HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pratta@aix01.lost.in.dreamland (Anthony Edward Prattico)
Subject: Re: Command Control receiver sizes and system costs
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:58:37 GMT

In article <1992Nov23.055708.17404@mixcom.com> Joe.Russ <Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com> writes:

>I've operated layouts with both the Dynatrol system and the CTC-80
>system. Dynatrol is OK, but in my opinion is begining to fade. It
>"was" THE system here in the Milwaukee area for a number of years
>(Kalmbach's MR&T had it), and I never saw any real problems with it
>aside from expandibility.
>
>Within the past few years Keeler's CTC-80 has taken the area by storm.
>I know of three layouts in one small Milwaukee suburb which have it
>and Kalmbach has gone to it for the new MR&T. I've operated with it on
>John Tew's Timber River (recently featured in MR) and have never seen
>a problem that wasn't caused by operator error or extremely dirty
>track/wheels. As for receivers, John has one installed in a small
>two-axle switcher - you can't get a much smaller HO loco than that. :)
>
>Anyway, I hope this helps. I know you wanted somewhat more technical
>stuff, but all I can give you is my experience operating on them.
>-- 
>Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
>WISE Div., NMRA

We use CTC-80 on the NEB&W here, and this system did in fact replace Dynatrol.
One of the big problems with Dynatrol is that it is an analog system, and on a
large layout there is a noticable signal loss. CTC-80 is digital, so there is
no loss except for very, very dirty track. If I remeber correctly, as one point
PSI recommended that we use 1/2" copper tubing as the main layout feeder to
prevent such losses. Yeah right. Most of our problems with CTC-80 stem from
operator incompetence. For example, overloading a single engine to the point
where the power transistors on the receiver start to melt. Also, dropping
throttles and mishandling steam engines so the the wires between the engine and
tender break, or get nicked and start to short. Also, dirty track and wheels
cause cross-talk, and sparks between the engine and wheels, which is not good 
for the receiver, and cuases damage to it. 

We're very pleased with it, and have made only one significant change to it. 
That was to rewrite the command program in C so it runs much faster now. Also,
we got the new ROM from Keeler which has several improvements, notably twice
that number of throttles are supported, and they respond faster.

I will provide more information upon email request, and will send your name to
the person who rewrote the program if you're interested. 

Note however: Requests must be made November 30-December 19, or after January
10, 1993. I will be unavailable outside of those times.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony Prattico          pratta@rpi.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All opinions are mine and mine alone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: al@nmt.edu (Al Stavely)
Subject: Re: remote peco switches
Organization: New Mexico Tech, USA
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 21:55:12 GMT

In article <2845@tymix.Tymnet.COM> romeo@niagara.Tymnet.COM (Michael Stimac) writes:
>...
>"snap action power supply" with real muscle. Such supplies
>give a high voltage surge which lasts a short time and will
>throw the most wimpy machines with authority.

If your mail-order source for the turnouts is in Britain, you can probably get
such a power supply from the same source.  It will be called a "capacitor
discharge unit" or CDU.  A simple one that you use with your existing power
supply will probably be quite inexpensive and work beautifully.

-- 

	- Allan Stavely, New Mexico Tech, USA
From: pierson@cimcad.enet.dec.com (Dave Pierson)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: All about Diesels (LONG!)
Date: 19 Nov 92 22:28:33 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Nov19.025415.6438@gw.wmich.edu>, 737ochs@gw.wmich.edu writes...
	I shouldn't even pick nits on Fred's excellent piece (which should be
	a FAQ, somewhere...)

>EMD's first main model was the FT which I'm sure stood for freight
>It had 1350 HP(horse power) They were designed to be semi-permanently
>coupled and sold usually as sets. They came in both A and B.
	ummmmm.  EMD had been shipping the passenger E's in sufficient quantity,
	I think, to class that as the first main unit.  In any case, _switchers_
	now forgotten, or replaced by downrated road units, were the first
	numerically significant.  Diesel has more advantages over steam
	as switching power than as road power.

