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1 hour ago, wagonman said:

Even the sainted 'son of the manse' Big Gordy was dog-whistling uncomfortably when he started talking about "British jobs for British workers" c2009.

Yes, because he was afraid of losing some voters because (unfortunately) “blame the immigrant” (but carefully, by inference) was working too well.

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Mind you, he did save the world from financial collapse.

I think that’s generally true, but on the other hand, he had a major hand in helping to create the problem...

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15 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

This is a Mobile Phone. Photo taken with a Camera. Remember those?

 

phone.JPG.7dc19866cdf28b06e6a738de16e202af.JPG

 

This is the phone we got my elder son when he started secondary school, so it's about nine years old. I did have a flip phone but about six years ago it slipped out of my pocket into a ceramic bowl of water (let's not go into that). Fortunately the SIM card survived. The rest of the family were moving on to these newfangled too-big-for-your-pocket-screen-too-small-to-read-and-too-easily-damaged devices that I have never coveted, so I got my son's cast-off while keeping my number.

 

This is my phone:

phone.JPG.3d69ac74497a1c144da0aa1efa1077d7.JPG

 

It does everything I want and was bought for around £15 no idea how many years ago from a secondhand shop. Despite (or perhaps because of) working in the IT sector since the late 80's (or maybe that is past-tense worked given my situation and the current state of the job market) I have watched the march of technology with increasing unease and scepticism until we have arrived at a surveillance society that the Stasi could only have dreamed of and I have become a technological refusenik.

 

I used to love watching the expressions and reactions when I plonked this on the table in meetings alongside the piles of "smart"phones and fondleslabs beloved by others; "Is that your phone?!" (have had blackberries and samsung devices from work in the past, but have always handed them back in with a sense of relief upon leaving).

 

My kids have given up trying to persuade me to get a "proper" phone; "You can get emails on it" - I have a laptop. "You can take pictures" - I have a digital SLR. (and in any case, what happened to those 100's of photos you took with your old devices, eh?)  "You can access social media" - don't use it (apart from RMweb) and see answer to your first point. "You can stay in contact with friends" -  what's wrong with writing a letter or sending a card or speaking to them? "You can surf the internet on long journeys" - that is what books, magazines and staring out the window in silent contemplation are for. It has been dropped from height onto solid floors many times and after picking up and re-assembling back cover, battery and SIM that go flying in all directions, works every time. Fully charged battery lasts for weeks.

 

But I sense that I am a crusty old fogey swimming against the tide, the number of times I am told to download the app, or scan or display the QR code;

 

smartphone.jpg.a160cc4814831c5b4de3598a10262dda.jpg

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Set up a simple DCC layout, say a shunting plank


But, I’m building a shunting/photo plank for the study in old-fashioned 0 already, and phone-control would be totally out of keeping.

 

I nearly did it in modern-style 0, and even bought a Heljan railbus and a diesel shunter, thinking DCC, controllable noises etc, but then realised what a total diversion that would become, so sold the railcar and shunter!

 

Nope, I don’t want a ‘free’ phone becoming the start of a slippery slope!

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1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Its like trying to cascade a huge and powerful Pacific to a single-track rural branch-line (my brain) - its a wonderful engine, but not ideal for the job in hand.

 

"I never liked these big engines - always going wrong. Send for another engine at once."

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2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

I'm currently struggling to hang on to one that I actually find quite good, because it has a nice big screen that works well as a satnav when cycling, against pressure to take-over an "even better" one that I don't actually like.

 

 

 

Does it do 'test and trace' though?

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53 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:


But, I’m building a shunting/photo plank for the study in old-fashioned 0 already, and phone-control would be totally out of keeping.

 

 

 

Why, because in the '50s we built things that actually worked?

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2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

My good lady is the early adopters' early adopter, so there are always several not-quite-the-very-latest-thing mobile phones around that can be cascaded to me when I drop one down a storm drain, run over it with my car etc..

