening the page and asking for money.
2) Throughout the process you have been adding improvements so the product that will be delivered will be better than the prototype specs (which were good to begin with).
3) You have kept us informed of progress.

This is a HUGE improvement over a couple other "crowd funded" projects I have participated in.

All this is why you have been successful. Others should be taking note!!
I am excited to get my firebox!!

[u18b]

Sorry if this is a dumb question....

but I did not want to sign up with Kickstarter. so I followed the procedure for support as a guest.

But then I thought.... will David know who I am when it comes to the 2 Fireboxes I got?

[dcutting]

But then I thought.... will David know who I am when it comes to the 2 Fireboxes I got?

Yes, Kickstarter still has your email address, so when it comes time I will be able to send you a survey for shipping. Nothing to be worried about.

[dcutting]

I've put FireBox up on my web store for any of you that may have missed out on the Kickstarter campaign. You can find it at www.wasatchscalemodels.com

In the next few weeks, once I get prototypes for expansion boards in, I will be putting up those for sale as well. I'll let you combine shipping with previous pre-orders/Kickstarter campaign rewards.

[mmagliaro]

Silly question, but I looked through this whole thread, and your kickstarter page, and I can't find anywhere that mentions the actual size of this thing.  Just how "tiny" is it?    The photo makes me think it's about 4" square, but I have no idea.

Second question... I spied this on your page:
"Throttle expansion - turns your FireBox into a self-contained throttle plus booster with integrated LCD."

So this would essentially turn it into a DCC "power pack", so you could run a DCC equipped engine with just the Firebox (and the throttle expansion) plugged into the layout with no USB connection, no wifi, no smartphone, nothing else?   Depending on how compact this is,
that could be really handy as a bench-top test station for testing and working on engines (which is where I'm going with this)

[dem34]

Silly question, but I looked through this whole thread, and your kickstarter page, and I can't find anywhere that mentions the actual size of this thing.  Just how "tiny" is it?    The photo makes me think it's about 4" square, but I have no idea.

Looks to be a standard Phoenix connector common in Home Automation devices which are about an inch long. So the whole box seems to be 2x2x1