PupCam

I rest my case about the "wider context" .......

One of Pupper's friends has gone OTT with Alexa. He can't move for tripping over the blxxdy things. When having video calls (how modern!) with said friend Puppers takes great delight adding things to his shopping lists, introducing him to new genres of music and changing the colour and intensity of the room lights. Although Puppers was most disappointed when he couldn't order a dinosaur for him

But have to replace the boiler every 3 or 4 years maybe (from the experiences of friends and relatives)? As with everything in life, a systems engineering approach is always required (Puppers being, amongst other things, an ex-systems engineer) and the CBA is never straightforward when you look at the full context. Now, where did I put those solar panels ......

Well, you say that, but .........

'tis true, not an attractive contraption but it was function not form that was critical. The studs themselves were made from hefty wood screw threads with the heads turned off (to screw into the joists) silver soldered to lengths of 8mm (IIRC) studding for the plate loading section. Trust me, those studs weren't anywhere close to striping out the joists.

Excellent, I'm sure my expert level cynacism, fine tuned to perfection by 45 years in industry, would be a positive asset to Captain Cynicals endeavours. I feel sure that mutually beneficial terms could be agreed. Yes and also for giant bars of Toblerone and plain, hard cash. Unfortunately not. I have to make do with my trusty Antex which unfortunately expired recently. I was going to buy a replacement element which requires soldered connections .... Doh! In the end I bought a replacement Antex and a replacement element. I now have two irons for delicate / electronics work. Using "Big Bertha" to build the Arduino based projects for which Puppers is getting something of a reputation as a result of his new found freedom is just not going to work To think, I'll never have another POETS day (unless the International Man of Cynicism job materialises) This was something my son, relatively new to the property ownership game, learnt recently when we were sorting out a leaking bath tap which necessitated the removal of his bath panel ....... I was also reminded of it myself when my Artexed hall ceiling developed a 2.5" sag from the slowly leaking trap in the en-suite shower immediately above it. During the investigation phase of the repair operations I removed over 6kg of broken bricks, mortar, bits of wood, plastic pipe fittings and general detritus. In this case the carp actually performed a useful function, deflecting the ceiling so that eagle-eyed Mrs Puppers could spot it. Not wishing to have to re-Artex the hall ceiling, Puppers hatched a cunning plan to soften the plaster board and, over a period of two or three weeks, "persuade" it and the Artex to return to something approaching flat. This was achieved with the aid of four long studs screwed into the joists, a flat braced board sitting over the studs with four big springs applying pressure to the board and hence the ceiling. The plaster board was then kept moist from above for the duration and a DTI (Dial Test Indicator) recorded the progress. Whilst the ceiling did not return to Metrology or Opitical flatness standards it did get to a state that was "Good enough for rockets" (a term often used during my employment). Puppers classified that one as a narrow escape!

I have no experience of AEG or Neff so can't comment. My now ageing Bosch dishwasher is still operational (touching wood now) after I had to repair the main controller board. It has a fundamental design flaw in that one of the PCB tracks is not man enough for the job and likes to pretend it is a fuse. The official repair practice at the time was, of course, to replace the controller board with an identical one and oh yes, make sure you get a fully approved Bosch chap to fit it. The price of the board all those years ago was ~£90 IIRC and that didn't include the services of "Extra special Bosch Man"! The more pragmatic, unofficial repair suggested by many "practical trades people" on the interweb was to replace the burnt out track with a suitable piece of tinned copper wire. Puppers has tinned copper wire, the requisite soldering iron and solder and the skill and knowledge to use it. Total cost excluding labour costs of "Extra special Puppers Man"! of £0. Bear knows Puppers well enough to know which option I plumped for! Latter that same decade the Puppers household required a new washing machine. Rather foolishly Puppers selected a what looked suitable Bosch machine. 13 months after purchasing this (thus out of guarantee, you couldn't make this up) Mrs Puppers alerted me to the fact that in essence the door had fallen off. To be more precise the top pin of the door hinge, cast from the very poorest quality Monkey Metal (Mazak) money can buy, had dropped off. Puppers swung into action on the old interweb and found literally hundreds of door hinges of different shapes and sizes to suit (if the Ebay listings were anything to go by) thousands of different washing machine models but try as I might there was no sign of the specific model found loitering in our kitchen. In desperation I phoned Bosch and the very nice customer services lady informed that the hinge was not available separately for my machine but they'd be only too pleased to sell me a whole new door assembly for about £120 which of course did not include the cost of "Extra special Bosch Man"! coming round to fit it. I of course, declined their extremely generous offer. On investigating the door it soon became obvious as to why you had to buy a complete new assembly - the front and back mouldings that trap the glass window and the hinge are held together with "Thermo-plastic Rivets" (They melt the ends of rods projecting from the front moulding through holes in the rear moulding) so a one-shot assembly. Puppers also has a drill ... The "rivets" on the hinge side were drilled out and the broken hinge prised out. A hole was bored in the hinge and a new hinge pin from finest B&Q 6mm brass rod was epoxied in place. The bottom hinge was sawn off and similarly treated. The hinge was then wrestled back into the door and the drilled out "rivets" were replaced with suitable self-tapping screws. As Puppers already had the brass rod he's claiming that the material cost for this repair was also £0 but boy the labour costs of "Extra special Puppers Man"! were something else. You maybe surprised to learn that Puppers no longer holds Bosch products in the high esteem that he once did. Now, where's my barge pole ......

