Train on Track detectors.

We are suffering 26=B0C as if it were still May and rain (albeit warm rain) continues to fall more often than not -- it's all that global warming stuff and holes in the ozone ( why shouldn't negatively charged atoms be sucked into the positively charged south pole? or is that too obvious?

Regards

Mid winter - (max) temperatures down in the 20-15'C range and we'll probably hit a low of 12 degrees tonight! I might have to find another blanket for the bed - of course we'll be stoic and not whine about it at all.

The thin ozone layer here has resulted in considerable incidence of skin cancer. Even the sheep often get cancer on their ears in the last decade or so. It's difficult to laugh at such things when it becomes personal.

Well I must confess that the habit of mocking stems from having so much of my life in a submarine -- if you can't laugh at it then get out!

I have had another look at these mini SMD's and concluded that the eyes of anno domini are not compatible! In any case, having made one detector work as designed am somewhat peed off that the next two are giving problems. Hunched up in my little technical corner it is taking all of my world famous tenacity and determination not to cry!

Regards

Yeah, I guess you'd be short of more than just ozone in a submarine. Industrial nations causing us to get excessive amounts of skin cancer is a little pissing off though.

A system of magnification and lighting is vital. I'm only 58 and my eyesight is good, but without the visual aids I can't work with SMDs for more than a few minutes.

Been there, done that. Don't you just hate that!!! I'm happy with my current detector circuits, but my light detectors are umm, temperamental. 99% reliable operation isn't as good as it sounds.

Regards, Greg.P.

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the ability to

Well, when I was at sea I could see the dust on a gnats nuts at 10 miles but suddenly one morning I could not read the paper! I have found my first error, to wit, mounting one transistor on each board the wrong way around ( the drawback of mixes of pnp & npn) All I have to do now is find the damage done by my error. We call this a hobby?

Regards

the ability to

Either the RN has bigger submarines than I thought or you weren't studying gnats nuts indoors at sea!

That's an excellent way to learn about transistor types and orientation!

Aww, you wouldn't want to put transistors in backwards as a job, would you? ;-)

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I was one of the few Engineers who actually used the periscopes for real and in any case all engineers kept bridge watches on the roof. I was the proud owner of a digital computer in 1963 and was then launched into the Polaris boats as the Chief Tech. They were so cutting edge that I did not meet the same technology in civilian life for almost 20 years. To move from thermionic valves to IC's is a major step function. Having subsequently to qualify Nuclear and then Mechanical I found myself having to fight to stay in the electronics game as general management demanded my time and concentration. My railway hobby then was 5" live steam but the fun evaporated with the rules ( insurance etc) and the po faced attitude of many of the well heeled adherents ( talk about rivet counting!) . About the only thing still working corporally is my brain and a good days entertainment can be finding a few mini bits on the deck amidst the other debris ( it is usually the irreplaceable widger etc which is playing silly buggers). (And -- yes I have put things in backwards before -- and got paid for it, but then that was part of my charm).

Regards

I was a CREA in Resolution (1966 -70) & Cachalot (1963-5)then WEO in Courageous (72 - 75) and then Defiance (ends 1976).

Regards

You probably worked for my old man then! (WEO). Small world....

Cheers Richard

Right, the old man was Repulse, from standby to about 1976 ish.

Cheers Richard

The readers will be relieved to learn that my transistors are now all correctly positioned and a little voltage problem resolved so that my TOT units both drive and indicate on a test track of 3 sections using common supply and individual returns.

The next step is to replicate this on the real railway ( albeit in one of my single line branch terminals!). No doubt the final product will end up stuffed into a biscuit box as I find purpose built polymer ones hard to come by.

Regards

Regards