>F2A,F2B 1350HP
>F3A,F3B,F7A,F7B 1500HP
>F9A,F9B 1750 HP
	I would add the FL9, the diesel/third rail units built for NYNH&H
	(and STILL running...)  More were built of these than the BL1's.  They
	operated (operate...) thru trains to Grand Central Terminal, by running
	off third rail.

>We also have the E unit, which is like the F unit, except it has 3 axle
>trucks, called A1A since the center axle is not powered
>They also have 2 engines in them, to give them more HP.
>Here are the models:
>EA,EB,E1A,E1B,E2A,E2B 1800HP
>E3A,E3B,E4A,E4B,E5A,E5B,E6A,E6B,E7A,E7B 2000HP
>E8A,E8B 2250 HP
>E9A,E9B 2400 HP

thanks
dave pierson			|the facts, as accurately as i can manage,
Digital Equipment Corporation	|the opinions, my own.
40 Old Bolton Rd		|I am the NRA.
Stow, Mass		01775	pierson@msd26.enet.dec.com
"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles
From: salfi@53iss6.Waterloo.NCR.COM (Mike Salfi)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: Wanted: Plans for a Canadian RR Sleeper
Summary: I have painiting information
Date: 18 Nov 92 17:32:00 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Imaging Systems Division, NCR Corp, Waterloo, Ont., CANADA

In article <lgal4kINNj8f@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, rod@tassajara.Eng.Sun.COM (Rod Miller) writes:
> 
> I'm looking for plans and painting info for a Canadian railroad 
> (CP or CN) lightweight mid-50's era sleeper. Can someone provide 
 
> Thanks
> Rod Miller

Hi Rod,

I have been known to model and paint CP and CN passanger equipment and
can probably help with some of the passanger equipment outside plans
and definitely paint schemes.
My email address is michael.salfi@waterloo.ncr.com
Send me a message including your email address and I will dig up some
articles from "Canadian Railway Modeller", a magazine published in
Canada, plus also suggest good reference books you may be able to find
in a library.
For CP, in the mid to late fifty's there were three types of cars  in
use heavyweight, lightweight and lightweight fluted side stainless steel
cars.  CN had heavyweight and lightweight in that time frame, but no
stainless steel cars. Sleepers were mostly "named" cars and I can give you
a variety of names to use.

Mike Salfi
Xref: sparky rec.models.railroad:2420 rec.railroad:9160
From: yhshowie@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Howard Wharton)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad,rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Pantograph pickup width Swiss 460
Date: 22 Nov 92 18:54:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

>> 
>I was always impressed by the appearance of the NYNH&H cat.  They had
>two cat's supporting each conductor which swung down and in to the bottom
>then up and out again.  The series of triangles resulting from the 2 cat
>to conductor and the cat to cat support bars was a sight to behold.
> 
>-------------------------------------____---------------------------------------
>                    ._____________. .'  `.                                      
>           ._<====>_|_____________|__`__'__.      ._____________________________
>      .---'[]|O|_______|||||||||_______|O|[]`---. |-----------------------------
>      |      |_|       NEW HAVEN       |_|      | |O| [] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_]
>      |  .___|-|_______________________|-|___.  | |_|   ________                
>     @|__|[o]=[o]=[o]|___________|[o]=[o]=[o]|__|O|_|__/(o)==(o)\_______________
>================================================================================
The New Haven only used triangular construction from Woodlawn to Stamford
which was installed in 1906. Chord construction was used on curves, the
contact wire being held over the center of track in a series of cords by
means of pull offs. The maximum displacement from center of pantagraph
is 10 in. The rest of the electrification was using compound catenary.
On curves, the contact wire and secondary are supported by a simple rod
hanger, and the messenger is bent and inclined and supported by the
messenger in a resulant vertical and horizontal direction which
maintains the contact wire in a curve whose shape corresponds to the curve
of the track.
This info. was from the book "New York,New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Electrification" Published by Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
in June of 1924 and reprinted in 1968 for The Connecticut Electric
Railway Assoc.
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: rjm@cs.brown.edu (Ralph Marshall)
Subject: British train stores
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 16:06:09 GMT

In article <7921@skye.ed.ac.uk> ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson) writes:

>The shop you are talking about is called Beatties.  It is still there. 
>Hamley's on Regent Street went bankrupt.

