the MRH Forum

Friday Follies (or, What The Heck Did I Do?) Getting started
Reply
Frequent poster 505 posts NCR-Boomer Frequent poster 505 posts
NCR-Boomer

So, the last time I'd every driven spikes, or soldered a throttle (Onboard), or aimed a spitting Badger airbrush at rolling stock, was before my USAF change of station move from K.I. Siberia, er, K.I. Sawyer AFB in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, to Griffiss AFB in Rome, NY, right in the middle of that unpleasantness called "Desert Storm". 1991.   Fast forward some 28 years and a dozen optician visits later, here I sit at a workbench again.

A lot has changed, some of it hasn't.  DCC picked up where Keller's ONBOARD system left off and ran with it, straight through the end zone and out of the stadium.  Still, it's a handheld throttle, running a locomotive independent of track wiring, right?

Mmmyeah, no.  

Last night, I'm sitting at the bench, with a Raspberry Pi / Pi-Sprog combo hooked up to some cast-off Bachmann "Steel Rail" segments as a test track, building a roster of my new-to-me steam locomotives, with the intent of backing up those hundreds of "CV thingies" in each decoder, so I can recover from the inevitable mistakes I'll be making.  It's been an hour or more by now when I place the Broadway Limited USRA Light Mikado on the rails, plod through the backup, adjust the master volume, write that to the sheet, and try it out via the JMRI on-screen throttle...

First off, there's nothing on the throttle buttons.  Instead of 'Bell', 'Whistle' or other labels, it's just F1, F2 and so on.  I'm smart, I can recall what they've been on the other locos.  Run the 'Mike' left, right, left again, note there's no momentum effects at all, ring the bell, blow the whistle, hit what I think is the 'Short Whistle' button, hit the 'Coupler Clank'...  The sound level is still too high, back to Program Track mode.  OK, write that, back to running it again, and it won't move.  Nothing.  Whistle blows, bell rings, the lights and dynamo are on, but no response to speed commands.  Push it to 100% throttle, all I get is a slight increase in the background steam noise.  What the h..?

Back and forth from Program Track to Throttle, looking for something wrong.  Can't find anything.  Wait one moment; these things remember commands for a long time.  What buttons did I press again?  In hindsight, the best thing I did was reduce the speed to about 60%, for when I hit one particular button, that 'Mike' jumped for the edge of the desk.

As Murphy is my witness, I didn't know a DCC steam engine had a parking brake.
Reply 0
blindog10 Prolific poster 3,322 posts
blindog10

now you know how steam engines wind up in turntable pits

Sounds (pun intended) like a QSI decoder, in which case F9 puts it in neutral and F6 puts it back in "gear." Actually you're supposed to double click those to make it happen, but.... Scott Chatfield
Reply 0
Warflight Prolific poster 3,008 posts
Warflight

Speaking of...

960_n(1).jpg 
 
Reply 0
slttek New member 8 posts
slttek

almost 60 years soldering and

almost 60 years soldering and I've never tried it that way, best laugh in a long time!!  thanks!!
Reply 0
emdsd9 Regular poster 158 posts
emdsd9

I've picked up the wrong end

I've picked up the wrong end of an iron.............ONCE!

John
Reply 0
RandallG Super User 772 posts
RandallG

you should always test it

you should always test it first...

n-tongue.jpg 
Reply 0
NCR-Boomer Frequent poster 505 posts
NCR-Boomer
Reply 0
ctxmf74 Super User 15,948 posts
ctxmf74

she's not too dumb,

she's got a big diamond on her finger :> )

Think about it , supergirl could pose holding a hot iron by the tip.  ......DaveB

1990.jpg 
Read my blog
Reply 0
costin g Active Member 63 posts
costin g

the problem is ...

... on the other side of the PCB. Even supergirl couldn't solder from the top. Or could she?

