Templot Club Archive 2007-2020                             

topic: 3746Motorizing those pesky points.
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posted: 20 Aug 2020 04:45

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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I don't know about you but I'm genetically programmed to spend as little as possible on anything, model railways included, and particularly anything to do with setting the direction of points (turnouts if you prefer).

My target is to keep it down to less than $3.00 (call it 2.00 GBP) for each point. That pretty much rules out just about every commercially available option. Sure, servos are cheap, but you can spend lots of money on fancy electronic servo controllers that don't even work all that well and end up spending far more than that.

Absent a freely available supply of ex Post Office relays (as previously used by Martin) an alternative is the cheap and cheerful SG90 radio-control servo. Considering how good they are they are incredibly inexpensive. (But they do have a couple of issues which this does address.)

If you are happy to accept that all your point servos rotate their horns through something like 90 degrees and you are willing to adjust the throws at the point tie-bars mechanically you do not need a fancy electronic controller. All you need is one (incredibly cheap - think 1.00 GBP) pulse generator that can feed positioning pulses to as many servos as you like.

This method also significantly reduces the number of wires hanging around under your layout and it can take care of frog polarity too.

I could produce an extensive write-up and I will do that if there is enough interest. Please let me know if you would like me to do that :)

Cheers,
Andrew (or Andy)

posted: 20 Aug 2020 07:09

from:

Igor Kurgan
 
Netherlands

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From my memory 25 years ago:
A cheap electric coil(even made by yourself), a power supply 19-24v, some condensators and a spring can do the trick also.
The theory was that the spring is holding them into a fixed position and when put power on the coil the points where set in a different position.
With the condensator you could alter the frequencies of you volt, from 30 hz to 1kh, in steps of ~25hz or something so it would only power up the matching frequencie of that coil(condensator)
So one power line is needed(two wires, nothing else!), every "set"(points and the switch) will be needing 2 condensators.
I will look it up when i have the time, it was really cheap.
If bought for 100 turnouts your cost would be not even 10 cents per turnout.

Thanks for triggering this memory, i am going to need this very soon, i will post this for sure to help.

With best regards, Igor

posted: 20 Aug 2020 08:28

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Andrew Barrowman wrote:
My target is to keep it down to less than $3.00 (call it 2.00 GBP) for each point set of points.

Hi Andy,

£2 seems extravagant, this is far cheaper (and more railwaylike):

 http://templot.com/info/wooden_point_motors_1956.pdf

:)

p.s. the modular lever frame is an ideal candidate for 3D filament printing.

Martin.

posted: 20 Aug 2020 20:32

from:

Rob Manchester
 
Manchester - United Kingdom

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Hi Andy,

Good old fashioned 'wire in tube' has a lot going for it. Model aircraft control tubing is one option but there are others such as just using a wire suspended through screw eyes ( maybe there is a better word for them - they are used for hanging net curtain rods on ? ). People used to use bike brake cables cut to suitable length!

You need a spring to bias the turnout one way and use the wire or wire in tube to overcome the spring and pull it the other way. Some form of locking is needed but that could be as simple as a friction device home made with bits of WHY. Turn up some little wooden knobs on the lathe or pop down to Home Depot for some ready made ones.

You may have to splash out on a microswitch for switching the crossing polarity though :D

I much prefer the simple approach without servos and circuit boards ( and yes I am still a MERG member ) - it leaves more time and money to spend on locos, stock and scenery :)

Rob


posted: 20 Aug 2020 20:46

from:

allanferguson
 
Fife - United Kingdom

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Having lived with the unreliability of Tortoise motors for some years I built my layout with wire in plastic tube ---- a proprietary system, but at this distance I have no idea of what it cost. It wasn't dear, though. The wires are operated from a row of minature slide switches, which control the crossing polarity --- it doesn't seem to me that microswitches as installed are very reliable either. I do need one wire from the switch to the crossing, but I have NEVER had any failures, mechanical or electrical.

Allan F

posted: 20 Aug 2020 21:25

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Rob Manchester wrote:
You need a spring to bias the turnout one way
Hi Rob,

On a permanent layout, instead of the spring run a cord over a pulley and hang a falling weight on it.

Unlike a spring, this provides a constant force as you pull the lever over, which is more railwaylike.

Also, if you don't overdo the weight, the points will be trailable in the normal position.

