peach james

RM, early 90's, had a set of articles on them. (I thin 92, but I could be wrong...) James

Norm, do you have a LT1 (RJ12 tester)? http://www.digitrax.com/products/loconet-testers/lt1/ There were two ways I could get my test rig to replicate what problems you are having- one is to not connect power to the 1&A pin (from rail B, on your setup), This should show up as on your test track, the engine shouldn't run... the other way is a defective loconet cable- I have one that apparently needs new ends . This should show up as the green LED on the BDL 168 not blinking every 2 seconds or so. (it should blink about every 2 seconds) (also, if you plug in a throttle, and change speed, the red LED should blink as you change the throttle setting, then stop and occasionally blink after) If you use the tester, all 4 LED's on the tester should light, if you have a throttle plugged in as well. (otherwise, only 3 will light). The crimper & ends should be fairly easily available- I used to get them from Home Depot here in Canada. Maplins appears to carry some, as does RS- what you want is RJ12, 6PC6 connectors, wire & a crimper- I have one of the cheap plastic crimpers, and have used ~200 ends on probably 500' of cable or so, because I have cables from 3" to the 25' that I can buy the flat cable in...) James

Bloomin' heck, you lot should learn something from one of the colonies that didn't ditch you- it's curds, not cheese !. And Bacon. LOTS of Bacon. & green (or spring) onion... mmmm la belle potate is calling me ! (PS- it's called poutine ) James

Seeing the eclipse stuff should possibly be here, not the main thread, Jeff said about the 1999 eclipse in the UK- I have a poster which advertises it !. I assume it is a reproduction of an LNER poster from 1924, advertising the 1924 eclipse, and how the next one would be in 1999. Anyway, it's hung on my stairwell for probably 10 years now (since 2006), as a little bit of artwork on the stairs. I've got other posters there- some art prints by my Canadian Artist of Choice -No, not Rush ! (Sarah Mclachlan) , and concert posters- my autographed John Mann poster is there, along with Allison Crowe, and a few more. I quite remember seeing the eclipses that went over Toronto in 1984 and 1986, I don't think either were total, but it was really neat. One thing that came up on Facebook, but comes from elsewhere was this little graph: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/?zone=all&kind=temperature (it should be on the right side). Neat- actual science from the eclipse. James

OK, so the issue is that rail A and rail B are encoded on the loconet cable (the 6 connector RJ12) as well as the power going to the rails (on the BDL 168). Apparently, if those are not the same, then what you are describing happens- the 4 section lights light up, and the group light will remain not lit. So, it might be worth trying to change the A&B track connections (or make a "reversing" cable for Loconet). http://www.deepsurplus.com/Network-Structured-Wiring/Wiring-Explanation-Straight-Reverse That is how mine work- when you start up the BDL168, if there is no track power, then the sections will all go "high", until power to rails comes on. Once the power to rails goes high, then the sections should all go dark (unless they are detecting), and the 5th LED should light. I did up a short video of what happens with mine- I can try switching the supply relative to A&B on my extra 168, I'd rather like to get this to work for you so that you can then curse something else in the land of computer programming...like the complete ability to back a train of HAA's backwards into a siding that isn't a siding at 100% throttle. (well, the siding was there, it just happened to have a 90 degree slope to it !) M4H03397 by Peach James, on Flickr If this doesn't help, I will pull out the spare bits & try to replicate your fault, James

It _sounds_ like a programming related issue- take a look at the settings in JMRI would be my first thought. (ah, but doing some digging- try the loconet cables first -and note, apparently, that the cable direction matters, which isn't something I have run into, but may matter...so you might have to make up a pair of cables, one reversing, none non reversing). James

I have 6 or 7 BDL 168's, and they work fine- what sort of problems are you running into? You need a seperate power supply for them- not individually, but one that is strictly for the power to the boards. (IIRC about 100mA each board), and then the total # of devices on Loconet can also be an issue- I have mine split into two rings with LNRPXTRA in the middle- so that the DB 64's and BDL 168's are on one ring (along with throttles), and the boosters are on their own ring. (one BDL 168 in the staging yard) (how I use RR&Co to display the BDL's, as a cluster of 16 sensors, then individual re-use of them in the track plan) James

