Grrr sleepers....

[cabbage]

After slight problems with my sight!!! I have been having to wear heavy polaroid lenses to deal with the sunlight. So far everything is either a blinding white or jet black. I have had No.5 pull a three coach rake and I can now visualise where each signal stalk will have to be. The switch bank for the control system has been bored and the main Bussbars installed.

I am going to spray the local control boxes std grey primer and then flash them over with white gloss. This should give some UV protection - he says(!)

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

The neighbours obviously think that I am insane as  over the past few days I have been dodging the rain and stiking a laser pointer to the base board... This is the std method that I always used when I was P.I.T. boss doing installations for cabling. I assure you that there is nothing more annoying than a 3phase feeder thats just a few centimetres "out" from the pre cut holes in the cabinets...

The positions of all the signals are now fixed at points where 150' high people can see them as well as 6' high drivers! The remaining Cobolt omega motors should arrive in two to three weeks then I start fabricating the control system and as my Son said, "Dad that's an awesome amount of relays".

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

I have been dodging the rain and stapled cables to the baseboard. I have reached the point of the lift out section and taken a break for tea and biscuits!!! How I deal with the lift out section I am not sure yet. Ideally I should dig down and run conduit to the other side but that is "work" and I am lazy.... The other option is to simply stick it in a length of steel pipe and screw the pipe to the support posts.

There are two ring circuits one each for the inner and outer signal sets.





Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

Three thunderstorms later and the bulk of the system external wiring is complete. The last part is "Lowe Point" which is currently under water. Not the best time to do electrical installation...

This is the main control board. As my Son said an awesome amount of DPDT relays. The left bank are power switching to the points motors. The right bank is the interlock and route setting - there are six predetermined routes, but you can set the points manually. The "diode logic" will use 1n1001. Yes part of me wants to use Copper Oxide and Lead but this is simpler(!)





The second shot shows the six Vreg PCBs to feed the LEDs  on the front. In the original Westinghouse system these would have been 2a3 valves, they are still available but £100's(!) These will provide the 3volt feed to the LEDs.





There is at the moment no loop back from the signal control boxes to the control panel. I am playing with three options to do this - and there is always that moment of devine inspiration (or madness....)

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

End of the day...




Regards
Ralph

[cabbage]

Break for lunch... The rversing relays for the points motors have been wired (apart from the output leads). I have wired them so that the output is fed from the "Common" connections of the DPDT relay, with NC cross wired to NO.

The main problem is that at the moment I am burning through supplies far faster than I can get them replaced.

Some of the stuff that I am using dates back over 20years!

The "maypoles" of collected cables are now visable and these will be bolt into the bussbars. The next step is to start producing the diode logic pcbs, (ugh!)








Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

These are some of the part completed faceplates. They were cut by MEL. The std LED shroud just plugs through the hole. Amazingly an 8mm LED is very nearly the correct lamp size(!) Everything is working from a 12v line so the dropper resistors depend on the LED colour (see G3 wiki for correct values). The back of each socket is sealed with bath sealer, this both prevents water ingress and locks the LED in place. Where possible everything is daubed with red oxide primer and the completed assembly will be filled with "potting compound". This is a two part epoxy which should seal and lock everthing into place.







Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

The first hood starts to come off the reprap. As normal the SCAD files will be found on the G3 wiki. Simple maths will produce a three or two aspect. Printing time is 2hrs 38mins - stock up on the biscuits. Once all the hoods have been printed then the unions to the posts are next.





Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

This is the first test print assembled. There is the coffin shaped top and the square on a cone base glued to it. The base has a 10mm bore printed into it but I eased it out to an exact 10mm with reamers - 0.5 mm at a time. I started off at 8.5 and then incremented until 10mm. The two ends pass the steel tube through them to help both unify and strengthen  the joint.

Two down - enough for the day!










Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

After having massively increased my Vitamin D, I have reached the section end. All the points cables now terminate at a barrier block. This has annoyed the local Mistletoe Trushes. NASA employs people to keep check of the nests of the condors and storks. This is because the nesting birds have used scraps of wire  to build their nests with... The nests are passed down through pairs and some of them weigh over 90Kg. My lengths of wire have attracted similar attention. You have to admire the dedication to parenthood that will cause a bird to pull a cable stapled to the baseboard and try to fly off with it - repeatedly...

Tomorrow the resupply van should arrive and I can continue.

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

This is 5x7 display that will for the "theatre" panels. I got these about three years ago in preparation for this and  I had a play with one of them. Unfortunately I have lost the notes that I made...





Next step is to print the cases for them and figre out the pin coding required(!)

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

The poles and hoods have been primered and are dangling in the sun. Later this afternoon I will dig out the matte black and start applying it. The poles are going to be mounted on 100mm steel brackets. I am going to have to bore a hole to 10mm. The base will be printed and the pole
Passed through it and epoxied. The C section Aluminium to build the other two gantries is on order, but the gantry outside the backdoor can only be looked at with laser goggles - so there is no rush there...

The final reels of wire are here and await their termination.

At the moment working outside is impossible as the pollen levels produce a dangerous work environment. Having a sneezing fit whilst holding an 80W soldering iron is a recipie for painful disaster...

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

These are two of the termination blocks. These deal with all the connections to the points motors. There will be another set for the signals. There are three DC ring mains each fused at 5A that supply power to the boxes. Thus if one ring goes down then I know where to start looking(!)





I got up at 5am this morning to get some work done and at 8am the pollen levels are dangerously high!!!

Regards

Ralph

[Doddy]

Are you covered Ralph?

[cabbage]

Robert given the fact that most of my nasal bones were broken and removed via schoolboy rugby the cartoon is very close to reality!!!

However I have finished the external cabling and now I am back to cutting and shutting the existing lengths to size. The shot shows the completed barrier boards, ( yes one is 600v 3 phase mains and the others "signalling")... They have to be NOS over 30 yrs old and the usage leaflets written in technical High German(!)

Needless to say I did not torque the barrier plates or the screw connnectors to the right setting...





The seven core cable is "trailer cable" - rough tough and weatherproof.

Regards

Ralph