gordon s Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 42 minutes ago, pirouets said: So is the course still open but with no Bar? As the gym is closed whilst I haven't played for 8 months I do wonder whether the bats by the front door may come in handy over the coming months. I saw one club was playing with raised cups and if you hit the cup its in. That way no germs left on the flag. Hope the doc gives you the thumbs up. You've got it. No bar, no halfway house serving food and drink. The only concession is access to the toilet. I thought it was just us, but as you say the cups are lifted 1" above the ground. No lipping out, just hit the rim and it's in. Of course we'll all be arguing now about did it just graze the plastic cup or not..... All this and our annual renewals arrived.... I've been there 8 years and the fees have gone up most years. This year another 3.75% and our course is already expensive compared to the others around us. The problem is the membership is what makes it and it's local for most. It does seem a little incongruous with all that's going on....I hope that doesn't come back to haunt them as it's a well run club with a great atmosphere. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buhar Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Despite the cost, you obviously have a huge affinity for your club, Gordon and possibly you pays for quality. I really hope you are able to continue and that the club takes measures everywhere (car park, washrooms) to maintain safe distancing. Unfortunately, I fear there will be a couple of clubs who try to get round things and that could result in an edict that ruins it for the rest (see National Trust parklands). Alan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 55 minutes ago, martin_wynne said: Hi Gordon, You need to set MOVIE AF MODE to CONTINUOUS. (Icon looks like double-insulated symbol ). See page 88 in the X10 Owners Manual. Start with a fully-charged battery in that mode, you should hear the camera continuously focusing. You might find it helps to switch FACE DETECTION on -- or not. Space for a joke about Thomas The Tank Engine: cheers, Martin. Thanks Martin. I have tried AF Continuous in the menu settings and have added face detection on. There are two issues as I see it. The original video had the camera stood on the platform and I suspect the focal length was the problem as the train was getting very close to the camera and inside the focal length envelope. With this video, I have the camera on a tripod, but have zoomed in slightly. I think by doing that, I've created the same problem with a moving object too close to the focal length limitations. Perhaps it's just not suited to closer objects. The second issue is that the camera is focussing on the buildings and doesn't seem to want to move as a moving object moves through the centre of the frame. I've just gone back into the menu and noticed that having face detection on, invalidates the continuous focus mode and you can't access that with face detection off, so I guess that's not helping. This is what is happening.... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 1 hour ago, gordon s said: You've got it. No bar, no halfway house serving food and drink. The only concession is access to the toilet. I thought it was just us, but as you say the cups are lifted 1" above the ground. No lipping out, just hit the rim and it's in. Of course we'll all be arguing now about did it just graze the plastic cup or not..... All this and our annual renewals arrived.... I've been there 8 years and the fees have gone up most years. This year another 3.75% and our course is already expensive compared to the others around us. The problem is the membership is what makes it and it's local for most. It does seem a little incongruous with all that's going on....I hope that doesn't come back to haunt them as it's a well run club with a great atmosphere. Over the years at my first club this conversation reared up every year, we had a large and active and friendly swindle on both Saturday and Sunday (one of several in the club) plus very active competitions. Of those who went to pastures new, many returned as they found the new club was now as welcoming and or friendly The quality of the members is as important as the quality of the course and clubhouse, nothing worse than being a member of a soulless club, or playing on a substandard course 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted March 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 22, 2020 Its that increase every year over inflation that can become the pain. Years ago where I played they gave us a £500 increase because they had built a gym and we had no choice whether to join it or not. In the end I left 4 years ago as in this is not my first grump with golf and I found out just how much the gym made up of my fees. If I could have paid the subs without the gym I would have never left and often thought they would have filled there golf membership if they had an option which would have out weighed the loss of gym memberships. Went to the other extreme and the cheapest club near me for a couple of years. Whilst the course has its gremlins I still enjoyed the people but again ran in to my frustration at lack