GPS distance should be pretty good unless you happen to be walking around in a tunnel, particularly mountainous areas with limited satellite visibility or one of these areas .... https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/information/gps-jamming-exercises Are you sure it's using GPS and not actually just inaccurately measuring steps (clues's in the name) with the phone's IMU? GPS based mapping apps on phones generally make a pretty good job of determining path and track lengths (as will an Arduino Nano and a little GPS Module). Of course a really intelligent app would fuse data from all of the available sensors to get the most accurate/appropriate result. Alan

Oh if you could please! Then, if I ask ever so nicely, could I have a go in it please? I worked on the fatigue test of the nose and "full aircraft" specimens back in the 80's just before and after the prototype's maiden flight and I'd love to have a go in one but sadly it's never happened. As both specimens were pressurised during testing they were conducted in big tanks of water. A legacy of the unfortunate accidents that befell the early DH Comets. FYI - Puppers is not present in this photograph

Is it so that the weight of the lamp is not borne by the lamp bracket, it merely keeps the lamp in the correct place? (I know nothing of the GWR, completely the wrong shade of green for me!) Alan

Ah! The traffic becomes a source of targets! Double Whammy benefits then! Free targets for our friends in the Army An overall reduction in traffic volume (once the smouldering wrecks have been removed)

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. Anyone I know? Ah a positive benefit I would have thought! (I hate auto stop/start, thank heavens I no longer have to drive hire cars OCS!)

That's good news BUT presupposes that you could get anywhere near a GP or even a telephone appointment to get it prescribed in the first instance. If Pupper's recent experience is anything to go by that might be a big ask!

Afternoon Awl. Just to finally put this one to bed ..... Puppers was recently very fortunate to be given a long lost box of family treasures including family photographs from the last 100+ years and various artefacts which happened to include a copy of the official souvenir programme for the Queen's Coronation. I think it's fair to assume that they got the spelling of HRH Prince Philip (ie Philip Mountbatten) correct in said publication ..... Looks like your theory was correct! Time to put the spade down now ....

Would there not also have been a cost imperative in maintaining a complete extra set of valve gear in good condition? I'm sure there would, although of course the unanswered question (and probably unanswerable at this point) is which was the most significant?

Puppers takes the same view. No system is perfect but, I think the current Sovereign has done an outstanding job, aided and supported, as is so often said, by HRH Prince Philip. Given his great age it is inevitable but still sad - RIP Now that is something I can wait for! If they could just hold off for say 30 years that will suit Puppers fine. Alan

I'm afraid Chris we'll have to agree to differ on this. Personally, I can't see that an overseas holiday is actually that essential just at the moment as we attempt to extract ourselves from the grip of this evil pandemic (unless of course you run an airline or hotel in wherever ...) and, bearing in mind that the country (and the world) has just about been bankrupted by it, I think that the cost of a test imposed by a self-inflicted trip away is not actually that unreasonable. Yes we all need/want a change of scene and a holiday to cheers us up but overseas at this precise moment? Really? I need to get out on my bike for some relaxing change of scenery to help my sanity, perhaps the country should pay for my petrol and a new tyre ......

