eldavo

Although there haven't been too many posts in this thread recently there has been some progress, just nothing very visible. After building the fiddleyard baseboards I then had to move some of the wiring on the scenic boards as originally I had anticipated plugging umbilical cables to each board at the rear. With the revised fiddleyard plan that can't happen so the sockets have had to be moved. In addition the point motors were wired (as per instructions) to use 16V AC supply but frankly didn't work well singly and when trying to throw 2 at a time for crossovers failed miserably. I tried a bigger AC supply but still no joy, they needed upwards of 2 Amps! So after some fiddling and testing I have rewired the motors to use 12V DC. It's not documented in the Conrad instructions but is actually very easy to do and they work much better. I had to take one apart to see how it was wired! Having made these changes I now have a layout that is wired differently to my control box! Those that have seen earlier posts may remember I've been using a lash-up of relays and switches to experiment with electrically interlocked points, signals and power feeds. So to test my rewiring I needed to re-wire the control box. Doing this on the prototype seemed a waste of time so I thought I better get on and build a proper panel. You're probably starting to get the drift of this. At the moment I am in that state where whatever I do I take one step forward and two back! I acquired a Model Signal Engineering kit for a 14 leverframe from ebay a while ago and I thought it would be nice to use this as the control panel for the station area of the layout. I've started to build it and have one lever assembled to test things out. It's not the greatest of kits but it will do with a bit of work. One issue I had with the prototype using switches was that there was nothing to stop you flipping the wrong switch. The interlocking meant that the switch would do nothing but there was no real feedback to tell you which switches were valid options at any point. Using the leverframe it would be nice if there was some form of physical locking of invalid levers. I've decide to attempt to use a single electrical interlock for all the levers linked to the latch release levers. It's not an original idea, I've cribbed it! Someone did it with a 2mm Scale Association leverframe and posted details on RMWeb but I can't find the post! So I have added a bar (actually 'U' section) running the length of the frame below the levers which can move vertically. The ends of the bar are located by bits of brass rod in tubes. This bar will be sprung in the up (locked) position by default as shown here. When the latch release lever on one of the levers is pulled it will operate a microswitch which will deliver power to a solenoid to pull the locking bar down and release the levers. Of course power will only be delivered to the solenoid if it is a valid movement. The same locking mechanism works for levers in the frame or pulled so a lever cannot be put back incorrectly. Here's the bar dropped. I haven't actually mounted the solenoid yet so there may be the odd issue to solve! One problem with building a 14 lever frame is you have to do most things 14 times! Here are 13 of the levers with their latch lever microswitches attached. The switches are located by a bit of wire through a hole in the switch and the lever and fixed with epoxy. Lots more to do... Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one again. Dog walked, coffee drunk now what? SWMBO has taken herself off to the shops(!) so I appear to have the house to myself for the morning. No list so I suppose I will have to make my own mind up what to do! Go steady Gordon. Leave baseboard construction till tomorrow. Cheers Dave

Don't tell me the pond has sprung a leak now or have they forgotten to remove a catheter? Cheers Dave

Assawone. Cheers Dave (off to the shed)

Only when they get to be as old as ardin'. Cheers Dave

Morning All, I observed it is Good Friday does that count for observance? Looks like another stonking day weatherwise. Better walk the dog before it gets too warm. Good to see your dongle is still working Gordon. That's one of the first things they check before they let you go home. Cheers Dave

I thought they were only working on his back! Great news. Gordon with hair wouldn't work anyway. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright and sunny again. Busy day today, chap coming in a short while to talk about solar microgeneration systems then after lunch I have to go and play golf. It's all pressure, pressure, pressure. At this rate I'll have to go and look for a job so I can have a rest! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Seem to be a full set of oktas. Better go and walk the dog. Could do with a day off. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one. Dog walked now what comes next? Oh yes, coffee. House full of guests so just snatching 5 minutes to catch up on e-mails and ERs while they are still all abed. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

...and a few squid. Cheers Dave

Morning All, The clouds are back. Is that because I threatened to get the golf bats out again? I'm with you Gordon, the loco may appear to be an expensive bit of kit but it should be trundling around for a good many years as opposed to some piece of fashionable tat that will be in the bin in a years time. Mind you I always assumed you were a dedicated follower of fashion! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

That'll be about what my entire loco fleet is worth! Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one hereabouts. Is retail therapy for bad backs available on the NHS Gordon or did you have to go private? What is this "alarming clock" thing that some speak of? Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, All the oktas seem to be in place again. No work and no SWMBO for 4 days, there must be potential in this situation. Nothing notable seems to have happened on my birthday apart from Apollo 11 returning to earth. No dictators born either just Jennifer Lopez. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one again. What day is it? Is it bin day? Think I'll torture a bit more wood and finally complete the baseboards for Waton. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Happy Burpday for tomorrow Jam. Could this be a first, having a hangover at the start of your birthday rather than the end? Cheers Dave

You should definitely think carefully before allowing her near your nuts then! Cheers Dave (Fetching coat. Hang on it's a warm day so I didn't bring one!)

Morning All, Late logging in but I was up early honest. Not as early as Gordon though! Dog walked, coffee drunk and lawn mown. Now too knackered to do anything else! Cheers Dave

Things are on the up Uncle Gordon. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one again. I'm not sure I can stand the pace of this retirement lark. I had to turn down the offer of a game of golf this afternoon as I am already booked to play this morning! Also got to go and have dinner and drinkies with a colleague from way back this evening. Not sure when I am going to find time to do work on the layout and I've been told I don't get weekends now either! What is the world coming to? Have a good one all. Cheers Dave P.S. I would cut my lawn but I can't see it 'cos the grass is too long.

Probably if I had a spare 16Gb stick. I've opted for the lowest level option here 'cos I know I can get a machine to boot from a CD unless it is completely nadgered. I could have created a bootable CD and the data on something else but... Bit dumb that the tool for creating the images doesn't actually provide any guidelines or tell you how many of each type of media you will need. Bloomin' programmers, they need sorting. Cheers Dave

17 CDs! Bl**dy Microsoft bloatware. Grr... Cheers Dave

I have taken an image backup to an external drive so this is really belt and braces creating a bootable recovery disc along with the necessary data discs. Should have used a DVD, or two, or three... Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright one again. I should be busy torturing timber for baseboards but am still faffing with computers. New laptop arrived yesterday so it shouldn't take me more than a week to install all the cr*p which is essential for my activities! Currently making recovery discs for repairing the thing when it goes wrong (I didn't say "if" I said "when"). It's chewed through 7 blank CDs so far. Would have been really useful if it had told me how many I would need before I started the process! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave