snipped-for-privacy@cox.net (Ernie Fisch) wrote in news:NNGqmIRtbIm0-pn2-4nqtXJqR2SYW@localhost:
Sounds like those are the very folks who might take up the hobby. And isn't that why you are exhibiting in the first place?
Ed,
the bit that I dislike is the throttle cord ... if that's what you mean by "throttle to command station communications". Apart from that all is well, as you say. But thinking ahead, why talk to a command station when you will (hopefully) be able to talk straight to the decoder? Right now I'm using a PC that has a USB wireless link to my router. The electronic component in the USB device is not much bigger than a DCC decoder, and could be made much smaller. The day is coming when the decoder has wireless communication built in - I am certain of that.
Ron
Just how I see it too. Ron
examining the question
That's precisely the bit that bugs me too. It's getting so that no matter what question is asked, you can almost guarantee that one of the answers offered will be "DCC"!
Ron
DCC can solve this problem also!
*8->
The problem with their software, it reads the camera as a flash memory, and I already have the default in the computer set as "take no action", so it never launches the stinking software.
The other problem is that I expect it to at least equal my five year old Olympus D600L, and from what I see, the lens is nowhere near as good. (I bought a card reader, more convenient, I don't have to bother plugging and unplugging the camera, it also accepts the Oly cards, a bonus.) My 35mm cameras are Fujicas, I've used their 635 and loved it, and I've had Fujinon lenses for my large format cameras, with good results. If anyone is looking for a digital, I would say that looking at other than Fuji would be a good idea.
I don't use Adobe for anything, too expensive. I have Photo Plus and find that anything I want to do can be done with it. One hint, I convert from .jpg to .png with Irfanview, then resize with Photo Plus, setting the resolution to either 800 or 1200 dpi, this forces my printer into the high quality mode. 11 X 17 prints that are almost photo quality, but $2 per sheet for the paper and it's hell on the ink.
Another hint, using Carrara to generate curtains, then printing in much reduced size on transparency film gives the curtains that look pretty good. Carrara isn't the only one, there are a lot of good 3D programs that will do it, depending on your wallet. UV mapping an image onto another object can give some weird effects, might also be effective for generating backgrounds, if someone has a printer big enough.
Other than this on line box, Mike, I haven't bought a computer that was assembled in more than ten years now. I'll buy the components, then set it up for the purpose it's going to be used. The one I use for MIDI has the cheapest graphics card, the CAD machine doesn't have a sound card. No problems with drivers messing with each other that way. Standard "office suite" stuff is done on an old Mac, beats the hell out of any windoZe box for reliability. When my connection expires, the on line box is being traded for a couple of 0-4-0 Plantations, in brass. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Greybeard.
On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 12:44:40 -0800, cat claims:
I have a quick solution - purchase an inexpensive card reader like my USB Cameramate. Get one that accepts whatever media you use. You plug the thing into a USB port, push the card into the reader, and it can be read like a hard drive. I don't know about Macs, but you must have some icon that shows what files you have like Window's Explorer. You then should be able to move your pics wherever you want or copy them by dragging and dropping.
Cordially, Ken (NY)
email:
in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Greybeard at snipped-for-privacy@Nowhere.moose wrote on 3/4/05 8:31 AM:
Adobe Photoshop Elements lists at $99 and has much of the functionality of Photoshop which is very expensive. Unless you are a professional digital photo producer, elements is probably sufficient and very good. Much more capable than PhotoPlus and Element's resizing sampling algorithms are better.
The proper answer (imho) to all of this complication is to buy a Mac.
Did that last night, that part's ok, but Fuji isn't the quality they were years ago when I bought my 35mm. My old Olympus D600L is going to be hard to beat, the Fuji isn't going to do it. The Fuji will do more functions, the Oly won't do video, but the Fuji doesn't do many things well, a collection of compromises.
The thumbnail option in Irfanview makes file sorting easy, I've gone through several hundred images, sorting them into different directories in less than fifteen minutes. Not that you won't find some of them in the wrong directories, but the same options can fix it before I burn to CD.
My Macs are so old that even thinking about connecting anything modern to them is foolish. I think the newest is maxed out at OS7. Good for word processing, spreadsheets, database, but I don't try to go beyond that. But it would be nice to have something that will render a 500 frame animation without getting the BSD, and of the 4 versions of windoze I've tried, they all fail. (Then I get out the old Linux machine, start it going and come back in a week. 166mhz P-2's aren't the fastest thing, but it's never choked up on it either.)
Greybeard
with wanting
some degree of
into mine!