This clever device:

 http://templot.com/info/wooden_point_motors_1956.pdf

goes one better and leaves the points trailable in both positions. It also needs no careful adjustment of the pull travel.

But not very practical on an exhibition layout -- use a spring or an elastic band. :)

cheers,

Martin.

posted: 20 Aug 2020 21:56

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Yes, wire in tube works quite well. I have been known to use Woollies spring curtain wire and the strings from an old piano. Unfortunately my layout is 29 feet long and I have ideas (sketchy) about automating some of it, should I actually live that long.

Anyway, this is what I'm on about.

2983_201603_060000000.jpg2983_201603_060000000.jpg

The control panel has a single pole make/break switch for each point set of points. That controls a cheap 2-pole relay mounted locally at the point turnout. The 0 volt connection to the relay could be your track common-return if you use that method. One pole of the relay supplies the frog and the other pole selects short or long pulses to position the servo.

There is a pulse generator local to a cluster of turnouts. That's to keep the servo signal connections as short as possible to prevent the servos going bonkers as they are want to do. (You could use long cables to the servos and prevent them from going bonkers with opto-isolators, but the pulse generators are so inexpensive it's probably better to use more of them and just keep the servo connections short.)

There are a lot of different ways to make the pulse generator. I happen to use a single ATtiny44A which has the right number of built-in counter-timers. (Code available to anyone who wants it.) It could also be constructed from 555 timers, cmos monostables, digital counter chips or anything else you happen to fancy.

I plan to include a jumper selectable "neutral" mode in my code to position the servos mid way between the limits of their travel. That might be useful when setting up the mechanical arrangements. The servos will be suspended under the baseboard by their operating shafts. A compliant "torque arm" will limit the rotation of the servo casing as it moves the tie-bar eliminating the need for any compliant connection between the servo and the turnout - at least that's the plan. We shall see :)

EDIT: Come to think of it I still have some of the lead weights I salvaged from that piano sixty years ago but the piano-wire is long gone.
Last edited on 20 Aug 2020 22:16 by Andrew Barrowman
posted: 20 Aug 2020 23:00

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Hi Andy,

That all looks a bit fragile. :?

This my idea of a point motor:

F1770139-01?pgw=1F1770139-01?pgw=1

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/linear-solenoids/1770139/

Magnetic latching solenoid. A hefty 3amp pulse to pull it in. The internal magnet then holds it in. A reverse-polarity pulse releases it and a spring pushes it back out. Used for door locks and similar.

Simple circuit needing only an ordinary changeover switch -- charge a capacitor through it, then discharge it through it.

More than £2, but a lot cheaper than Tortoise or similar. Proper industrial beef. :)

cheers,

Martin.

posted: 20 Aug 2020 23:32

from:

Rob Manchester
 
Manchester - United Kingdom

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Hi Martin,

Yes, the weighted method does have advantages. The only downside I can think of is the suitability for portable layouts with all those weights dangling down. I have a plan to make a shelving type unit that has fixed fiddle yards left and right about half way up and moveable 'scenic' sections that can be moved to the middle to line up with the fiddle yards. It was inspired by Iain Rice as he had a picture in one of his books - although I think his was just the one fiddle yard.

The RS solenoid is nice in that it holds at either end without needing power as a normal solenoid would. Certainly plenty of grunt and the 12mm stroke will be fine. A good thought - I have added it to my 'things to consider' list. Thanks for the hint.

Rob


posted: 21 Aug 2020 05:01

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Martin Wynne wrote:
Hi Andy,

That all looks a bit fragile. :?

This my idea of a point motor:

F1770139-01?pgw=1F1770139-01?pgw=1

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/linear-solenoids/1770139/

Magnetic latching solenoid. A hefty 3amp pulse to pull it in. The internal magnet then holds it in. A reverse-polarity pulse releases it and a spring pushes it back out. Used for door locks and similar.

Simple circuit needing only an ordinary changeover switch -- charge a capacitor through it, then discharge it through it.

More than £2, but a lot cheaper than Tortoise or similar. Proper industrial beef. :)

cheers,

Martin.
Hi Martin,
Not at all fragile. The servos usually survive even when the rest of the RC aircraft is a total loss :) They also produce a prodigious amount of torque and they resist back-driving due to the large reduction gear ratio. The biggest problem with them (in a model railway environment) is their susceptibility to electrical interference but that's not difficult to resolve. 