of time to practice and stopped last July, but things have changed some what since then and I have a bit more time so we shall see. I also know that where Gordon plays they have some fairly grand plans so I doubt this is the last increase either but when you find a good bunch you want to stick there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted March 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, gordon s said: I have tried AF Continuous in the menu settings and have added face detection on. There are two issues as I see it. The original video had the camera stood on the platform and I suspect the focal length was the problem as the train was getting very close to the camera and inside the focal length envelope. With this video, I have the camera on a tripod, but have zoomed in slightly. I think by doing that, I've created the same problem with a moving object too close to the focal length limitations. Perhaps it's just not suited to closer objects. The second issue is that the camera is focussing on the buildings and doesn't seem to want to move as a moving object moves through the centre of the frame. I've just gone back into the menu and noticed that having face detection on, invalidates the continuous focus mode and you can't access that with face detection off, so I guess that's not helping. Hi Gordon, I've been looking at the manual. The movie options are a bit restricted. Make sure the AF ILLUMINATOR lamp is set to on. The closest focusing normally is 500mm/20", there is a Macro mode for close-ups, but it's not available for movies. However, the answer may be on page 109 of the manual -- you need a 52mm close-up lens: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polaroid-4-Piece-Close-Up-Photography-Diopter/dp/B003UI0194/ (those are cheapos, other makes and qualities are available ). Those could make a big difference. Try some still photos first to see which one (or several combined) gives the best results at your typical subject distance. As regards the general focusing, I see the frame rate is 30fps, so the shutter speed is effectively 1/30th of a second and clearly the lens is wide open, or nearly so. There's no option to adjust the ISO sensitivity in movie mode, so your only way to get a smaller aperture (for better depth of field) would seem to be to increase the lighting. Can you get more light on it? Even better would be daylight of course -- have you got a large mirror you could reflect some light from the skylights onto the subject? You could try a home-made reduced aperture using some aluminium cooking foil (+Blu-Tack?) on the front of the lens with a tiny hole in the middle of it, say 1/2mm or 1mm diameter for starters. The camera will respond to the reduced light by increasing the ISO to maximum, so the image might be a bit noisy (mottled), and there may be some colour fringeing (try black & white instead?), but it will have a better chance of being all in focus. cheers, Martin. Edited March 22, 2020 by martin_wynne 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 Thanks Martin. Odd one. The AF illuminator is set to ON, but I can't ever recall seeing the light come on. I have searched a bit and found this, so tried switching into silent mode, but then I couldn't change anything in Illuminator mode, without switching out of silent mode. I have two photographic tripod lamps, each with numerous bulbs in, that I bought years ago for eBay photography. They were so time consuming to set up and use, that I never really bothered with them (something else to sell on eBay). I've had the camera for years and it has its quirks in terms of switching on/off and possibly an illuminator light that doesn't work. The batteries are always on charge as they don't seem to last very long. Apart from that, it's fine...... Maybe now is the time to change it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Definitely time to pension off my Fuji or just keep it for still photography. Just a trial at this point, but this is my old iPhone 6 and it's a big improvement. Maybe I won't bother to invest in another camera right now..... 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Todays challenge. One of the prettiest LNER loco's, a D16/3, kit build from Graham Varley. Stuck away in a drawer for years and busting to get out.... ....but of course it's DC and I'm running DCC. This one will need some thought. I hadn't seen a Portescap up close before. What a work of art! I had no idea if they were still available, but a web search brought up Portescap in RS. Staggered by the pricing..... This one appears to have a live chassis and pickups on one side of the tender. The loco and tender must be one polarity, with insulated wheels on the tender and loco providing the other. The connection to the motor appears to be under a plastic cover and I don't really want to disturb that. There isn't a lot of room within the body, so I may put the decoder in the tender and run the wiring through to the loco. Having now got the chassis out, I'll check it all with a digital vernier to see if there is clearance inside the boiler, but first impressions are it will be too small to fit a Zimo. Of the various loco's I have boxed away, there is just something about this one that deserves to be run