 

I'm currently struggling to hang on to one that I actually find quite good, because it has a nice big screen that works well as a satnav when cycling, against pressure to take-over an "even better" one that I don't actually like.

 

Its like trying to cascade a huge and powerful Pacific to a single-track rural branch-line (my brain) - its a wonderful engine, but not ideal for the job in hand.

 

I presume the pressure is because you taking over the even 'better one' helps here justify having dumped it for a super dooper one. Get it sent to Music Magpie or whoever they will only give you a pittance but it would be out of the house.

Don

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31 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Why, because in the '50s we built things that actually worked?


The Truth of the Matter

 

Part 1.

 

The controllers I use are modern-ish analogue electronic ones.

 

Part 2.

 

Most 1950s model train controllers were blooming awful rheostatic things that are the enemy of fine control of the motors used at the time.

 

Part 3.

 

Most 1950s technology looks and is  laughably crude and unreliable compared with current stuff, but you can mend it with simple tools and basic skills, which can’t be said for much modern stuff including our Dyson ‘hoover’ (thoughts of which provoke more grumpiness).

 

 

 

 

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£130 quid for a wifi adapter! I am sure I could do all that with an ESP32 board for about £7 plus perhaps a Raspberry PI to run JMRI to link with Withrottle Plug that into a DCC++ system for about £13 plus a bit for a 15v PSU. That would be the whole system.

Don

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

 

Most 1950s technology looks laughably crude and unreliable compared with current stuff, but you can mend it with simple tools and basic skills, which can’t be said for much modern stuff including our Dyson ‘hoover’ (thoughts of which provoke more grumpiness).

 

 

 

You have my sympathy there; I, too, am struggling with a vacuum cleaner the Dies-on me.

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56 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

You have my sympathy there; I, too, am struggling with a vacuum cleaner the Dies-on me.

 

Going down the tip I noticed that the line-up of defunct hoovers had a few single brands like Panasonic or Electrolux, and at least 5 Dysons. Some 4 months later our one joined them and I bought a Henry for under £100 which is still going strong.

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The problem with them is not so much that they are truly difficult to fix, as that you can't buy a lot of the components as separate items. I managed to strip the "head" of ours down and identify and extract the faulty part, but then couldn't source it, and had to buy an entire new "head" assembly for what amounted to about a third of the cost of a new 'hoover'.

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I love Radio.  Listening to PM on a bit of a time-lag, and an American gentleman, without any apparently conscious irony, has just talked of deliberately 'gumming up' the US Postal service.

 

If you don't mind me saying, what you chaps Stateside need is someone who can keep an eye on your postal service ....

 

636484196_GoingPostal-ReacherGuilt.jpg.27476a3a4a74aa1e4680f4e4577c75ea.jpg

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3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

This is my phone:

phone.JPG.3d69ac74497a1c144da0aa1efa1077d7.JPG

 

It does everything I want and was bought for around £15 no idea how many years ago from a secondhand shop. Despite (or perhaps because of) working in the IT sector since the late 80's (or maybe that is past-tense worked given my situation and the current state of the job market) I have watched the march of technology with increasing unease and scepticism until we have arrived at a surveillance society that the Stasi could only have dreamed of and I have become a technological refusenik.

 

I used to love watching the expressions and reactions when I plonked this on the table in meetings alongside the piles of "smart"phones and fondleslabs beloved by others; "Is that your phone?!" (have had blackberries and samsung devices from work in the past, but have always handed them back in with a sense of relief upon leaving).

 

My kids have given up trying to persuade me to get a "proper" phone; "You can get emails on it" - I have a laptop. "You can take pictures" - I have a digital SLR. (and in any case, what happened to those 100's of photos you took with your old devices, eh?)  "You can access social media" - don't use it (apart from RMweb) and see answer to your first point. "You can stay in contact with friends" -  what's wrong with writing a letter or sending a card or speaking to them? "You can surf the internet on long journeys" - that is what books, magazines and staring out the window in silent contemplation are for. It has been dropped from height onto solid floors many times and after picking up and re-assembling back cover, battery and SIM that go flying in all directions, works every time. Fully charged battery lasts for weeks.

