Crosland

15 hours ago, Andymsa said:

maybe you don’t wish to comment further, but I did ask a fair question how did you test for short circuit operation without using the coin test.

Disconnect everything from the track and short the rails at the furthest point from the command station/booster. Measure the resistance between the rails where the CS was connected. Ohms law will tell you the maximum current that will flow, given your track voltage. If it's enough to trip the booster (you want some margin to allow for uncertainties such as component tolerances in the booster) then you are good to go.

On 04/05/2024 at 12:59, melmerby said:

So 60 ohms per km and current rating at a given temperature isn't a good enough description?

That wasn't in the post I quoted. It was a simple current rating, therefore my comment stands.

POM requires an address to be specified, and only that loco will be programmed.

If POM causes all locos on the layout to be programmed, then it's not POM, end of. It's either user error, sending service mode programming commands to the main track, or a bodge by a cheap manufacturer that does this deliberately.

19 hours ago, melmerby said:

The RS Pro cable has 17A rating, several other brands show 10A or more

Most DCC suppliers sell it for bus wiring and IMHO 10A is perfectly adequate.

Current ratings are meaningless unless you know the voltage drop per unit length at a given current.

Cable sold for mains wiring has a current rating, but it's rated such that the voltage drop will be within allowable limits for mains. At the same current in a 15 V DCC system, the same voltage drop would be a show stopper.

3 hours ago, cliff park said:

Having worked in electronics all my life I would say anything less than 20 volts you cannot feel, 50 volts will give a tingle, 100 volts will definitely make you jump. I have occasionally been in contact with 250 volts, really makes you jump. Try

Don't try 400 V DC. Don't ask how I know.

1 hour ago, yaxxbarl said:

Has anyone got any good recommendations on good push-to-make intermittent contact pushbutton switches as a replacement for the ones supplied with SEEP uncoupling magnets?

Are you powering them with AC or DC?

What current?

The rating for a given switch will be much lower for DC.

I've had two faulty Zimo Plux 22 decoders (albeit not rebadged Bachmann ones) recently and the supplier had experienced others. The 2nd was a replacement for the first. I needed a particular decoder type for testing, and the Plux22 was all that was available at the time. I replaced that 2nd one at my own cost with an 8-pin decoder, as I couldn't be 100% sure I wasn't doing something wrong. The supplier has now taken the 2nd Plux22 decoder back, which reminds me I must chase them up to see if I am due a refund for that one.

Definitely talk to the supplier.

On 29/03/2024 at 08:48, WIMorrison said:

I would place the operating button in the DCC input not in the DC output as this will ensure that the rectifier only operates and draws power when you want to use the uncoupler

It will also make the switch contacts last longer, if the electromagnet takes any appreciable current, as DCC is AC and any tendency to arc will be prevented every time the voltage crosses zero.

Did you set the JMRI connection preference to SPROG or SPROG Command Station? You need the former for programming on the programming track.

Use the firmware version tool in the SPROG menu of JMRI. Does it report the SPROG version? If so, that confirms the USB connection is good. If not, do you have the correct port selected ion the JMRI connection preferences?

What did you do to determine JMRI isn't sending any commands to the SPROG?

If you ask on the SPROG specific group https://groups.io/g/sprog-dcc/topics someone with direct experience may be able to help. I don't, unfortunately, have access to Mac hardware.

As Nigel says, it's best to state the specific issue, if there is one.

Andrew Crosland

sprog-dcc.co.uk

To send a moderately heavy small parcel from the UK is well into the teens of £s when you add tracking and, maybe, insurance. The £19 may be high, but it's not a total rip-off, depending on the size and weight of the parcel.

Its a USB interface, not just cable and passive components.

14 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

 

Just one knob and that is with a cord which means it doesn't really meet the original requirement for two knobs  or mobility either 🤣

So what doe the Radio on and radio status indicate?

The requirement for suppression is a basic requirement, not related to TV and, in any case, terrestrial digital TV still uses the same frequencies as analogue.

Most interference caused to TVs, at least in more recent times  is due to poor aerial installation and wiring.

What happened to soaking in coke (the liquid, drinking variety!) or scrubbing with Cif 😀

22 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

I suspect that building an e-commerce web site is the easy part. There's plenty of ways to do that for a relatively small outlay.

Exactly! I may have an advantage in having a technical background including coding, but there are free open source solutions with plenty of help available on the web. Hosting doesn't cost an arm and a leg and the maintenance is very low effort, apart from infrequent major upgrades that can be more painful. There's plenty of help available on line on various forums.