again. I'll need to check if they were still running in the early 60's, but if not Rule 1 will apply.... Edit: Good grief, you don't see one for years and the first search brings one up on eBay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LITTLE-ENGINES-OO-SCALE-KIT-BUILT-D16-3-LOCO-AND-TENDER-4-4-0-62529-T4-/192792770915 Edited March 23, 2020 by gordon s 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted March 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, gordon s said: Todays challenge. One of the prettiest LNER loco's, a D16/3, kit build from Graham Varley. Stuck away in a drawer for years and busting to get out.... ....but of course it's DC and I'm running DCC. This one will need some thought. I hadn't seen a Portescap up close before. What a work of art! I had no idea if they were still available, but a web search brought up Portescap in RS. Staggered by the pricing..... This one appears to have a live chassis and pickups on one side of the tender. The loco and tender must be one polarity, with insulated wheels on the tender and loco providing the other. The connection to the motor appears to be under a plastic cover and I don't really want to disturb that. There isn't a lot of room within the body, so I may put the decoder in the tender and run the wiring through to the loco. Having now got the chassis out, I'll check it all with a digital vernier to see if there is clearance inside the boiler, but first impressions are it will be too small to fit a Zimo. Of the various loco's I have boxed away, there is just something about this one that deserves to be run again. I'll need to check if they were still running in the early 60's, but if not Rule 1 will apply.... Edit: Good grief, you don't see one for years and the first search brings one up on eBay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LITTLE-ENGINES-OO-SCALE-KIT-BUILT-D16-3-LOCO-AND-TENDER-4-4-0-62529-T4-/192792770915 Last one went in 1960 Gordon, but that had kept its lovely valances. 1959 for the one you have. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Thanks Gilbert. That was quick..... Oh b*gger, rule 1 again...... Edited March 23, 2020 by gordon s 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted March 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2020 There's something appealing about 4-4-0s, reached their zenith in Edwardian times in my opinion. Portescaps sadly went out of production a few years ago, they were great runners and you could turn the loco's wheels without disconnecting the motor. Slaters Plastikard make their own version SG4 at £90 a pop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Did they go bust and re emerge or just sell up? These came up on a search and the branding is similar.. https://www.portescap.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john dew Posted March 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2020 Hi Gordon You may already know this but I seem to remember that you need to be careful with some Cv settings (BEMF?) when chipping portescaps......sorry that is so vague but a bit of research may be worthwhile. Like you I am a big fan of Zimo.......the budget versions at 20 quid are amazing value Keep well John 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted March 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2020 14 minutes ago, gordon s said: Did they go bust and re emerge or just sell up? These came up on a search and the branding is similar.. https://www.portescap.com I seem to think production ceased in the 1990s? But I don't recall why. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Thanks for that info on Portescaps and decoders, John. I used to use MX64’s but now changed to the smaller MX630R. Bit of an overkill using a multi function decoder in a steam loco, but at the time I bought them, I wasn’t aware of the new low cost version. I’ll probably save these for diesels where I need those additional functions. Edit: Could have been this..... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/81651-dcc-with-portescap-rg4/ Edited March 23, 2020 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwordsmith Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Hornsby went through a phase of connecting one side to the loco and tender to the other Tgey often gut stuck on insulfrig crossovers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Having bussed it through, the whole loco body and tender are live with insulated wheels on the other side providing the other feed. One side of the tender wheels are also live, so two wires from the tender to the loco provide pick up on 5 axles. No problem with a decoder. It will slide down inside the boiler. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Gordon You may need to separate the issues of Live Frame and coreless motors I am a DC person and whilst know the very basics of DCC , I will leave the real teckey stuff to those in the know. d Live frame chassis are an issue in DCC whether its a coreless or normal motor.But its when one piece shorts out against another when the polarity of the chassis differs Live frame chassis are OK with coreless motors Not too certain what make of wheels you have, If Markits swap non-insulated for insulated, if Gibson/ similar, remove the shorting out wire. Either way this would require additional pickups or just insulate the chassis to the body Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buhar Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Only from what I've read, but the thinking now seems to be that Portescaps were over-hyped. They were advocated by some fine (and finescale) modellers and certainly they were an improvement on the open frame motors common at the time. However things have moved on and today's quite cheap motors are more than good enough. Tony Wright and Mike Edge have thoughts on the lubricant used on Portescaps and Tony reckons they whine. Sell it and fit something else. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Maybe I’m missing something John. The motor has two insulated terminals, so is not live to the chassis. One of the wires goes to the chassis and the second to the pick up wires. With a decoder the red and black go to the pickups, so one will go to the pickups and the second to the chassis. The orange and grey then go to the motor, so providing the motor is not live, there shouldn’t be an issue. Of course I’ll go and check it now.... A Bachman split chassis does have the motor connected to each chassis half, but all you do is break that link with insulated wires to the motor. I then drill and tap each chassis half and add a solder tag to connect to each half of the split chassis and take wires back to the decoder. Works really well until the plastic axles fall apart....... 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 From what I have read coreless motors are far superior, that why they are used in medical equipment and CD players, but with Portiscape it was also the efficiency of the bevel gears over the worm style Motors have got better as gave gearboxes, do be careful on cheap motors from China, obviously some are perfect for our requirements, others are either nasty or far too fast Gearboxes have come on a long way, as have motors. High Lever offer a wide range of types and styles that are easy to build and work like a Swiss watch, Chris now supplies a choice of 2 coreless motors both under £30 each So smooth and quiet In a standard Road Runner 3 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, gordon s said: Maybe I’m missing something John. The motor has two insulated terminals, so is not live to the chassis. One of the wires goes to the chassis and the second to the pick up wires. With a decoder the red and black go to the pickups, so one will go to the pickups and the second to the chassis. The orange and grey then go to the motor, so providing the motor is not live, there shouldn’t be an issue. Of course I’ll go and check it now.... A Bachman split chassis does have the motor connected to each chassis half, but all you do is break that link with insulated wires to the motor. I then drill and tap each chassis half and add a solder tag to connect to each half of the split chassis and take wires back to the decoder. Works really well until the plastic axles fall apart....... The motor is totally insulated from its own frame, one wire goes to the loco's live chassis the other to the pickups. You can use a live chassis (just be carefull all stock is insulated and on Double headed running) on DCC, its just not advised. Simple wiring 2 wires from the chassis to the decoder, one from the pickup, the other from the frame, then 2 wires to the motor, Other accessories in the loco may cause issues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 I hadn’t heard that before, but suspect that’s because the majority of my loco’s have plastic bodies. Thinking about it kit built stock with a metal body may be a problem via buffers. OK if using plastic couplings that prevent buffers touching, but even then it would only be a problem if the second loco had a live chassis..... I need a lie down to think this one through some more. Thanks for the input, John, certainly food for thought or I may see the smoke of death from a Zimo........ 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john dew Posted March 23, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2020 1 hour ago, gordon s said: Thanks for that info on Portescaps and decoders, John. I used to use MX64’s but now changed to the smaller MX630R. Bit of an overkill using a multi function decoder in a steam loco, but at the time I bought them, I wasn’t aware of the new low cost version. I’ll probably save these for diesels where I need those additional functions. Edit: Could have been this..... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/81651-dcc-with-portescap-rg4/ Yes that would be the one.....another "may come in useful" I stored away. As an aside most of the DJM locos have coreless motors including Hattons 14xx (ok to mention GWR here I hope)....... a very disappointing runner....I fitted a Zimo and some stay alive tantalums and the loco's performance was transformed. Its now totally reliable operating automatically with RR&Co. I bought the Zimo from Youchoos and John Gymer advised me to set CV 56 to 22 (I normally accept the default : 55) .....Page 19 in the Zimo Manual may be of use Cheers John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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