 

But I sense that I am a crusty old fogey swimming against the tide, the number of times I am told to download the app, or scan or display the QR code;

 

smartphone.jpg.a160cc4814831c5b4de3598a10262dda.jpg

 

 

Snap!  Your Nokia phone looks to be exactly the same as my Nokia phone.  I purchased my one back when I was still working before I retired (ever so long ago) and it works fine just like it always has.  My tech savvy daughter has been through at least 5 phones in that time which failed for various reasons mostly due to software becoming incompatible/obsolete while my old Nokia keeps on keeping on.

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3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

This is my phone:

phone.JPG.3d69ac74497a1c144da0aa1efa1077d7.JPG

 

It does everything I want and was bought for around £15 no idea how many years ago from a secondhand shop.

 

 

You see, your 'phone has something wonderful that a modern smart 'phone could never have ... patina!

 

They love a good patina on Antiques Roadshow, have you thought of taking it in?

 

Unless, of course, what we are seeing is the results of you practising your weathering techniques! 

 

3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

Despite (or perhaps because of) working in the IT sector since the late 80's (or maybe that is past-tense worked given my situation and the current state of the job market) I have watched the march of technology with increasing unease and scepticism until we have arrived at a surveillance society that the Stasi could only have dreamed of and I have become a technological refusenik.

 

My family thinks I'm paranoid, but I know they are watching me.

 

Seriously, they watch everything we do. 

 

3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

I used to love watching the expressions and reactions when I plonked this on the table in meetings alongside the piles of "smart"phones and fondleslabs beloved by others; "Is that your phone?!" (have had blackberries and samsung devices from work in the past, but have always handed them back in with a sense of relief upon leaving).

 

My kids have given up trying to persuade me to get a "proper" phone; "You can get emails on it" - I have a laptop. "You can take pictures" - I have a digital SLR. (and in any case, what happened to those 100's of photos you took with your old devices, eh?)  "You can access social media" - don't use it (apart from RMweb) and see answer to your first point. "You can stay in contact with friends" -  what's wrong with writing a letter or sending a card or speaking to them? "You can surf the internet on long journeys" - that is what books, magazines and staring out the window in silent contemplation are for. It has been dropped from height onto solid floors many times and after picking up and re-assembling back cover, battery and SIM that go flying in all directions, works every time. Fully charged battery lasts for weeks.

 

Sounds wearily familiar

 

3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

But I sense that I am a crusty old fogey swimming against the tide, the number of times I am told to download the app, or scan or display the QR code;

 

Wear it as a badge of honour!

 

I've been a fogey for years!

 

 537268633_youngfogeywaugh1.jpg.9bb6c4efeb495dcb257a79ccf09cb7e1.jpg

 

 

3 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

smartphone.jpg.a160cc4814831c5b4de3598a10262dda.jpg

 

 

 

When I was young, androids looked like this ....

 

download-2.jpeg.fa9e0be963ec19eed8d94a9c5dd724bd.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Donw said:

£130 quid for a wifi adapter! I am sure I could do all that with an ESP32 board for about £7 plus perhaps a Raspberry PI to run JMRI to link with Withrottle Plug that into a DCC++ system for about £13 plus a bit for a 15v PSU. That would be the whole system.

Don

 

 

Yes, you probably could, but once you have subtracted the cost of a suitable PSU and the R Pi, (neither of which you have actually costed out) as well as the £20 you mention, then the price differential is much reduced.

Also, you presumably know how to setup the RPi as a WAP, and to install JMRI, etc.

So that’s someone else’s time and knowledge to include. How much for that?

 

So, rather more than simply a “WiFi Adapter for £130”. The price is comparable to an RTR loco, so the point I was making is, it doesn’t have to be very expensive.

 

But never mind, let’s just use running down a British manufacturer as an excuse to tell everyone else how clever we are.

