SamThomas

21 hours ago, bigriff said:

I have a digitrax DSC52 as my master control unit + a digitrax hand walkabout unit coneced to it so does any body know can I attach a gaugemaster prodigy hand unit to act as an extra throttle please?

You may get a better response in the DCC section.

Can you post an image or two please, it may help ?

LED's "driven" correctly will last forever.

They need to be provided with a supply (either using resistors or an electroniv driver) that is well withing their rating.

This shorter life occurs when either the circuit/lamp is overdriven which shortens the life of the LED. I suspect that some manufactures drive their LED's "hard" so that lower rated (& cheaper) LED's can put out more light (to their ultimate degradation).

Drivers manufactured to a price cannot always cope with mains power fluctuates either.

It would be simple if yoy knew for certain that say a £5 lamp would always be better than a £3 one, but it's a bit of a lottery.

Some years ago we used to buy a lot of Osram MR16 halogen lamps (12v 50w) & found that they were failing prematurly - we sent some back to Osram for evaluation & they asked us to send a sealed box to them - they were in fact knock-offs with identical packaging, even down to authentic manufacture & batch numbers on the outer boxes. These lamps were all sourced from reputable wholesalers, but somehow they had infiltrated the supply chain.

So, even buying braded goods does not always mean you get a better product.

11 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

 

My obvious issue is both that traffic officers are not armed and the level of sentences is not at the level of firearms offences.

 

I suggest that if PC Iva Twitchyfinger is pointing his trusty Heckler & Koch at Wayne Carr who has just tried to outrun him on the Motorway, he might realise that he's been very very naughty and if he tries to drive at PC Twitchyfinger and his colleagues he will be dealing with St Peter, not the Beak

TrafPol are very thing on the ground (roads) thesedays (at least in my area). There are a number of ARU's though which I suppose are basically TrafPol with shooters.

16 hours ago, ITG said:

Hornby points clips are in situ to bridge the connections.

An idea copied from Fleischmann Profi-Points.

Neither are, in my experience reliable at all - droppers rule.

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

Travelling time to Manston would've been better than to Lydd !

Indeed, Manston has good road links to the main motorway network, 10minutes to Ramsgate (or the new Parkway Staion when completed).

FWIW most local opinion is that the airport was purchased with the long term intention of non-aviation use.

A[pologies for going off topic.

3 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

Yes, one of the longest runways in the UK .... what a waste !

AFAIK it was once the longest concrete/hard runway in the world. It's wide enough for small planes to land/take off accross it.

Yes, it is a waste but hopefully all the unexploaded ordinance & undoubted ground pollution will put the developers (as in rabbit hutch builders).

Oh, & there is of course all the rumoured underground infrastructure.

16 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

..... not to mention London Lydd Airport - whose station is long closed - or London Biggin Hill Airport - whose railway never got built .................................. at least London Gatwick, London Luton and London Stansted are accessible by rail - even though they're further from Town than the London Airport we all know and hate.

 

Then there was London Lullingstone - which had a station but the airport never materialised ! ( Imagine trying to say 'London Lullingstone' after too much duty free ! )

& at one time we had "London - Manston".

It did have a railway connection during construction though.

Be nice if it were re-opened & a short spur to the Ramsgate/Ashford line laid - that would make it around an hour from St Pancras for a Javelin.

Maybe the replacement was a low pressure one & without any other taps opened the pressure is too high for it to operate.

Whjen a tap elsewhere is opend maybe the pressure drops just enough for the cistern to operate ?

9 hours ago, newbryford said:

Maybe they'll use the funds to bring out some new whizz-bang model that we all want.

Or even some tat in a fictitious livery.....

 

I see they've invested wisely already...........

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/hm-queen-elizabeth-ii-platinum-jubilee-hst-train-pack-r30215

 

 

Personally, fictitious or not I think it looks quite nice especially when you consider the design of the HST is half a century old.

7 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

Someone may have to confirm the import routine on Android - on iOS I just open the email, download the file and share it with Z21.

Looks like it - I have emailed the file & now need to know the proceedure to import the file onto the Android device.

The file is saved on the "receiving" device & also on a SD card but it will not import from the "import from SD card" on the Z21 Layout Management.

Hopefully, someone will know - TIA.

Thanks for confirming Iain, I'll try that later & report back.

18 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

export via mail is best as you then have a copy 

Thanks Iain - just to be clear - I will have a copy to load onto another device, keep as a backup & the original file will remain on the original device ?

Sorry to appear to be such a numpty.

27 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

Send it via an email - and keep sending layouts to email, that way you have a backup

Thanks, but, TBH, I'm not even certain how to do that even !

