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Hardware Support: Grapevine System

Naming

Individual inputs (Sensors) and outputs (Turnouts and Lights) in JMRI are accessed via names. For information on the general scheme, please see the naming page in the technical documentation.

Adding an item to the table

When you add an item to one of the tables, many times you only have to fill in the numbers to have JMRI construct the complete system name.
Here's a summary, split up for outputs (eg. Turnouts) and inputs (eg. Sensors):

In/Out Entry Meaning makes System Name Mask Equivalent Minimum Maximum
i 22016 Sensor node 22, pin 16 GS 22 016 n digits (node) + 3 digit (pin) node: 1
pin: 001		 node: 127
pin: 016
i 22p16 p = parallel input GS 22 p16 int + p + int (pin) p1 p16
i 22a3 a = ASD occupancy sensor GS 22 a3 int + a + int (pin) 22103 a1 a24
i 22103 a = ASD occupancy sensor GS 22023 int + a + int (pin) 22a3 101 124
i 22s3 s = old style serial occupancy sensor GS 22 s3 int + s + int (pin) 22023 s1 s16
i 22023 s = old style serial occupancy sensor GS 22 s3 int + s + int (pin) 22a3 021 036
i 22m3 m = ASD motion sensor GS 22 m3 int + m + int (pin) 22203 1 24
i 22203 m = ASD motion sensor GS 22 203 22m3 201 224
o 22103 output, card/bank 1, connector 3 GT 22 103 101/201/301/401 124/224/324/424

For Grapevine systems, all names start with a system letter of "G". After that, there's a type letter, then a node number and a pin number.

The pin number is either three numeric digits ("101", "324", "004"), or starts with a lower-case alphabetic character ("p12", "s1"). See the sections on inputs and outputs below for the specific meanings of these various formats.

The Node number precedes the pin number. If it's helpful, you can think of the node number as being the "thousands" part of the combined number, and the pin number as the lower three digits.

For example, the 1st Grapevine Sensor input pin on node 23 would be named GS23001 or GS23p1. The 5th Turnout on node 2 would be GT2005.

Node Numbering

Each Grapevine Node has a number, from 1 to 127.

Before you can access the Node in JMRI, you have to define it to the program. You can do this either from the Preferences window (under Edit in the main menu) or using the Configure Nodes tool in the Grapevine menu.

Inputs

Grapevine Nodes have a number of possible input types:
Parallel Inputs
There are eight three-pin connectors on a Grapevine Node that can be used as general inputs. These Sensors are referenced as 001 to 008. They can also be referenced in a shorter format (where the three full digits are not required) as p1 through p8.

In addition, there are eight additional pins in the 14-pin connector that can be referenced as Sensors 009 to 016 or p9 through p16, where the "p" indicates parallel input.

Serial Occupancy Sensor Cards
Advanced serial occupancy sensor cards (ASCs) can be attached to each Node. Each one senses occupancy on up to eight track segments, and up to three can be attached to a node. In addition, "occupancy" and "motion" are separately detected.

The occupancy on these cards are numbered sequentially, starting with 101. The motion Sensors are also numbered sequentially, starting with 201. This means that 101 and 201 sense "occupancy" and "motion" on the 1st connector of the 1st card, respectively, 109 and 209 are the occupancy and motion sensors on the first connector of the second card, etc.

These can also be referenced in a shorter form via the prefix letter "a", ASD occupancy sensor, or "m" for ASD motion sensor, and the 1-24 number of the connector.

Examples, all for node 22:

  • GS22a1 or GS22101 is the occupancy sensor for the first block input on the 1st ASC.
    GS22m1 or GS22201 is the corresponding motion sensor for the first block input on the 1st ASC.
  • GS22a9 or GS22109 is the occupancy sensor for the first block input on the 2nd ASC.
    GS22m9 or GS22209 is the corresponding motion sensor for the first block input on the 2nd ASC.
  • GS22a24 or GS124 is the occupancy sensor for the 8th block input on the 3rd ASC.
    GS22m24 or GS224 is the corresponding motion sensor for the 8th block input on the 3rd ASC.
Older Occupancy Sensors
Nodes may also have older serial occupancy detectors attached. If you have one of these, the Sensors will appear as 021 through 036. These can also be referenced as "s1" through "s16".

Outputs

Each Grapevine node can have up to four output cards attached to it. (Some of the Grapevine and ProTrak documentation refers to these as four "banks".) The outputs on the first card are referenced starting with 101, and can go up to 124 depending on the type of card. The outputs on the second card start at 201 and go up to 224. The third and fourth cards start at 301 and 401 respectively.

If it helps, you can think of the "hundreds" digit as the card or bank number, and the lowest two digits as the connector number.

Each of these can be used as a JMRI Turnout, Light or Signal Head.

Turnouts

Grapevine outputs can be use to control turnout switch motors. In that case, they should be referenced as JMRI Turnouts, with names like GT98201 for the 1st output from the 2nd driver card on node 98.

Lights

Grapevine outputs can be used to control lights on the layout, in which case they should be referenced as JMRI Lights. System names for lights start with GL, for example GL54102 for the 2nd output on the 1st driver card on node 54.

Signals

To use a Grapevine output as a JMRI Signal, capable of displaying red/yellow/green and associated flashing Aspects, you must define it as a "Grapevine Signal Head" using the Add... button in the Signal Head Table. Give it a system name that starts with "GH", and is followed by the node and output numbers.

For example, to use the 3rd connector on the 2nd driver card on node 1, define a Grapevine Signal Head using system name GH1203.

Documentation

More information on the Grapevine hardware can be found on the ProTrak web site.

Back to the Grapevine Hardware Help page.