Say it isn't so!  I'm hoping to return to London in January and I was
really looking forward to seeing Hamleys!  

Ralph Marshall
rjm@cs.brown.edu

"Whatever you think, you are under no compulsion to broadcast it.
Free speech is a restraint on government, not an incitement to the
citizen."
	Dean Acheson to Harry Truman, regarding attacks on JFK
From: romeo@niagara.Tymnet.COM (Michael Stimac)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: Info about G Scale
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:38:15 GMT
Organization: BT North America (Tymnet)

In article <1992Nov20.044318.28087@microsoft.com> hanss@microsoft.com (Hans Spiller) writes:
>In article <63950007@hpscit.sc.hp.com> mcghee@hpscit.sc.hp.com wrote:
>> 
>>   According to the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.
>>  [stuff deleted]  I do not
>> have numbers on nickel silver but here is a list other metels.
>> 
>>    METAL          Microhoms per centimeter
>> 
>>    Silver          1.59   <----------------Best conductor
>>    Copper          1.771                     
>>    Aluminum        2.824
>>    Brass           7.00
>>    Steel          11.9
>>    German silver  33.00    (18% Nickel)
>
>I'm pretty sure that "German Silver" is another name for what we're
>calling "Nickel Silver".  This number suggests that you need to have
>feeders every, oh, 3,000 centimeters or so if you want to keep your
>losses due to resistance in the rails down to .1 ohm or less, I suspect
>you'd have a hard time detecting 1.0 ohm's effect on train performance,
>even with high tech instrumentation. 3,000 centimeters is about 100 feet.

One thing that's been missed is that the resistivity is a function
of the cross-section area. The chart above, while handy for relative
purposes, doesn't specify what relative cross-section it is for.

Thus you cannot conclude (given a target resistance) how often
your feeders should appear, since that will be also a function
of what code rail you are using. Rail in model railroad use has
a wide variation, with the larger codes being as much as 35 times
as conductive as the smallest.

Another thing that has been missed is that the ability to 'detect'
the effect of 1.0 ohm resistance on a train depends on how much
current you're drawing through the 1 ohm. I can assure you that
1 ohm has _plenty_ of affect on locos which draw much over 1/2 amp.

In practice, model railroaders find they need feeders _far_ more
often than what is suggested above (3000 centimeters). Some provide
feeders for every section of rail (3'). I'm using code 125/148 rail
and provide about every 15'.

Michael Stimac

-- 
Michael Stimac
(415) 355-8889
romeo@tymnet.com
These opinions are not necessarily anyone's but my own.
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: EPLUS17@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans)
Subject: Re: Offset on Mast Foot ?
Organization: C.C.S.O.
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 01:32:42 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.171005.7680@news.cs.brandeis.edu>
andyh@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Andrew J. Huang) writes:
 
>In article <1992Nov17.235244.2292@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> bohning@mot.com (Terry Bohning) writes:
>>              Does anyone know why the mast base can be offset
>>with respect to the board centerline?
>
>I think that it was entirely a manufacturing choice, that is it's
>somehow easier to build it when the universal shaft and the blot shaft
 
I was told that by having the uni and the base have different axes,
the base is less likely to loosen up after repeated jibes/tacks in
the unscrewing direction.  I have an old O'Brien base in which the
male stud of the uni also serves as the mounting bolt and this base
is forever unscrewing itself.  All my other bases have offsets and
don't have this unscrewing problem.
 
..Richard E+17
From: price@helios.unl.edu (Chad  Price)
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
Subject: Re: 96 Olympics
Date: 16 Nov 1992 01:45:18 GMT
Organization: University of Nebraska--Lincoln	
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: helios.unl.edu

janusz@leland.Stanford.EDU (Janusz Mrozek) writes:


>class.  Finally, the organizers are having trouble pinning down the event 
>location in Savannah.

Maybe they could move it out to the ..suberbs., like to Hatteras?? :-)
--
chad
price@helios.unl.edu
cprice@molecular.unmc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: sca@gese.ge14.mdadv.gv.at (Petzi Schweda)
Subject: Re: Offset on Mast Foot ?
Originator: sca@gese0n.ge14.mdadv.gv.at
Organization: MD-ADV, Vienna, Austria
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 09:28:55 GMT


In article <1992Nov17.235244.2292@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>, bohning@mot.com (Terry Bohning) writes:
|> I am a first-time shortboarder and purchased a Windsurfing Hawaii
|> "Star Base".  Does anyone know why the mast base can be offset
|> with respect to the board centerline?  Under what conditions
|> would one prefer to have it on particular side of the board
|> centerline?
|> thanks, 


Maybe you can achive some asy-like behaviour ...
Dont know what asy is ? 
Well: when sailing in waves (don't know the correct phrase - maybe "sailing the surf" or so ...) you have two basic manouevers: the bottom turn, a long drawn fast curve at the bottom of the wave, and the cut back near the lip of the wave, a sharp turn with low speed.
For the very different nature of this two turns in the mid-80's so called "asymetricals" were developed, with one side of the board being shorter and wider (slow-radical: cut back), and the other side long and small (guess for what :)...
Most of the asy's had their mast foot off-centered too ...
So maybe that's what it's for ...

kindly, Petzi
-- 
Petzi Schweda (sca@gese.ge14.mdadv.gv.at)
MD-ADV, Municipality of the City of Vienna, Austria
-- 
Petzi Schweda (sca@gese.ge14.mdadv.gv.at)
MD-ADV, Municipality of the City of Vienna, Austria
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: mpaton@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Michael J Paton)
Subject: Re: Winter Despair!!!
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:58:28 GMT
Reply-To: mpaton@tempest.UUCP (Michael J Paton)
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin, Texas

In article <uh311ae.721830457@sunmanager> uh311ae@sunmanager.LRZ-Muenchen.DE (Henrik Klagges) writes:
>luigi@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Luigi Semenzato) writes:
>
>>and we rent a helicopter for a couple of hours.  We go in the water,
>
>I'll fly the helicopter. Cost of renting an R22 is 130$/hour.
>
>Cheers, Henrik
>
>PS: I'm in England now - sofar only two moderately rad (4.0) days 8(
>

While $130/hr is what I pay in Texas, I'd be amazed if it was as cheap
as that in England. Anyway is an R22 big enough? I haven't noticed rotor
downwash disturm anything bigger that a 172?

Michael Paton
mpaton@tempest.sps.mot.com

From: ohdav@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com (David OH)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 00:51:52 GMT
Subject: Re: Hot Air = Big Sails?
Organization: HP Singapore Notes-Server
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing


Thanks for the comments. Actually, this issue really came to a head last Feb
when I entered a PBA event at Kuantan, Malaysia (150 North of Singapore). 
There was no wind the entire event (unseasonal for Kuantan in Feb,it usually
blows 15-25knts daily at that time). The race officials anemometers (cup type)
did indicate about   9-11knts but nobody was planing much (btw it was blazing
hot!). This of course set off interminable arguments about the effect of 
heat on wind...all inconclusive of course. In the end, no races were run as
the wind never hit the slalom minimum. The prize money was shared out (easiest
US$1200 that I've ever made).

Sailing in these conditions does have its upside...falling in is actually a
joy. (Kirk, those police boats are a very welcome sight when you are drifting
offshore with broken gear, they patrol mainly to make sure that ships don't
do any dumping of junk,gunk,oil etc in Singapore waters).

