Castle Aching

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

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

 

 

Speaking of '50's manufacturing  and Dyson washing machines, there was a washing machine manufacturer in Sth Australia that reckoned now that he'd got washing machines sorted, he'd knock up a sportscar and came up with the Lightburn Zeta. Take that, Dyson.

 

 

And not getting into the state of conservative politicians debate other than to add that ours are entertaining at least.

 

 

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, Donw said:

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. 

Not everyone wants to assemble kits, though: get something out of the box, assemble it, and use it.

Cost in your time and the price difference starts to erode.

But if it makes you happier, would you like a gold star as well?

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, Donw said:

I had son much trouble with my Android smart phone which seems to wilfully misinterpret my finger actions

I have genuine difficulty with touch screens in any shape or form. I don't know why but there it is. I thought about a Blackberry but the keys are very small. I also thought about a Galaxy S7 (I think) that had a proper keypad as an accessory but by the time I'd stopped thinking, and went to do something about it, it had gone off the market. That's why I stick to a dumbphone.

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

"World class", then. Bound to be.

No irony required. Sprog products are indeed world class (usual disclaimer).

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

a PSU for the Sprog board

Included:

 

https://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/pi-sprog-3-system

 

Usual disclaimer again.

[TheQ]

My phone is much more advanced than the ones above.... 

It floats and bounces,  due to its rubber case... I know me ( my other hobby is sailing) 

Has the same number of buttons though. 

 

I've got a couple of books,  which describe how to use any old serial ported PC and about £10 worth of components + a box for your hand controller to make a DDC controller.  

I have plenty of old PC parts so the home layout will have that system.. 

 

The exhibition layout already has a commercial DDC system,  that I inherited with it. But had it not,  I'm not sure I'd do some sort of home made system for it. 

 

 

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

And not getting into the state of conservative politicians debate other than to add that ours are entertaining at least.

 

 

 

If you look at any pic of Bob Katter there is always someone standing just behind him - that's the chap who operates the wires to make his mouth move ......

[Nearholmer]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Lightburn Zeta

That looks like a very close cousin of the rather bonkers cars that one of my bros collects/restores, made from motorbike engines, army surplus bed frames, and fibreglass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Cars 
 

He toured his best resto from England to the southern tip of Spain and back, which is some going at c500cc.

 

He goes for anything with a two-stroke engine, so has a great variety of weedy, noisy, smelly, underpowered scooters, cars etc - they are immense fun!

 

 

[brack]

I hear a lot of criticism about Dysons, I dont particularly like the man - all mouth about britain, being a british company, whilst offshoring his manufacturing and taxes to the far east, but the vacuum we have is a Dyson, came to us secondhand from a family member and must be at least 15 now if not more (we've had it over 10 years). It is routinely abused to hoover up brick dust, building rubble, plaster, hamster food, plastic balls and polystyrene bits, hair from my haircuts...

The filter is rarely cleaned and I usually whack the cycloney bit on the wheels bin to get the crap out, yet the thing still goes.

 

I wont pay the prices Dyson ask for a new one, but its suffered a lot and keeps going.

[uax6]

18 hours ago, Dave John said:

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. 

 

Indeed, it was of course Elisha Gray that invented the telephone....

 

Andy G

[webbcompound]

5 minutes ago, uax6 said:

 

Indeed, it was of course Elisha Gray that invented the telephone....

 

Andy G

Dash it all! And I was convinced it was Signor Ronaldo Telephone.

[jcredfer]

21 hours ago, wagonman said:

 

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

 

 

 

 

In public maybe.....?    

 

What he does in private may be another matter.....         although, he and his hero might yet combine to cause enough damage to create more chaos than acceptable, through sowing sufficient public doubts.

 

Julian

 

[CKPR]

On 21/08/2020 at 16:28, Nearholmer said:

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).

 

 

 

 

 Part 4

 

Most surviving 1950s technology can be readily updated using simple tools, basic skills and modern components - my hi-fi equipment includes a pair of rebuilt Quad II amplifiers, a Garrard 301 turntable and an SME 3009 tone arm, all essentially 1950s designs. I'm in the process of rebuilding the Quad 22 pre-amp and whilst I will be simplifying the circuitry to remove some obsolete input options from the 1950s and will be using modern components, the basic design is sound and extremely easy and satisfying to work on. When that's done, I might get my pair  of Decca ribbon horn speakers out and ponder building a cabinet for them.

Edited August 24, 2020 by CKPR

[webbcompound]

8 hours ago, CKPR said:

 Part 4

 

Most surviving 1950s technology can be readily updated using simple tools, basic skills and modern components - my hi-fi equipment includes a pair of rebuilt Quad II amplifiers, a Garrard 301 turntable and an SME 3009 tone arm, all essentially 1950s designs. I'm in the process of rebuilding the Quad 22 pre-amp and whilst I will be simplifying the circuitry to remove some obsolete input options from the 1950s and will be using modern components, the basic design is sound and extremely easy and satisfying to work on. When that's done, I might get my pair Decca ribbon horn speakers out and ponder building a cabinet for them.