Sorry, I was naughty and posted in the main thread- I knew Sasquatch was to the south of me, but I would have thought in the zone of totality. We got to 91% here to the north, it was dark for a summer day & cool. As I posted over there, it is awe inspiring that these events are literally once in a lifetime for any given area. & those are nice photos . I didn't bother at all, as I know there are far more $$ $$$ worth of cameras taking photos that will be on the internet than what I have. As I just explained to my wife, I need another hobby like I need a hole in my head ! James

We've had a wonderful morning watching the sun get very dark. I know there are a few on here to the south of me- so perhaps there it got completely black !. Anyway, it was rather fun watching the solar eclipse with the two boys, both with the glasses and a pinhole. It is quite humbling to think of an event that will next happen here in 99 years or so... James

& Here in Sheringham, it will be a traffic filled day ! (that's the _other_ Sheringham, Sheringham Point, Shirley, BC, Canada !) As it's our annual Fete, at which I need to be to string a ball on a string up for our munchkins to bash with a firehose... No traction engine this year- I need to pull my thumb out and get it going again, but the fire risk is still extreme across all BC, so I don't need to start a forest fire. James

(might be fodder for a few more of those ^). I'm somehow doubting that Ridley Bent has made the crossing over the Atlantic. His first album is very interesting- try The Devil & Coltrane Harry, for a different take on a classic song. Apparently, it doesn't sell well, so he has moved to more C&W which he is good at. Best seen with Barney Bentall @ the Caribou Express shows James

AndyID, the issue is simple- if you need sub 25mm accuracy for the entire layout, then it might be worth worrying about a different solution than current detection blocks & software solutions. If 25 mm accuracy overall is sufficient, and higher accuracy is required for specific positions, then you use more detection breaks. I am quite confident that you can use IR or Ultrasonic to determine a specific set of limits to sub mm accuracy, if it is required. The question to ask is "why", because unless the loco slips a fair amount, it is going to be close enough for a station stop on a through train- probably more accurate (6 scale ft...) than a usual train would be. If you need a more absolute detection, I know that using RR&Co 5.0C4, I can set a single point sensor to act as a stop, and every time that sensor changes state as the train approaches, the train will stop. There is some latency in the system- in that the signal has to be encoded, transmitted, mutilated by the computer program, then retransmitted and acted on. It still can lead to <mm accuracy in placement of a train. What do you need better accuracy than mm for with regards to train location on a layout ? Even loading/unloading operations should be designed to allow mm level misalignments. The only place that I know of that has run into problems with wanting mm level precision is miniatur wonderland, where they have had large issues with the boats, as I understand. Now, they don't have track to detect locations, and are in a dynamic environment (the water), so there are more possible negative interactions going on. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/technology/ship-system/control/ Again, I'm not saying that it isn't possible to use resistance to a train to determine the physical location of the train on the track. I'm just suggesting that perhaps, this is a solution looking for a problem, and that it may not be a sensible way to solve the problem that doesn't appear to be much of a problem in the layout design which is being contemplated. I certainly would not recommend it as a way to having a layout to operate as a signalman. On the other hand, if the originator wants to know more about how I have programmed Long Marton to be run in the way he seems to want to run, I'm more than willing to help out where I can. James

UNREP is what the USN calls RAS- I don't remember a particular term being used on my UNREP course in Norfolk to describe the whole shooting match, but even the USN doesn't have a super organization any more, at least not like Vietnam style. Carriers use a LOT of fuel/ammo, and it takes a lot of support to keep them at sea- I think the USN policy in Vietnam was 3 days cyclic ops, 1 day UNREP. I think they are mostly down to using AOE/ AOR rather than having AE, AO & AR. That's AE= Explosive, proving the USN has a sense of humor, named after active volcanos, AO= Oiler, & AR= Refrigerated. There is also AFS, known as "Attack Food Ship", which I would assume carries food as well...) I do know that the USN didn't like PRO/PRE because we didn't carry enough JP5 to make them at all happy- at only about 1200 tons of JP5. (far better than nothing, but not enough for a carrier) . #2 stn on PRO had the AVGAS connection (long since converted to fresh water...I think in the mid 70's), for back when we had a carrier of our own (Bonny- the victim of many a "back on the bonny" for just cage it you old f@rt in a story...) Tank Capacity for that was 373 tons at 95%, or about 395 at coming out on the deck. I was responsible for a little engineering question about the system in 2010, when JTF2 were asking if we could support operations of their secret squirrel boats, which use gasoline engines, and they wanted to know if we could carry 20 000L of petrol for them- to which my answer was fairly unprintable, as the only way to do so would be to refit the inerting system in the cofferdam, and using CL for petrol, because you can't pitch 20 tons of petrol into the sea by hand... James