22 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

 

The bigger issues may be

• getting traffic to come to the site (major search engines can take months to index a new site) and for a lot of people, if you're not in the top three pages of a search for e.g. "white metal loco kit" you don't exist

That's not necessarily true. I added new products and they were indexed and ranking top three within a month. The ranking does probably depend on the search terms used and they are, admittedly, fairly niche products, so little competition.

22 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

• given the transaction volumes, the merchant service charge for processing card payments takes a significant amount of the net margin

I guess that depends on the margins, but it's only a few percent of the sale price with PayPal, less with something like Stripe, even less if you have the volumes to get good rates on a merchant account. If you take card payments at shows or in your shop then it's not an issue as you are going to pay these fees anyway. Some customers pay by bank transfer which is free on both sides. A shop or show stand taking cash or cheques will may incur fees for paying in to the bank account.

22 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

• integrating it with whatever "back office" setup the trader has now, so that stock levels are near real-time and so on.

That's true if you have show or shop sales. For a purely on-line presence a decent e-commerce package will manage stock levels in real time.

To avoid accusations of advertising I will leave off any signature. Those that matter know who I am :)

Have you looked in your spam folder?

Someone made an offer that was accepted?

12 hours ago, micklner said:

Postal address at the bottom of the page.

 

https://www.brassmasters.co.uk/how_to_buy.htm

Hmm. It's still there, despite saying it has been withdrawn.

Having read this page it seems you have to first e-mail your requirements. It may be they provide their full address in reply, before accepting the order, in which case they are probably compliant.

12 hours ago, micklner said:

 

Alan Gibson only use a P.O Box as well.

A PO Box is not sufficient. It must be a full geographic address.

As a small trader myself it irritates when others do not follow the legal requirements. I see it all too often. One fairly well-known supplier was claiming to be a Ltd company when they weren't. Again, that was illegal. I won't name them as I believe it's fixed now.

On 19/01/2024 at 21:01, robmanchester said:

It isn't unreasonable to have a contact address when you may be spending hunders or even thousands of pounds with them though.

It's not only unreasonable not to have a contact address, but most likely against the law.

On 19/01/2024 at 21:01, robmanchester said:

Suppliers that take credit cards as payment but don't accept Paypal sometimes worry me a bit - I understand the reason cited is that Paypal charge more in fees than CC companies.

I'm thinking of switching to Stripe, for this reason, but will probably offer both. A lot of payment processor require a sizeable volume before they beat PayPal (or at least did last time I checked).

On 19/01/2024 at 21:01, robmanchester said:

I know many people who don't like putting credit and debit card numbers directly into suppliers web-sites.

With a small hobby supplier you are most unlikely to be entering details into their website. The rules around security, etc., and the cost of developing the site, would be too onerous for a small cottage industry. I would be VERY worried if I wasn't redirected to one of the well-known payment processors. Even major on-line retailers often use the likes of World Pay, etc.

On 19/01/2024 at 22:04, Steamport Southport said:

An up to date price list is virtually the first thing you see on the website!

And that price list should have a contact address. The only way around this is if they provide the contact address before they take your order, which would be a bit of a faff with the required to-and-fro.

2 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

 

Is their a difference between online selling and distance selling? Although Brassmasters have an online catalogue. you can't click and order from them in the same way you can from eBay or Amazon. I have just had a looklon eBay at an item I bought recently from a registered trader and couldn't find a postal address other than Middlesex, UK. 

On-line selling rules are in addition to distance selling rules, see https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses

I didn't realise you couldn't order online. How do you order? The distance selling rules still requite them to provide the address before you place the order.

Also, we are closing our PO Box with immediate effect and will therefore only be able to accept orders via email.

The law requires that any business selling on line provides a full geographic contact address. Their contact page now has nothing, not even a 'phone number.

A PO Box address was also in breach of the law.

I would just order a few. Distance selling rules allow for refunds if you just change your mind. You might lose the original postage, depending on the sellers Ts&Cs.

2D or 3D?

Do you want to draw things (like Sketchup) or "program" or "parameterise" them (like OpenSCAD)?

There are zillions of YouTube videos for all the popular packages.

11 hours ago, andyman7 said:

There's a reason why people who want to make serious money tend to steer clear of model railways 🙂

You can make a small fortune in model railways. If you start from a large one 😁