 Yeh, but it will be difficult to fit all that into a body shell, even in O guage, no?

[CKPR]

20 minutes ago, webbcompound said:

 Yeh, but it will be difficult to fit all that into a body shell, even in O guage, no?

That's why we need to return to pre-group railway modelling and go back to gauge 2 and gauge 3 and less of this fiddly gauge 0 nonsense - more room for the valve-powered analogue sound effects  ! 

[Nearholmer]

Wind-up gramophone on a well wagon, that’s what you need for sound affects.

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

19 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Wind-up gramophone on a well wagon, that’s what you need for sound affects.

 

 

That's a little too hi-tech for some of us - I'd suggest one of Mr Edison's cylinder phonographs on a well wagon.  

 

Or Monsieur Edouard Leon Scott de Martinville's use of a lamp blacked paper cylinder from 1857 (Phonoautograph) is sufficiently ancient to appeal to the traditionalists amongst us. It appears to have reproduced the sound of the human voice very akin to the sound of a steam engine starting up. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonautograph

 

The smoke from our model steam engines could be recycled to coat the paper.  

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Malcolm 0-6-0

[Hroth]

16 hours ago, CKPR said:

Most surviving 1950s technology can be readily updated using simple tools, basic skills and modern components - my hi-fi equipment includes a pair of rebuilt Quad II amplifiers, a Garrard 301 turntable and an SME 3009 tone arm, all essentially 1950s designs. I'm in the process of rebuilding the Quad 22 pre-amp and whilst I will be simplifying the circuitry to remove some obsolete input options from the 1950s and will be using modern components, the basic design is sound and extremely easy and satisfying to work on. When that's done, I might get my pair  of Decca ribbon horn speakers out and ponder building a cabinet for them.

 

7 hours ago, webbcompound said:

 Yeh, but it will be difficult to fit all that into a body shell, even in O guage, no?

 

Well......

 

The Quad/Garrard/SME setup sounds wonderful, Obviously such equipment would probably require at least a 7.5" gauge layout with a rotary convertor to power it all.  It would probably be better suited to an under-board position replaying recorded ambient sounds from a Ferrograph tape deck, say a Series 5...

 

 

 

If you wanted a nice little valve amplifier, capable of playing hardware generated white noise "steam effects", then it would be possible to do it with the wired stem valves used in early compact hearing aids, possibly with the sort of vibrator power pack that was used in valve car radios.

 

It wouldn't fit anything below O gauge, and then you'd have to fit the amp/noise generator/power pack in one coach and batteries in another. The electronics coach had better be metal bodied to dissipate the heat...

 

5 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Wind-up gramophone on a well wagon, that’s what you need for sound affects.

 

5 hours ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

That's a little too hi-tech for some of us - I'd suggest one of Mr Edison's cylinder phonographs on a well wagon.  

 

Completely out of gauge on anything below 1:12 scale!

 

This, however, might not be unreasonable?

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Hroth
Some more thorts...

[Nearholmer]

The alternative, of course, is to stand in the centre of the room as a train circulates going “chuffa-chuffa-chuffa .......” (obviously varied according to number of cylinders, valve gear type, load, regulator setting, cut-off etc).

 

Works for me!

[Hroth]

Or just chant "I think I can, I think I can" uphill and "I knew I could, I knew I could" downhill!

 

How about a resonator in the tender with some sandpaper on a piece of sprung bronze, catching an eccentric mounted on an axle?  Simple enough...

[Nearholmer]

It’s been done, and there is a tinplate French railcar that has a resonator that makes “engine sounds” (a horrible noise actually), made by Joustra I think, in the 1950s.

[Annie]

I think I had some old Marx engines at one time that used a similar system.  They certainly produced a sound, but the sound wasn't really what a steam engine should be making unless it was in need of repair.

[Edwardian]

I'm on a virtual holiday, in Middle Earth, so a postcard to say I'm thinking of you all...

 

 Thistle & Rose

 

[brianusa]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

I think I had some old Marx engines at one time that used a similar system.  They certainly produced a sound, but the sound wasn't really what a steam engine should be making unless it was in need of repair.

 

One of the first basic sets of the "New" Lionel years ago included a plastic engine with a enclosed wheel in the tender containing ball bearings which rotated by running on the middle rail.  I've heard worse imitation chuff effects

        Brian.

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The alternative, of course, is to stand in the centre of the room as a train circulates going “chuffa-chuffa-chuffa .......” (obviously varied according to number of cylinders, valve gear type, load, regulator setting, cut-off etc).

 

Works for me!

You are Reginald Gardiner and I claim my five pounds.