Blue cheese is very nice. It might work for LDC .......

As I know the area well even though "it's the wrong railway" I thoroughly enjoyed that book when I received it as a birthday gift a few years ago.

I don't know the real answer to that question Tony but logic would suggest that the very simplicity (relatively speaking) of the design of the conjugated gear results in fewer moving parts and bearings compared with a complete additional set of Walschaerts gear and the fact that those bearings could be relatively big would result in a more robust result whilst well maintained and in good condition. I think the main drawback is the fact that as the motion of the third valve is derived from the other two any play / lost motion that develops will have an amplified effect on the events of the third valve and so once the motion has been abused by over-work and inadequate maintenance over a long period (i.e. the war) the results would seem very poor. But wouldn't the basic simplicity of the design mean the performance could easily be restored by the simple expedient of providing new bearings ....... ? Perhaps we need to speak to the venerable Mr Townend to get the real answer from someone with real experience who knows!

In my experience I'd say that was spot-on. I would also add that a good chunk of that 70% was stating the blindingly obvious (we always used to be reminded of the story about the King's New Clothes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HykF5KX4STA ) I also noticed (after the fifth or sixth initiative) they would never come in and tell a company exactly how to do what ever they were saying but would make suggestions and provide ideas on how it might be done. Then, in a year or so's time after the plan had been implemented and almost inevitably failed, they could not be blamed as it was clearly the implementation that failed not the principle. I feared for my children's education when I heard a member of the cabinet spouting the same nonsense advice on the radio concerning how the Government of the day was going to over-haul the education system. I should by rights have been the Head of the Cynicism Department but ironically, as I expected, my promotion seemed to get lost in the post. Anyway, railway modelling is far a more productive and rewarding activity .....

Ah, if only there was clever and cunning way in which that third set of Walchaerts gear could be done away with* completely ....... * Of course, it might necessitate changing the relative position and design of some key components but, in the words of the management consultants; "No idea is a bad idea"** ** Time has of course proven that this statement is in fact false but not in this particular case

Encourages one doesn't it! Looks like I'll have to have another crack at a DIY update for my and Mrs Puppers (I like to think) simple affairs. Must fill in those official LPA forms as well and get them registered.

Whilst my eight Ikea floor to ceiling bookcases may not quite match your document count they are well stuffed with an assortment of mainly railway (full-size and modelling), aircraft (full-size and modelling), classic motorcycle, photography, history and general interest publications. Pleased to spot a copy of the excellent "Architectural Modelling" by Dave Rowe peaking out on one of your shelves although I must deduct one mark for "Neatness on parade" of the aforementioned publication as it is not standing perfectly vertical and is, for want of a better expression, poking out a bit I'm still wondering, do I need a Union Flag alongside my bookcases? They seem to be de rigueur these days in the media .... Alan

Good morning Tony, Thanks for your thoughts. Indeed it does, which is why I suppose their are relatively few people who can actually make a living as professional model builders as even at quite modest hourly rates the total cost of a model soon exceeds the majorities available budget and that's before that essential of any business, profit is taken into consideration. Indeed in another context (and without going into any details here) I used to have to continuously remind people at my former place of work that we could not possibly achieve the same results as "shed engineers" who invested hundreds of hours of in projects for fun at an hourly rate of £0/hr because our engineering rate was not £0/hr (even though it may have seemed like it when I checked my salary note). Yes, put like that if I remember back to when David and I were rather more active as (novice) S4 modellers (that'll be 25+ years ago then) a new Portescap was perhaps £25-£30 and you just bought them because that seemed to be the thing to do. Anyway, in the true spirit of your thread you may be pleased to hear that I have actually built a railway related model for the first time in decades albeit as befits my increasing years and failing eyesight a 7mm 16T mineral wagon. I thought I'd have a go at the "heavily weathered look and followed one of methods Martin Welch described in his book the Art of Weathering. I don't know whether (sorry) I've pulled it off or not but, I have to say I enjoyed getting my railway modelling hands dirty once more which I think is one of your underlying themes. Hopefully when your initial surge of post-lockdown visitors has passed the Mimram Modellers might be able to make a return visit to LB? Alan