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EM/P4 forum


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Hi Truffy,

 

A couple of links you may find useful for your conversions regardless of gauge. First off wagons; http://www.clag.org.uk/rewheelingwagons.html

 The second for doing a Pannier; http://www.ultrascale.com/sites/default/files/reviews/review01.pdf . Converting the Pannier using Gibsons is a tad more difficult but not so bad as to be discouraging. the basic premise is the same but you will want to pad out the frame with plasticard so the wheels don't flop about.

 

The CLAG site http://www.clag.org.uk/ has all sorts of good information no matter what your gauge.

 

Cheers,

 

David

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OK - first I have not read the whole thread but it seems to have gone a bit off topic.  So, to get back to the original question, in my opinion there should not be separate forums for EM and P4, they are after all both 4mm so it is only the track, wheel and compensation aspects that differ.  You could argue that there should be an OO forum....  The Scalefour Forum is viewable without having to belong to the Society, and if you want to get more involved then perhaps it is time to join.  I'm sure the same goes for the EM Gauge Society.

 

What I get from RM Web is posts from people with similar company/period/region interests regardless of scale or gauge - these can be adapted as required.   I like to hear member's experiences with specific kits or other products and advice when requested.  Most questions regarding EM/P4 conversions or track can fit into the existing forum structure.

 

Jeff

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The best choice is to have TWO sub forums - one for EM, the other for P4. Then those that don't like one of them, or indeed both (and as this thread [not that I've read it all], suggests there are plenty of those) can ignore it/them.

Not for people who use both it isn't! In fact the layout I'm planning at the moment will be a combination of the two!

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I mentioned it back in post 17, including the fact that you can post without being a member... :mosking:

 

And I mentioned both facts in post #2.

 

Which simply illustrates the problem. RMweb is full of all kinds of info -- if you can find it.

 

The original suggestion for a separate forum was to overcome the searching problem of not being able to search for 2-character terms such as EM and P4. If we could do that we wouldn't need a separate forum.

 

Martin.

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The original suggestion for a separate forum was to overcome the searching problem of not being able to search for 2-character terms such as EM and P4. If we could do that we wouldn't need a separate forum.

 

Martin.

 

And as you pointed out in post #3 - there is no such problem. All one has to do is use google correctly and it will search even a two letter term. The search engine within forums has always been an issue - why should the forum software folk reinvent the wheel when google does such a good job and is, after all, their speciality.

 

Removing the internal search and directing all to use google might save some of the speed and data issues.

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And as you pointed out in post #3 - there is no such problem. All one has to do is use google correctly and it will search even a two letter term. The search engine within forums has always been an issue - why should the forum software folk reinvent the wheel when google does such a good job and is, after all, their speciality.

 

Removing the internal search and directing all to use google might save some of the speed and data issues.

 

Yes, but as I also pointed out it produces far too many results displayed in a seemingly random order. The advantage of a forum's native search is that the results are by default returned in date order. This is important when a lot of discussion relates to reviews of new products, current availability of old products, up-to-date contact details, latest news of members projects, and similar information.

 

Adjusting the native search to allow 2 characters or more if all in upper case or containing a numeric character would be a vast improvement to RMweb.

 

Or even better, remove the restriction entirely, and simply have a list of common short words which are ignored when not part of a quoted phrase. This is the approach adopted by most search engines and indexing software.

 

Martin.

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Another argument against having sub-forums in 4mm is that there will probably a clamor for a P87, P48, S7, 2mm Finescale etc., etc.

 

Oh, hang on a minute.............

 

Seriously, though, to say you model in P4/S4 does not make you a better modeller - just take a look at Gordon's Eastwood Town (in progress). Wonderful trackwork.

 

Best, Pete.

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why should the forum software folk reinvent the wheel when google does such a good job and is, after all, their speciality.

 

They don't actually do much themselves -- RMweb's searching uses the open-source Sphinx functions: http://sphinxsearch.com

 

See this recent post from IPS: http://community.invisionpower.com/topic/393640-searching-on-forums-is-totally-unreliable/?do=findComment&comment=2437128

 

Andy can change the 4-character limit in the RMweb control panel but is apparently advised not to do so for reasons of efficiency.

 

I'm puzzled that the 4-character limit is in that topic blamed on MySql, when most other forums based on MySql databases don't have such a restriction. For example you can search for EM on the Templot Club forum without any apparent difficulty: http://85a.co.uk/forum/search.php?s=1&q=EM

 

Martin.

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All one has to do is use google correctly and it will search even a two letter term.

Well, that's really intuitive, isn't it? Use Google's search engine from outside the forum, rather than use the forum search based on...Google. :rolleyes:

 

Seriously, though, to say you model in P4/S4 does not make you a better modeller

Seriously though, I never said it did. And that's not really the point.

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Well, that's really intuitive, isn't it? Use Google's search engine from outside the forum, rather than use the forum search based on...Google. :rolleyes:

 

But it isn't - see Martin's post above.

 

Google does have the ability to be personalised somewhat but you do have to lean how to use it. IIRC you can apply a date sort order.

 

So you end up with a reference tab listing the posts in Google and then open each "interesting" searched item in separate tabs..... closing then quickly when you find it is only yet another gauge war :D ... just like the Active/New Topics option.

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I have a dream... One day all finescale 4mm modellers will work together, regardless of gauge!

 

Do we really need to be separated by a few mm? (I'll probably be thrown out of the Scalefour Society for saying this!)

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick

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Gents,

 

Perhaps.........

 

There is room for a segregated area in much the same way as there is for

Prototype

UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)              UK Prototype Questions

 

which, I assume, was arranged so that (specifically) questions didn't get lost in general discussion. Which puts me in mind of the OP's question:-

 

".............where the previously received wisdom could be kept together in one repository?"

 

I'm wearing mi flack jacket. :scared:

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There have been approximately 87 threads on this subject since 2007.

Which just goes to show that it's a common(ish) problem.

 

One way of not cluttering RMW with threads on this subject, is to corral those threads in one place where they can be found/ignored with ease.

 

GOTO 10
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