.costin

 
Reply 0
NCR-Boomer Frequent poster 505 posts
NCR-Boomer

The problem will be

... when Supergirl heats that lithium battery she's poking with the iron
Reply 0
Ken Rice Super User 5,920 posts
Ken Rice

The other side of the lens

Fun to point out how clueless the model was, but remember there’s someone on the other side of the lens too, who must have been equally clueless.  And probably some marketting/PR types standing around saying what they wanted shots of.  It takes a lot of clueless people to make a PR shot like that.

Of course, it may be been deliberately staged that way for a good poster...

My blogspot blog: http://rices-rails.blogspot.com/
My MRH blog index
Reply 0
Virginian and Lake Erie Super User 9,233 posts
Virginian and Lake Erie

Tech subjects are not the

Tech subjects are not the only ones staged by people with out a clue. A friend of mine pointed out some things in the ag/lawn care areas, the mowers on the various drive units had no belts installed. In the condition they were in they could not cut a single blade of grass.

One can get some real dillies from the news media. Look any any subject involving guns, military, police, or any kind of science, there are lots more. Those folks claiming to be in the business of news should do a better job of fact checking but they clearly do not. Since we have transitioned from radio to television things have been about appearance more than substance and it gets worse every year.

Rob in Texas

MRH Blog / Prep for an Operating Session / Delving Into the Past / The Club Blog / Youtube / etmrc.org
Reply 0
blindog10 Prolific poster 3,322 posts
blindog10

I think we found Broadway's problem

Supergirl and her cohorts put their boards together! And she is the poster girl for Hemingway's Law: "Hot soldering irons look like cold soldering irons." (Named for a friend of mine who actually touched an iron to see if it was hot. It was....) Scott Chatfield
Reply 0
sanchomurphy Frequent poster 540 posts
sanchomurphy

My personal favorite...

Architects carrying around or looking at blueprints which haven't been used in the past 30 years.
Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Burlington Northern 3D Prints and Models
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/sean-p-murphy-designs
Reply 0
Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,531 posts
Michael Tondee

Please tell me the "Mike"

Please tell me the "Mike" didn't hit the floor. I'm not clear on that.

A couple of other things, you only solder feeders to the buss under the layout in shorts once, just once. You only pee on an electric fence once, just once.

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
Reply 0
NCR-Boomer Frequent poster 505 posts
NCR-Boomer

Saved by the 0-5-0!

T'was a near thing, it was. 

Which reminds me, I've got to go through a few more on the roster, and this time, it'll be on a longer bench.  
Reply 0
jlwitt Active Member 79 posts
jlwitt

Make your layout your programming track...

It just takes a DPDT switch for each district (assuming you have them). Program then test with the flip of a switch. No 5-finger crane needed, much less wear and tear on the locos.
Reply 0
NCR-Boomer Frequent poster 505 posts
NCR-Boomer

Pi-Sprog and the Rasp-Pi

Once I get something built in the attic, I'll take that advice for the programming track.  I picked up the Pi-Sprog strictly for programming duties and the 'chainsaw layout', with trips to Free-Mo events when I manage not to end up in the local ER (effin' kidney stones...)  It's been great at Timonium GSMTS meets, being able to test / readdress new purchases and then move them onto the Free-Mo layout without disturbing operations.

Now, if I'd learn to settle on a common set of keys for all the locos, the JMRI Wi-Fi at the club wouldn't catch me setting the brake again by accident.  
Reply 0
wcrails Regular poster 439 posts
wcrails

Michael T.I've been

Michael T.

I've been a member here for a while, I don't post in here as much as when I first joined, would you mind enlightening me who the "Gang of Six" is, or was?

I'm just interested in what it's all about.

Thanks,

Mike. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/bluecollar3
Reply 0
Ken Rice Super User 5,920 posts
Ken Rice

The gang of six

MRH Imagineering column:  http://mrhpub.com/2015-04-apr/port/html5/index.html?page=43

My blogspot blog: http://rices-rails.blogspot.com/
My MRH blog index
Reply 0
wcrails Regular poster 439 posts
wcrails

Thanks Ken. Mike.

Thanks Ken.

Mike.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/bluecollar3
Reply 0
Reply