Personally I don't like solenoids for driving points. Too much seismic shock for me, difficult to control from any sort of automation and they still need something to switch frog polarity, but each to their own I suppose.

Cheers!
Andy


posted: 21 Aug 2020 07:53

from:

Godfrey Earnshaw
 
Crawley - United Kingdom

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Dear All,

I find the thread of this topic shocking, disappointing...I can't think of enough words to describe it.


We are on a website where a man, Martin, has dedicated a large portion of his life to developing a program that allows people to create exact scale model trackwork.


Then we have another man, Andrew, who prefers to spend hundreds of dollars on locomotives that he, very probably doesn't need.


I feel as if I am reading the words of impoverished children with train sets.


Gentlemen, you should be ashamed.


Turnouts are not meant to be spring loaded they are required to be in a known secure position.


Surely you should be promoting the use of accurate scale signal boxes with interlocking by solid metal bars and point locking with Facing Point Locks.


As for crossing vee polarity, it should not be necessary. It can be overcome with multiple pick ups on vehicles and stay alive capacitors.


I can't bear to read any more of this thread and the depths it may sink to.

Yours gloomily

Godders

posted: 21 Aug 2020 18:12

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Steady on old bean. According to my Wonder Book Of Railways the railways in Britain were using electric motors to change points at least eighty years ago. I'm just trying to bring our layouts up to date :)

(BTW, I can assure you I've never spent anything like $100 on a locomotive, nor do I ever intend to.)

posted: 21 Aug 2020 19:33

from:

Igor Kurgan
 
Netherlands

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@Godfrey,I understand your words and your way.
But if you want something and it is just out of your financial reach......Or you just want to build(or even just for the thrill or a learning curve or...)

Currently i am building 1.5 km of track in p32 for under 1 euro a meter or 3.1 yard.
You must understand that a knife cuts at two sides.
There are people with skills and/or with not so much money or have other needs, sorry that we exist.

I can not afford to have a big boy or a aa20 on live steam, but i have the tools and the knowledge to build them and many more for under 100 euro if i go the full length: some copper tubing welding, some casting of iron and brass pieces, basically that is it.
A lathe and some other tools not much in my point of view, but i bought my whole live tools.
I am not going to brag or play stupid, for dutch living standards i am living very good.
But that garden railway....it is a itch that just wont go away.
Currently i am rebuilding my whole house, it would cost more than all the locos i would like to have, even rtr and prebuild.(t3 bello, ns6300, challanger, big boy, aa20, hugh boy, big joe, some garrats ect)

And the effort you put in something and it works?!?! that feeling.....
Yes i am working class and have a good running company in the insulation and i was a carpenter for 30 years.
I always made good money, but it is humanity's own: they want to have what they can't get.

If you need to do a 100 switches for 1 euro or 50 euro each......i would even go with wooden point motors, as long as it works.
put a dummy next to your railway to let it look good, so what: i am happy.
If you are happy with spending 50 euro per turnout, with the money you have on what you want i am happy for you, simple.
Make them work on air, i forgot the name of that system, but it is a nice system.
Best of the best btw!

Most of us(at least i think) are using the meany years of development of Martins masterpiece to create there railway on there way in prototypical view/work

At forehand i would like to apologizes if i insulted you, it was not my intention.
Bare in mind please that English is not my native language.

This was my side of the story.(knife)
With best regards Igor Kurgan from the Netherlands.




posted: 21 Aug 2020 22:37

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Godfrey Earnshaw wrote:
Surely you should be promoting the use of accurate scale signal boxes with interlocking by solid metal bars and point locking with Facing Point Locks.

I can't bear to read any more of this thread and the depths it may sink to.

Yours gloomily
Hi Godders,

I agree, we are all heading for hell in a handcart. :(

The rot set in when I lit a fire in the firebox of my latest Hornby model, and it melted the cab.

Martin.

:)

posted: 21 Aug 2020 22:42

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Igor Kurgan wrote:
At forehand i would like to apologizes if i insulted you, it was not my intention.
Bare in mind please that English is not my native language.

Hi Igor,

You have not insulted anyone, it is great to read your ideas.