Just need to transfer the data from the tablet that has the fleet entered onto it to the one with the latest, albeit "empty" Z21 App.

Could really do with an idiots step by step guide.

The "history" of ViTrains as already mentioned is, AFAIK about right.

They made some HO models for the European market - they were as good as anybody else's. As per the UK models there was a lot of detail to be added by the end user but quite a bit of that was very fine & a fair amount of etched parts.

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

 Our utility company does offer a scheme where you can buy some panels in their solar farm and use the energy captured to offset your consumption cost.

Now that is a good idea & a way for people who would love to "do their bit" invest in solar - people who don't live on the top floor of a black, people who tend to rent or move house often for work, retirement home dwellers & so on.

16 minutes ago, raymw said:

It did not help the situation by two grown blokes delaying the transfer of the balloons to the car by arguing with the car owner. What would have helped would have been if they had given a hand in transferring the balloons. I guess you were disappointed that the car owner did not immediately comply with your instructions. The woman presumably got all her balloons, but at least four people were pissed off, for what purpose?

 

It's all getting a bit Orwellian these days.

A good point made & the JK with the pushchair may just have thought that the two blokes were picking on a lone female. A polite approach may have been to explain to the female car driver the consequences of parking there.............

TBH, many people do not know that parking on zig-zags*** is FORBIDDEN - end of. Also, if a ticket (PCN or whatever) is issued by the Police then it can attract some unwelcome brownie points as well as a fine (or penalty charge).

The Police could take action but then the CPS may say no - they could give many grounds like a lawyer could get the evidence such as an image on a smart phone deemed inadmissible because the device is not secure under the GDPA.

I'm referring here on the white ones adjacent to pedestrian crossing, not too sure how it appluies to other locations)

3 hours ago, kryten65 said:

Well it's only taken a week, but they've managed to put half of one arch together. Apparently the goal is 150m of completely erected twin bores by the end of July. Meanwhile I'm off to see if I can find an industrial size bucket of patience. I'm going to need it

Am I correct in thinking that the RH half will be a side & top & they will sit on the concrete bed, the space between the rebar will be filled with concrete for the trackbed to sit on, then the whole thing will be backfilled (please excuse my ignorance with these matters).

Thanks for all of your help, it's much appreciated.

After a couple of further attempts following Ian's link I tried another device & it worked.

Looks like the first device was running an earlier version of Android !

Once again, thanks.

3 hours ago, 60800 said:

 

For comparison I just picked up Silver Tay's thistle, modelled here on DP1 as I shifted my last normal Bachmann Deltic the other week;

 

 

Cheers,

  60800

 

I do like the Deltic and am aware that the "headlight" moulding was there to facilitate sales to countries that would require a headlight, but just blanking it off seems a bit odd, especially when the moulding is such a feature of that impressive front end.

To me, it would improved the appearance so much if it had an actual headlight installed, albeit not working or even wired up.

And I really do hope the model meets everyones expectations.

2 hours ago, Hobby said:

 

I'd agree with you if we're talking of someone using one of the plastic pill boxes bought online that you fill yourself but most people (like my wife) who are on lots of different meds have pill boxes supplied by the pharmacy which meet the requirements required by care agencies to administer them, which is what we were discussing.

Exactly as I said.

However, there is still the issue of the carers being qualified to administer medications - there is the problem for the agencies of what to do if the qualified carer is off (day off/sickness) & the replacement is not qualified.

Please just accept that it is not as easy or clear cut as people may imagine, I've explained the issues & not a fan of ping pong.

Thanks Ian, but this is what I get on the Play Store.

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

It is crazy, go to another agency that will do it.

If only if it were that simple - I spoke to Mrs T last night who has been a carer for nearly three decades*** (& one who has qualifications well over the basic requirements).

For example, she is qualified to administer medicines but only if they are in a dated container from the pharmacy - if they are loose then she is not allowed to do so.

The "rules" vary from LA to the company - throw in the mix of carers - some qualified to administer, some not & you can see why it is not that simple.

You also have to factor in that it is not exactly a well paid job which means that the turnover of carers can be quite high. It is another profession that is squeezed financially so until Social Services have the funding that will permutate down to the carers then it is unlikely to change.

With a fluid & varied workforce qualification wise you can see why, to protect their & their emplyees rear-ends some companies refuse. After all, if an unqualified carer poisoned your loved one you would not be very happy.

*** for the same company although it has changed hands/merged several times.

Still further issues - went to install the Z21 app on another tablet & could not find the earlier app (the blue app) & an updater for the later (black app) - the later app I just cannot find on the play store.