hayfield Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 48 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said: Gordon, would some small bells attached to the fishing line possibly scare them off when they brush against the line. 240 volts a lot better 1 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted May 21, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 21, 2020 44 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said: Gordon, would some small bells attached to the fishing line possibly scare them off when they brush against the line. Probably not, but one of these might; Mike. 1 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Siberian Snooper said: Gordon, would some small bells attached to the fishing line possibly scare them off when they brush against the line. Possibly.....I've tried most things. The best was the water jet scarer that worked on IR similar to outside lights. Problem was you had to leave the hose full on every night, so if a hose connection gave way under the pressure, you'd lose a lot of water under mains pressure. It was a good idea for a product but poorly engineered. The fittings were cheap and you couldn't leave it out in winter as it froze up and the various plastic joints etc gave up under ice expansion. Herons are beautiful birds and protected and as animal lovers we would never hurt one. I may have posted this before, but this was a few years ago.... I can't speak right now, I've got my mouth full..... 6 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold farren Posted May 21, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 21, 2020 (edited) We had a heron land on the greenhouse eyeing up the pond a few months back. Though where the pond is the heron might be able to get down to it there’s no way it could take of again, if needed fast other then get back on to the green house turn then fly away. The trouble for the heron is a Jenny comes flying down from the that direction. Haven’t seen it since. Maybe you should get a Jenny, they also kill rats! And leaves them for the fox. oh forgot this is a Jenny Edited June 8, 2020 by farren Spelling why else 11 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 7 hours ago, gordon s said: the big b*ggers eat everything including their children. Amazing more species don't, quite frankly. It'd bring the survivors into line pretty quick. 2 1 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 I think I have the perfect solution to your heron problem, Gordon, which combines garden railways and wildlife defense. Build a circuit of 00 track round the pond, and set up an IR detector to trigger whenever the heron appears. Then get a DCC Sound chipped A4 with the volume wound up to ludicrous, and let it loose. Al. 4 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) I'm sure the neighbours would appreciate that. The b*gger (or one of his mates) was back again this morning just before 5.00am....... It will be fine once we can get the planting under way to stop access, but right now we are vulnerable. The saving grace is that the open end is the deep end (4') and herons tend to go in at the shallow end and stand in the water until a delicacy swims past. The pic is our neighbours garage and I just had to stand and watch as he skilfully turned the fish around and the swallowed it whole. Talk about rubbing your nose in it.... Jenny would be a real asset..... Edited May 22, 2020 by gordon s 2 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post Clive Mortimore Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted May 22, 2020 My late Father in Law had a heron problem with his pond, so he bought a plastic one on the understanding that if a heron sees another one already at a pond it will fly past not wanting a territorial fight. No this one attracted others who would come down and try and mate with it. 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 44 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said: My late Father in Law had a heron problem I misread that as “heroin problem”, which led to an awful lot of confusion over the rest of your post! 1 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 22, 2020 Gordon, a friend of mine has a similar problem, not herons though and has just invested in some pea netting which is quite fine and at a few yards is almost invisible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 Is electric fencing allowed? Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said: Is electric fencing allowed? Mike. Hi Mike Not sure if it is allowed on ponds but we have it around the paddocks. I can be (un)happily working in one and Mrs M forgets (so she tells me) I am and turns it on. OOOOOUCH !!!! as I brush up against it. Edited May 22, 2020 by Clive Mortimore 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 I appreciate it was mentioned earlier, but at the time I took it as 240v and a bit of a laugh. Clive's post has reminded me when we lived in a rented place on a farm and they had similar fencing. Found this and it could work, depending on Jackie's view regarding the dogs. Could be an answer as the dogs rarely go near the pond, but approval would be required..... https://www.gallagher.eu/en_gb/heron-fence 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 19 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said: Gordon, would some small bells attached to the fishing line possibly scare them off when they brush against the line. It was a bit of a joke, but reminded me of the day I played FFestiniog Golf course, the sheep keep the rough down but I assume the fairways are mowed. The greens are protected by an electric wire system, now if you failed to lift your leg high enough you got an electric shock. Joys of mountain golf !! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Gallagher offers a special heron kit to protect the fish in your garden pond against herons and other fish stealers. It’s a very safe and effective electric fence system, and it is suitable for all ponds. The heron kit has material for a length of 25 meters, but can easily be extended to the required length by adding extra posts and wire. The heron kit is also suitable for protecting your fish against other fish stealers, such as cats. Any idea how long a meter is? Do they mean gas or electric.... I know I need to get a life, but it just jumped out at me...... 1 2 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 43 minutes ago, gordon s said: Any idea how long a meter is? Do they mean gas or electric.... I asked about that for the social distancing. According to Facebook it is 2 gas meters you have to keep between you. 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 1 hour ago, martin_wynne said: I asked about that for the social distancing. According to Facebook it is 2 gas meters you have to keep between you. Wow, that's some distance if they are Schlumberger 5000's! Mike. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted May 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2020 4 hours ago, gordon s said: Any idea how long a meter is? Well, if it was an iambic pentameter, I would hazard a guess at five feet... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted May 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2020 14 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said: Mrs M forgets (so she tells me) Sure. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted June 7, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 7, 2020 (edited) Evening one and all. Hope you are all well and keeping out of the way of Covid 19.... I've never done some much gardening in my life.... I'm not allowed near plants, so I get all the labouring and the last few weeks have been spent cutting up 8 x 4 sleepers to make raised flower beds. Thankfully I bought a great piece of kit a couple of years ago that has proven invaluable. I'm a great believer in not skimping on tools and have often found buying a quality tool, doing the job in hand and then selling it on eBay is cheaper than hiring a decent bit of kit. I invested in a Festool Sword Saw which is a cross between a chain saw and a rail saw and it happily cuts through 8 x 4 timber with compound angles as though it was 2 x 1. Once the job is complete and it's no longer needed, then it will go on eBay to recoup most if not all my outlay. On the golf front, I managed to get out a few times and it was enjoyable, but my mind kept wandering back to ET and how to control and visualise routes that are easily visible whilst operating. I made the decision to go with the components from DCC Concepts to build a mimic panel and have been working with Martin W on Templot to create a schematic drawing of ET station and all the approaches. It's gone very well and as always the support from Martin has been first class. Templot is a great programme, but the depth of the software capabilities knows no bounds, so I am often struggling to do things which are fairly simple once you know the menus. If you were using it every day, then it's second nature, but using it in short bursts and then not touching it for months is always going to be difficult and it can take several days to recall how to do things. Pleased to say the schematic is in reasonable shape, but now it's opened a whole can of worms. I sat down this evening and started planning the various routes that will be programmed into my ECoS. Bear in mind I've been running trains round and round for several weeks, so my findings tonight have surprised me and I'll need to think about the implications. Here's the schematic.... I've labelled up the up and down tracks and the various platform numbers and then highlighted which track can go to which platform. Clearly I've favoured the left hand side and the right must have been a case of get it done and let's run something..... Track 3 and 4 can go to any platform (ex 3B) from the left whereas track 1 and 2 on the right hand side are very limited in their options. Track 1 can only go to Platform 1, so I will add a crossover to track 2 that will at least allow access to 2 and 3B. Another crossover between 2 and 3 would also open up the other side and perhaps solve the problem. Likewise, a second crossover between 2 and 1 on the left hand side would open up departures from platforms 4, 5 and 6 and would allow trains from the storage area to bypass ET, cross over all the main lines and leave via 1 or 2 on the left. It may well be I could move the existing crossover between 1 and 2 beyond the crossover from 2 and 3, so a fair bit of investigation required. I'm not unhappy about these findings, just surprised they had passed me by. I guess it’s far better to step back at this stage and make the changes than regret it for years to come. I daren't even think about the signalling implications...... Edited June 7, 2020 by gordon s 18 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustytrev Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Hello Gordon, I think most big stations had more than one signal box each with it's own section of the overall plan. Maybe you are trying to replicate the same thing but failing to consider this. After all you are trying to replicate a system that existed in such times and trying to get it to fit with modern technology? I am sure the use of multiple boxes and section plans would have been avoided if technology at the time had permitted. Regards. trustytrev. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 On 22/05/2020 at 14:01, Clive Mortimore said: Hi Mike Not sure if it is allowed on ponds but we have it around the paddocks. I can be (un)happily working in one and Mrs M forgets (so she tells me) I am and turns it on. OOOOOUCH !!!! as I brush up against it. A friend's horse just chewed through her electric fence, didn't seem to bother him! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 (edited) Hi Trev, perhaps I’ve not explained the reasoning behind generating a mimic panel. I agree a station the size of ET would have several signal boxes to control all the signalling and pointwork, but my need to produce a single mimic panel is driven by several issues, none of which have any connection to prototypical practice. ET station is on a board 18’ long and the whole plan exists on approach curves either end with numerous turnouts. It just isn’t possible to see which way turnouts are set and 90% of the time I will be a sole operator. I bought an ECoS controller as it has the capability to control all the pointwork and allow you to set routes easily. It’s only after using it for several months do I realise the shortcomings, none of which are a problem with the controller. I’m 72 and like most of my age group, the clarity and focus of my eyesight has deteriorated quite quickly over the last 5-10 years. The strength of my glasses has increased to accommodate that and I have no problem with reading, driving or very close detail work. Each of those have their own set of challenges with depth of field and focal length so I have high magnification glasses for modelling and different sets of varifocals to match different situations. Even allowing for that, the ECoS schematic is exactly that and a relatively small screen with straight lines, bears little or no resemblance to the flowing curves of ET. For whatever reason I struggle to compare the straight line schematic to the real trackwork and found myself continually switching the wrong turnout, which most of the time couldn’t be seen from the operating position. Having a large, visible mimic panel with an led display which will clearly show the selected route will overcome that issue. The route setting facility in the ECoS is very simple to set up and use, so I plan to use that to identify an incoming line and an arrival platform, so that one button press will take care of the incoming route completely. I will also set outgoing routes from platforms that will serve the same purpose. It was whilst considering the route options that I realised some of the possible movements were restricted and could be simplified with the addition of three new crossovers. I’m not planning on running trains right across the throat of ET as an everyday event, but if I want to move trains in and out of storage then having that possibility would be beneficial. Hopefully this explains that my need for a mimic panel is nothing to do with replication of prototype practice. It’s simply to help me run the layout on my own with an easy to use, yet comprehensive control mechanism. Edited June 8, 2020 by gordon s 14 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted June 8, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2020 (edited) Gordon Sounds like a well thought through plan to me. The speed you work on track should see the changes in place very soon, then you will need to test it! Baz Edited June 8, 2020 by Barry O Spellung 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
84f Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Hello Gordon, wow I have just finished working through to the end from page 1 over a series of lockdown binge reading sessions! Your joinery and trackbuilding are a real inspiration and I intend to adopt many of your methods, so thank you for documenting. Especially pertinent as I have been refining my Templot plan ready to start ordering timber, etc. for my new layout which will be to 00-SF standards I have built PCB track to 00-SF and EM standards in the past and I intend to continue with that, as I much prefer soldered construction. I have made some test builds using Masokits etched chairs from Michael Clarke, although fiddly to fold up and build (read, therapeutic), I am very pleased with the appearance. As my layout will centre around a goods station I think the lack of chairs will be more noticeable than on a sweeping swathe of mainline. My only concern is that it is more difficult to tweak. Anwyay, I do have one question for you if I may. I was rather taken aback by the current price of pcb strip from the main suppliers which works at around £10 per yard of plain track. Although my layout will not be in the same league as ET, the expenditure will be significant, withe 20 turnouts iin the scenic section. So I have been experimenting with cutting the strip from 100 *150 mm board using a Proxxon FET table saw, and the results are now promising, after some initial failures and a modification to the table to stop the cut sleepers falling through. I am using the resin coated paper board, rather than glass fibre, but the dust and fumes still need some PPE. The cost is about 20% of the ready cut stuff. I did note that you seemed quite happy cutting your own at one time, but have gone back to buying strip from Marcway, so my question is, what was your rational for that? I am also considering experimenting with my band saw if I can work out the best blade for the purpose, I have a 14tpi blade, but I suspect 28 tpi maybe better. Cheers Robin 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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