Your English is far better than my ability to speak or write your language. :)

cheers,

Martin.

posted: 21 Aug 2020 23:40

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Igor Kurgan wrote:
@Godfrey,I understand your words and your way.
But if you want something and it is just out of your financial reach......Or you just want to build(or even just for the thrill or a learning curve or...)

Currently i am building 1.5 km of track in p32 for under 1 euro a meter or 3.1 yard.
You must understand that a knife cuts at two sides.
There are people with skills and/or with not so much money or have other needs, sorry that we exist.

I can not afford to have a big boy or a aa20 on live steam, but i have the tools and the knowledge to build them and many more for under 100 euro if i go the full length: some copper tubing welding, some casting of iron and brass pieces, basically that is it.
A lathe and some other tools not much in my point of view, but i bought my whole live tools.
I am not going to brag or play stupid, for dutch living standards i am living very good.
But that garden railway....it is a itch that just wont go away.
Currently i am rebuilding my whole house, it would cost more than all the locos i would like to have, even rtr and prebuild.(t3 bello, ns6300, challanger, big boy, aa20, hugh boy, big joe, some garrats ect)

And the effort you put in something and it works?!?! that feeling.....
Yes i am working class and have a good running company in the insulation and i was a carpenter for 30 years.
I always made good money, but it is humanity's own: they want to have what they can't get.

If you need to do a 100 switches for 1 euro or 50 euro each......i would even go with wooden point motors, as long as it works.
put a dummy next to your railway to let it look good, so what: i am happy.
If you are happy with spending 50 euro per turnout, with the money you have on what you want i am happy for you, simple.
Make them work on air, i forgot the name of that system, but it is a nice system.
Best of the best btw!

Most of us(at least i think) are using the meany years of development of Martins masterpiece to create there railway on there way in prototypical view/work

At forehand i would like to apologizes if i insulted you, it was not my intention.
Bare in mind please that English is not my native language.

This was my side of the story.(knife)
With best regards Igor Kurgan from the Netherlands.




Hi Igor,

Can you post some photos of your track? I have thought of laying some track in my back garden which is more like a rock quarry than a garden.

Mine would have to be rather sturdy. It will have to survive deer and the occasional moose stepping on it.

Cheers!
Andy

posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:17

from:

Godfrey Earnshaw
 
Crawley - United Kingdom

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To everyone,

I am not criticising your efforts merely the way you have gone about doing it.

As for a garden railway, I have one, it is a 4 track mainline, with a 2 track branch, the trains are almost all electric, with a few diesel freights. Not for me DCC. To be authentic it is powered at 750Vdc and the scale is 1:1. Yes, I live near the Brighton Main Line, in Three Bridges.

You see there is no need to build one in my own back garden, someone has built it for me.

Goedemorgen Igor,

Eerst een woordje uitleg; dit alles is lichtjes geschreven.

Ik woon in Engeland maar ik heb bijna 11 jaar in Nederland en België gewerkt. Ik heb ook 2 jaar in het vlakke land van Noord-Duitsland gewerkt. Het verbaast me dat je een tuin hebt. in mijn beleving is het in Nederland normaal dat ze los staan ​​van de huizen (volkstuinen) en meestal onder water staan, vandaar het veelvuldig dragen van klompen. Ik denk niet dat de houten wissel motoren voor jou zouden werken, ze zouden drijven. Overigens wordt het luchtsysteem pneumatisch genoemd, maar misschien is hydrauliek met al het water dat je hebt geschikter. Een tuinspoor zou veel bruggen nodig hebben, misschien zou je daarvoor de frames van alle fietsen die op straat staan ​​kunnen gebruiken.

vriendelijke groeten

Godders

posted: 22 Aug 2020 18:42

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Godfrey Earnshaw wrote:
To everyone,

I am not criticising your efforts merely the way you have gone about doing it.

Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't decide whether it was ad hominem or humorous.

posted: 22 Aug 2020 22:51

from:

Trevor Walling
 
United Kingdom

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Hello Godders,
       Could you possibly do an English interpretation of your Dutch part please.
It would be nice to see how the humour of your reply has continued and translated.
trustytrev. :)

posted: 22 Aug 2020 23:59

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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For those who prefer solenoids you might like these.