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20 hours ago, Regularity said:

nd they are all appalled, alarmed and embarrassed about the self-serving pocket-lining kleptocracy we have running the country at the moment.

 

You think you have problems - nothing to compare with the US at the moment, which hopefully will be fixed within the next few months!

     Brian.

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1 hour ago, Regularity said:

Yes, you probably could, but once you have subtracted the cost of a suitable PSU and the R Pi, (neither of which you have actually costed out) as well as the £20 you mention, then the price differential is much reduced.

Also, you presumably know how to setup the RPi as a WAP, and to install JMRI, etc.

So that’s someone else’s time and knowledge to include. How much for that?

 

So, rather more than simply a “WiFi Adapter for £130”. The price is comparable to an RTR loco, so the point I was making is, it doesn’t have to be very expensive.

 

But never mind, let’s just use running down a British manufacturer as an excuse to tell everyone else how clever we are.

 

not at all, it not stuff that is very clever there is a lot of information out there if you bother to look. I just happen to consider most DCC stuff well over priced.  I was not particularly running down a British manufacturer.

As for installing JMRI, it is no more difficult than downloading updates. 

 

Besides seeing as I have a DCC system produced in the UK cost £41 including postage  about £10 for a new Samsung 15v 35W PSU and £6 for the phone app via google play onto a phone using bluetooth from the phone to the system. That is less than  £60 pound for a complete working cordless system, I feel I can regard £130 for a wifi Adapter alone as pricey.

 

Don

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7 hours ago, Regularity said:

https://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/pi-sprog/pi-sprog-3-system
£130, plus your phone.

And it’s British.

 

If you have a collection of elderly laptops (Win 7+) then you can repurpose one of those to go with a Sprog 3 and an old wireless router so it doesn't have to go anywhere near a live Internet! 

 

I've done both the old laptop and Pi routes and both have strengths and weaknesses.  It depends on what you have to hand.

 

The Pi-Sprog-3-system looks neat.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Edwardian said:

If you don't mind me saying, what you chaps Stateside need is someone who can keep an eye on your postal service ....

 

It seems that they have a Reacher Gilt clone in charge already, the US really does need someone of Moist von Lipwig's calibre....

 

3 hours ago, Regularity said:

But never mind, let’s just use running down a British manufacturer as an excuse to tell everyone else how clever we are.

 2 manufacturers - the Pi lot and the Sprog lot who not only have designed and manufactured the add-on board but also set up the OS, ect.  You still would need to get a decent PSU for the Pi, a PSU for the Sprog board and probably the case for the assembly. (Say about another £30).  So £160, but still almost reasonable!

 

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

You have my sympathy there; I, too, am struggling with a vacuum cleaner the Dies-on me.

 

I'm just about to dump two Dyson uprights which are more trouble than they're worth.  I've also got a couple of the handhelds, that look like 50s Ray Guns. The charger for one has died, luckily I have the others charger otherwise they would be ditched too!

 

I wonder how many of their washing machines are still functional???

 

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5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

If you don't mind me saying, what you chaps Stateside need is someone who can keep an eye on your postal service ....

 

636484196_GoingPostal-ReacherGuilt.jpg.27476a3a4a74aa1e4680f4e4577c75ea.jpg

 

I think that is precisely what they have got, though de Joy doesn't have an eyepatch or a beard...

 

 

 

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Additionally tonight I have just completed and tested a MERG system using a CANUSB4 and A CANCMD. With JMRI on the laptop I was running the loco and using the functions with the JMRI throttle.  The two MERG units and the PSU cost £52 plus some postage.  Admittedly I did have to solder up the kits but no worse than putting an etched kit together. As the laptop has wifi I should be able to run the JMRI WiThrottle sever to allow phones to control locos. 

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Smart phones, harumph. 

 

Historians tell us that Alexander Graham Bell is remembered because he invented the telephone. This is of course complete drivel.

 

Engineers will tell you that Alexander Graham Bell is remembered because he invented the first pair of telephones.  Which is entirely logical. 

 

Off to clean windows, which I will explain later. 

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