Signaling with DCC in action: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47105471@N05/23856979356/in/album-72157629408307454/ It's not because the track is DCC that this works- it is because I have ~180 detection blocks fed back into a computer, which then runs the behind the scenes portion that make it all happen. It _could_ be done with relays... I thought about it, for about 31 seconds, did some rough math, and decided that SSI was a far better option !. -Layout runs with Digitrax DCC, under RR&Co 5.0C4, with 5 booster sections, 2 control busses, about 60 turnouts, 8 physical signals (& at least as many that are missing, all dwarf's), and at maximum 4 trains running under computer at the same time. (it might be possible to get 5-6 to run, but there are physical limits to that, as the staging yard feed out is single track...) James

Been there, done that, have them in Lego. Work well I think you will find that it was not preferred to have sidings on anything other than level ground. Bad things happen when you leave waggons on a grade. Its the law, and it isn't subject to repeal even in Georgia. (Gravity, that is !). Wherever possible, I would expect that sidings that were on a grade were accessed from the high end, so that if the waggons did run away, they'd not make their way onto the running lines, but would go elsewhere. The solutions are as above- use a point motor to move a pin up to restrain, use "grass" to add resistance, or add an active element to the train, either a motor bogie or a brake. The simplest is to add "grass" bearing onto the track, and if I was faced with runaways, that is what I would do. James

Being fairly well versed in navy damage control, and a bit versed in ship stability, it is all about the compromises. In order to design a ship which will work in the North Atlantic in January, it needs a lot more reserve boyancy than a ship designed to operate in the PG in August. Equally, the HVAC system for the two requirements is a little different ! Crew habitability is another huge area- although people say they don't like being in big messes (52 in 12 mess on a 280...), I don't think that many of us mob types care if we are in messes like on PRO- 14-20 or so in each Jr Ranks messing. So, individual cabins might be "nice", but are not critical for people, especially given the 24/7 operation of a ship. I would rather be in a mess of 14-20, with 1.5 lockers, than a shared cabin with .8 locker... Deployment time from home is another issue- for us, we are up to about 7 months when we go to the IO/PG, which does get rather long. In 2008, we were "supposed" to get the chance to go home but for engineers, there simply were not enough qualified individuals to do so. That made for a bit of a long year, as we'd already gone to Hawaii for 2 months before going to the IO. I spent more time in Hawaii that year than in Victoria...although at least my wife & son came out to Hawaii, and my sister got to sail back with us from Hawaii to Victoria. Anyway, there are lots of newspaper admirals (and house of commons ones) who have never spent a day on board a ship. They just impose stupid from above, because they have no idea what reality is like onboard. In order to put more weapons systems on a ship, something has to be sacrificed- either habitability, range, speed, armor, seakeeping or damage control. It _is_ a 0 sum game, in that the size of the ship will be determined by some limiting factor, and that then determines the weapons fit, habitability, range, speed, armor, seakeeping, DC mix that the navy designing will use. James

You know you are getting old when you teach the children of your mates their job ! (ones who were born after you joined up)

Oh, I don't decree it as being bad- it has always been against the rules to render ones self unfit for duty onboard a RCN ship, but...the difference between treating someone as an adult or as a child is letting them make their own bad choices...which is what I got steaming mad about. I could dig up my mess bills, but I would be shocked if there was a month were it was over $30 of booze- that's at $2.00/can for beer. (& probably includes days in port...). Now, pop...well, that's different...the bills were more than for my alcohol that much is for sure. Here's some photos from when Jesus was a Leading Seaman, as we'd put it at work- photos taken of my Great Granddad, Harold "Pop" Collins, who retired as Chief Steward off Orduna. Scan_June-9-2016-1-39-08-462-PM by Peach James, on Flickr Scan_June-9-2016-2-13-38-842-PM by Peach James, on Flickr Scan_June-9-2016-2-01-49-588-PM by Peach James, on Flickr Scan_June-9-2016-2-00-51-838-PM by Peach James, on Flickr Scan_June-9-2016-1-44-22-543-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

A small correction to the above- it's millions of pounds to fill a ship up. We took 18 000 000 L of F-76 to take from bunker-operational in 2008. That's about 9 million quid... There has been at least one paper in Proceedings about this topic- it might even have been in Canadian Marine Engineering Journal as well. The economics of nuke depend on sea days- if the ship is going to spend >180 days/year at sea for its entire life, then it is probably more economical to be nuclear than conventional. (at least, that was the USN's calculation). The external factors (lack of a reactor big enough, which could be managed via purchase agreement from USN, probably...), and shipbuilding capability are really political not navy factors. If the navy has enough $ to throw at the problem, the solution is easy...but that $ is a political decision. We've been through a lot of this, with the ideas of expanding the RCN in the 1998-2002 timeframe including small deck carriers- as in LHD or similar. I don't think there was ever any intent to try and get fixed wing a/c for operation off a LHD, but it would have been a remote (non 0) chance of Harriers being operated off them. Navy ship building is a very thorny subject, especially here where a lot is driven around giving the various regions some chunk of meat to gnaw on. The west coast Navy's opinion of the east coast shipyards was...not very high. James

I take it you mean, roll you out the door ? One of my mates spent a night in a parking garage in Singapore in 2002... and the greek hotel story is fairly good from 2008. The whole smozzle over beer at sea is one part of why I got out when I did- The high muckty mucks refused to do anything about backing up talk with action over people exceeding 2 beer/man/day, until it became an embarrasment, then hung those of us who actually had less than that out with the lot who poured themselves into bunks on a regular basis...yep, that made me feel like an adult alright. (RCN went effectively dry at sea in 2014...) James

You can post onboard, but as Canada Post (has...big Political there !) moved away from home delivery, she doesn't any longer carry mail, but she has a frank for canceling mail posted onboard. So sort of met half way, I guess...the whole area has changed a fair amount over the last 120 years (1887 hull...). All the area is now accessable by car, so the need of a mail steamer on a self contained lake system of ~89km^2 is now limited . (Windermere is 14.7 km^2, to give an idea...).

Not true, I am afraid. http://realmuskoka.com/steamships/the-designation-royal-mail-ship-rms/ - at least the Segwun is active as well !. I'd love it if I were closer- I'd try for a job, as I can get a STCW steam ticket, but it would be some hard graft, mostly because the Navy training is by design, worth about 1/3rd at Transport Canada, so we didn't jump ship as it were. My ships- well, 100_6377 by Peach James, on Flickr protecteur 08 jun 4 by Peach James, on Flickr DSC_0018 by Peach James, on Flickr DSC_0034 by Peach James, on Flickr DSC_0114 by Peach James, on Flickr 100_6382 by Peach James, on Flickr Not that many photos of the outsides of the ships- or of me !

The wonderful term of "normalization of deviance" crops up again... I'd suggest the Rizzo report (http://www.defence.gov.au/Publications/Reviews/Rizzo/Review.pdf) as a good one too ! "A Can Do-Make Do attitude coupled with Management of Bad News..." Gee...where do I eventually expect to see those same thoughts... I think, when the official version of the Protecteur fire report is released, we will see the same thing... James

No, because assuming that the phone remains the same sort of size as present phones, and that you end up with hard surfaces (thinking of leather, not plush carpet...for seats), then the vehicle will scan the interior before it leaves, and let you know you have forgot something...if the vehicle has the computing power to scan for raccoons on the road, it will have the ability to scan the passenger and cargo compartments for contents... James

I don't know how NCE deal with it, but Digitrax, it is dead simple to add/subtract from a consist. On a 300 or 400, put both addresses on, one L, one R, then hit MU +, and the L will go onto R as a consist.) I would put a dummy loco on as the first one (5555, or suchlike), then add the front to the MU, which will then be the "top" loco. Then add the rear unit (the one you are peeling off first), and drive the top (with the 2 EMU's) into the station, split them, (bottom on L, "top" on R, MU -), and drive the bottom off on the Left throttle, and the top off on the right. I've rarely had problems doing this on the fly with Digitrax- it takes longer to write it down than to do it. (there is one exception- the lego motors have no real "forward" to tell which is which, so if there are 2 motors in a single unit, 99% you end up with them fighting each other and not going anywhere- then MU-, reverse direction, MU+ again, and off you go) I would guess less than 30 seconds to deal with the consist- which is shorter than the station stop should be anyway. James