2983_221847_210000000.jpg2983_221847_210000000.jpg



It's a Kemtron Switch Machine (made in Japan) in terrifying close-up. They are no longer in production but they have a very nice mechanism and they include contacts to switch frog polarity and two additional changeover switch contacts.

They show up for sale here from time to time. Were they sold in the UK, possibly under a different name?

Last edited on 23 Aug 2020 00:01 by Andrew Barrowman
posted: 23 Aug 2020 00:13

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Andrew Barrowman wrote:
They show up for sale here from time to time. Were they sold in the UK, possibly under a different name?
Hi Andy,

I have one of those, unused, still in its box -- so almost certainly sold in the UK. I think it was a different name, but to find out I shall have to remember where it is...

Very nicely made.

cheers,

Martin.

posted: 23 Aug 2020 00:49

from:

Rob Manchester
 
Manchester - United Kingdom

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Andy, Martin,

I seem to remember that the original design for these point motors was done by Tenshodo. As it happens I have just found a pic in one of Iain Rice's books ( P10 in the PCB track making one ) of the NJ International branded one and the text backs up my recollection of Tenshodo. Iain quotes that they have a 'sprung cushioned soft action'. The pic is just the same as Andy's.

I can also remember Kean Maygib selling one that may have been similar but can't find a pic to back up my thoughts. Green header card I seem to recall.........

Rob


posted: 23 Aug 2020 01:23

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Rob Manchester wrote:
Andy, Martin,

I seem to remember that the original design for these point motors was done by Tenshodo. As it happens I have just found a pic in one of Iain Rice's books ( P10 in the PCB track making one ) of the NJ International branded one and the text backs up my recollection of Tenshodo. Iain quotes that they have a 'sprung cushioned soft action'. The pic is just the same as Andy's.

I can also remember Kean Maygib selling one that may have been similar but can't find a pic to back up my thoughts. Green header card I seem to recall.........

Rob


It might be a good example of "they don't make 'em like that anymore". If they did they would probably cost about twenty quid.

Yes, I think they also appeared as Tenshodo. Could they have been the manufacturer? Anyway, if anyone happens to see one for sale they are definitely worth grabbing. 

I did have a couple of those huge H&M clonkers but I ended up throwing them in the bin :)

That particular Kemtron was used as part of an automatic "non-stop" reversing loop. It reversed the controller and swapped the track feeds simultaneously. Unfortunately I can't quite remember exactly how I did it and my "record keeping" is pretty much nonexistent.

Meanwhile I think I've figured out how to modify my code to provide the "neutral" position for mechanical setup. It's really quite simple but configuring all the registers in the microcontroller is a bit complicated because there are so many possible configurations. I think I understand it now but I better write it down because I know I'll never remember it.

While I was putting-off doing this I was poking around to see if there might be a less expensive microcontroller available now. And there is. Not only is it less expensive but it's got more bells and whistles than you could ever shake a stick at :)

http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATtiny412#additional-features



posted: 23 Aug 2020 01:33

from:

Rob Manchester
 
Manchester - United Kingdom

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Andy,
Skip the microcontrollers and such like, keep things simple and go back to the Woollies spring curtain wire and the strings from an old piano :D :D

Bed time on this side of the water....

Rob


posted: 23 Aug 2020 07:20

from:

Igor Kurgan
 
Netherlands

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Trevor Walling wrote:
Hello Godders,
       Could you possibly do an English interpretation of your Dutch part please.
It would be nice to see how the humor of your reply has continued and translated.
trustytrev. :)
I am not even going to respond on that "humors" Dutch part......Nor translate.....

posted: 23 Aug 2020 07:48

from:

Hayfield
 
United Kingdom

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Martin Wynne wrote:
Andrew Barrowman wrote:
They show up for sale here from time to time. Were they sold in the UK, possibly under a different name?
Hi Andy,

I have one of those, unused, still in its box -- so almost certainly sold in the UK. I think it was a different name, but to find out I shall have to remember where it is...

Very nicely made.

cheers,

Martin.
I remember them too, somehow Keen Maygib springs to mind, I also have a second type with a motor using small elastic bands to an actuator arm, this is American made. Firms like Victors of Islington imported American models
After watching a branch line terminus layout where the operator operated the layout from what looked line the inside of a quarter scale signal box at the front, I have always fancied operating a layout using a lever frame, even if the lever frame operated turnout motors. The Scalefour frame comes to mind, but I still have several GEM types in reserve 

posted: 23 Aug 2020 07:57

from:

Godfrey Earnshaw
 
Crawley - United Kingdom

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Andrew Barrowman wrote:
Godfrey Earnshaw wrote:
To everyone,

I am not criticising your efforts merely the way you have gone about doing it.

Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't decide whether it was ad hominem or humorous.
Hi Andrew, 
It was certainly not meant as an insult, in fact the whole topic I have viewed with tongue in cheek.

regards Godders

posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:41

from:

Godfrey Earnshaw
 
Crawley - United Kingdom

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Trevor Walling wrote:
Hello Godders,
       Could you possibly do an English interpretation of your Dutch part please.
It would be nice to see how the humour of your reply has continued and translated.
trustytrev. :)
Hi Trevor,
This is what I wrote

Goedemorgen Igor,Eerst een woordje uitleg; dit alles is lichtjes geschreven.
First a word of explanation; this is all written lightheartidly.

Ik woon in Engeland maar ik heb bijna 11 jaar in Nederland en België gewerkt.
I live in England but I worked for almost 11 years in The Netherlands and Belgium.


Ik heb ook 2 jaar in het vlakke land van Noord-Duitsland gewerkt.
I also worked in the flat lands of North Germany for 2 years.
(Note: North Germany, in Stade where I lived, is very similar terrain to a lot of the Netherlands i.e. below sea level and easily floods.)


 Het verbaast me dat je een tuin hebt. in mijn beleving is het in Nederland normaal dat ze los staan
I am surprised you have a garden. It is my belief that it is normal for the garden to be separate


 ​​van de huizen (volkstuinen) en meestal onder water staan, vandaar het veelvuldig dragen van[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;] klompen.
from the houses (volkstuinen; these are the equivalent of allotments in  this country) and most of them are below water level, hence the frequent/common wearing of wooden shoes (clogs)


 Ik denk niet dat de houten wissel motoren voor jou zouden werken, ze zouden drijven.
I don't think that wooden point motors would work for you, they would float.


 Overigens wordt het luchtsysteem pneumatisch genoemd,
By the way the air operated system is called pneumatic.


 maar misschien is hydrauliek met al het water dat je hebt geschikter.
but maybe with all the water you have, hydraulics is more suitable.

[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;]Een tuinspoor zou veel bruggen nodig hebben,
[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;]An allotment railway would require a lot of bridges.
(Note: There are seemingly thousands of bridges in The Netherlands because there is so much low lying land that is criss crossed by waterways)
[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;]

[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;] misschien zou je daarvoor de frames van alle fietsen die op straat staan ​​kunnen gebruiken.
[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;]Maybe you could use bicycle frames from all the bicycles that are standing in the streets.(to make the bridges)
[highlight= rgb(246, 246, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica;]

vriendelijke groeten
friendly greetingsGodders


This was all said light heartedly and I do hope it was received in that way. As I said before I would not wish to offend only project a little humour.
Because of the population density there is  a high proliferation of flats and hence people like to get out and onto their allotments. Some of the allotments have to be seen. Their keepers put a lot of work into them and there are some spectacular creations. The wearing of wooden clogs is quite rare in practice but they are useful in some occupations to keep feet warm.
If you haven't been to The Netherlands I can very much recommend it. It is a fascinating place and well worth visiting.
However you will find one thing very difficult to get used to; the trains run on time.
Last edited on 23 Aug 2020 08:42 by Godfrey Earnshaw
posted: 24 Aug 2020 01:45

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Rob Manchester wrote:
Andy,
Skip the microcontrollers and such like, keep things simple and go back to the Woollies spring curtain wire and the strings from an old piano :D :D

Bed time on this side of the water....

Rob


Hi Rob,

The supplies of Woollies net curtain rod are exhausted but I do have some PTFE tube as an alternative. I thought I might use it to remote the servos to the front of the baseboard but that's still a bit up in the air.

We get to watch the latest episode of Endeavour tonight.That's about as exciting as it gets here :)

Andy

posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:39

from:

Andrew Barrowman
 
USA

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Well, that was easy :)

It only took me a few days to figure out how detect the presence of a jumper to branch the code. In my defense it's been a while since I wrote the original program and some of the documentation on the micro-controller is a bit sketchy. At least that's my excuse.



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