I'm sorry Greg. I know better. Brain fart. He models the Swiss Federal Railways. Since my interest in not concentrated on that facet of the hobby, sometimes I tend to run all of Europe under one umbrella. I will try to be more accurate in the future and differentiate between the various countries
staging yard. Beyond
train is invisible
Absolutely. We all agree with you on this end too. But, because we operate as a group, and because every train has a dedicated driver, it is easier and simpler to simply allow the driver to operate his charge for the entire segment of his run. We operate on large, walk-around layouts such that the driver is right there with his train as it emerges from the staging area. Staging is not hidden, exactly, it is in another room and cannot be seen from the layout, but access is easy if you should desire to go in there. No one in our operating group operates the way you do. I understand that you can run your entire model railway solo using a computer. We just don't do that. No particular reason, I suppose, we just don't. When I am home alone I operate industrial switching. There is no need to operate the intercity trains as they have either already arrived or departed as necessary. I personally do not care much for mainline running anyway. I defer to those who enjoy doing that and tend to stay in the yards and on the shunting jobs.
CH
If there is an exception to my "I hate electronics" rule, it is signaling. I would not object to engineering and installing signals on a model railroad. I do not use them on my own layout, but neither did the prototype I model. I have thought about it, and have actually built a small, signaled stretch of model railway. But it was a stand-alone piece to demonstrate how automatic block signals operate.
CH
OK.............CH>
I repeat my recommendation if you want video rendering, DV editing, audio production, and photos and rock solid stability: Mac OS X. It comes with iPhoto to organize and do minor photo tweaks; PS Elements is for Mac, too. Video stuff: iLife '05 (iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, and iDVD) is included with new machines for pretty easy functions; Final Cut Express HD and DVD SP are pro-sumer level programs which while not cheap, are inexpensive compared to say, the Avid suite.
Trying to do decent photo processing on antiquated equipment (Mac System 7? Yikes!) or Windows is possible, but definitely a hobbiest obsession. Even Windows XP, while stable enough, is more problem laden than OS X, and much more prone to infection from the internet.
Camera: dump the fuji, get either a Canon or a Sony with at least 5MP. My F717 takes great photos at 2560x1920; a friend has the 6MP Canan D10 (or 20, I forget) and it takes 3072x2048 pictures using the interchangeable Canon lens system.
Ed
in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Greybeard at snipped-for-privacy@Nowhere.moose wrote on 3/4/05 10:21 AM:
"Edward A. Oates" wrote in news:BE4DE53D.88B6% snipped-for-privacy@unearthlylink.net:
I've always been partial to Paint Shop Pro from JASC. Costs about
20% of what Photoshop does and has about 90% of the functionality. I started using it back at v.4 and it's up to v.9 now.I've used a number of digital cameras, but my current favorite is a Kodak DX6490 I use at work. 4 megapixels and a 10X optical zoom. Plus it just "feels right" in your hand if you are used to SLRs.
On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 09:04:38 -0500, Mike Tennent purred:
Been there. Done that. Ended up with firewire. =^-^=
cat
On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 10:31:32 -0600, Greybeard purred:
I never use their program as it is more confusion and trouble than it is worth. I use the camera as a "removable media drive" and transfer the files direst to the hard drive and work from there. Their program is just an unnecessary intermediate step and you are better off without it
cat
I quite agree.
The whole matter comes down to WHERE are you displaying the layout, WHY, and FOR who?
In our case our group makes about 70% of our entire year's income displaying our layout each Christmas ... for the VERY general public. About half that is a payment from the hosting organization, and half from donations. If we don't please the public, we don't get many donations, and NEXT year we might not be invited back by the hosts.
Yes, it's a very different atmosphere than at a public "train show", and that again is different than at model railroader's show like a Narrow Gauge Convention, or the Proto Modeler's Meets.
They're ALL fun if you keep your head 'screwed on right'.
Dan Mitchell ============
with wanting
It is simply
BIG layouts
or some degree of
and into mine!
In German history there is what is known as Greater Germany which consists of the region inhabited by the German (speaking) people. It includes present day Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace etc etc.
Well, it's a bit like counting Canada and Mexico as part of the USa, or Australia as part of New Zealand, except that "Europe" is much more diverse. :-)
staging yard. Beyond
takes over. I
train is invisible
Well, I have that possibility too and sometimes it's just nice to set a train running while I'm at the workbench or just dreaming. The point of the computer in decending order is:
- eliminate building control panels. (mine have always been one mod behind the layout)
- minimise/eliminate switches for cabs, blocks ...
- route setting.
- prototype interlocking. (present programming task)
- simulate the rest of the world. (later)
- operate the non-prototypical staging yard.
- simulate industry requirements - replaces card system. (sometime soon)
- replace absent operators. (coming)
- timetable. (later)
- Loco selection. (thinking)
From that list you can probably see that "automation" isn't the aim, and that some of my ideas are away in the future. OTOH I have projects from now until whenever!
Regards, Greg.P.
I'd definitely like speed mapping, light functions, (sound,) EMF feedback control and motor current switching. While all this has been built into DCC I don't see why it shouldn't be built into an analogue loco module operated by a DCC signal interposed on the analogue voltage. As the specific switching signal is only a tiny fraction of a second it would not affect DC operation.
Regards, Greg.P.
What's for lunch? ? ;-)
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