Sukhdev "still borrowing this id" Singh
MY3
Hotworks, Neil Pryde
sukhdev@hpss2.sgp.hp.com 
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: ktc@onan.jhuapl.edu
Subject: Re: olympic's
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 20:49:37 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.050857.24871@cc.uow.edu.au> u9250301@cc.uow.edu.au  
(Michael James Nelson) writes:
> 
> Thought some would like to know, the next olympic board will be the 
> Mistral One-Design, and pumping will be allowed!
> 
> Michael Nelson KA12

The IYRU propulsion rule applies in IMCO racing... (3 pumps to surf or plane,  
onus on the competitor to prove surfing/planing conditions). Do you mean to say  
that it WON'T in the olympics????
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 15:44:43 GMT
Subject: Re: it's gettin' cold in middle europe ...
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing

>> Just remember that they haven't had any wind in the SF area in
>> about two months, if I'm correct. 
>Depends on your definition of "any wind".  I kept sailing twice a week
>(using up to a 6.2) until Oct 21.  It's been pretty quiet since then.
>>   Juri Munkki					       Windsurf: fast sailing
>Ken "waiting for some storms" Poulton					
>----------
If Ken had his wetsuit, he'd have been on his 6.2 several days last week.
I sailed my 6.7/9'3" twice last week and had alot of fun (tue and fri).
Good thing I'd been working so hard the last month and was able to get away
for a sail in the afternoon.

Kirk out
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 18:15:02 GMT
Subject: Re: Offset on Mast Foot ?
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing

|> I am a first-time shortboarder and purchased a Windsurfing Hawaii
|> "Star Base".  Does anyone know why the mast base can be offset
|> with respect to the board centerline?  Under what conditions
|> would one prefer to have it on particular side of the board
|> centerline?
|> thanks, 

I think it is easier (read cheaper) to make them this way. 

I use two types of bases that eliminate this problem, but sacrafice something
else (cost) in return.

Kirk out
From: luigi@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Luigi Semenzato)
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
Subject: The Big Island
Date: 20 Nov 1992 22:13:41 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: paris.cs.berkeley.edu

I'd like to go to Hawaii again next year, but some of my non-windsurfing
friends think that it would be nice to go to a different island this time,
namely the Big Island.  How's the windsurfing there in March?  --Luigi
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:35:34 GMT
Subject: Re: Hot Air = Big Sails?
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing

>
>This one may be a bit off the wall but should appeal to you physics types
>out there. I do most of my sailing in Singapore. Our trades season just
>started yesterday & usually lasts till about end Feb/March. Singapore is
>sort of 100 miles north of the equator (hot, in other words).
>
>I've noticed that for a given wind speed, I use much bigger sails here than
>I do in Maui or elsewhere. In marginal conditions, 7.5s & 8.0s are not 
>uncommon among the bigger sailors here. I've had some experience sailing
>in the UK and that seems to reinforce my opinion that air density has 
>something  to do with this. Does it make sense? Should air temperatures
>affect density & thereby sail size? Note this is based on purely intuitve
>notions, I haven't been running around measuring wind speeds etc.
>
>Sukhdev Singh
----------
In Maui, people use smaller sail sizes for a given wind speed than we do
in the Bay Area.  The best I can figure is that the wind is much more
consistant.  I sailed Singapore one afternoon last February and i think
the wind speed reported is closer to peak rather than average.  It felt like
a 5 knot day with gusts to at best 12 knots.  I was on a rented pig with a soft
sail, old boom, no foot straps and "tie some rope to the boom" harness lines
and "sailed" (even slogged is kind) to the ships in the harbor.  The police
boat came out and gave me a good look-over (I guess to make sure I wasn't
smuggling drugs in my harness, shorts, booties or helmet).  I waved and turned
back to shore.  It was like sailing in bath water!  Boy was that nice!


Kirk (hope to try again with some "real" Singapore wind) out
=> "We are what we pretend to be."  -  Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kirk Lindstrom - OCD Product R & D | Hewlett-Packard Co.  M/S: 91UA |
|   Engineer/Scientist, Hardware     |                                |
|------------------------------------| Optical Communication Division |
|       kirk@hpoclpa.hp.com          |                                |
|    Kirk Lindstrom / HP0100/UX      | 370 W. Trimble Rd.             |
| ph 408 435 6404 | fax 408 435 6286 | San Jose, CA  95131-1096       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+



From: toma@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Tom Albertz)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:08:32 GMT
Subject: Re: Why do blade fins work better?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing

I just read something recently that I believe was written by Chuck Ames - 
maybe it was Larry Tuttle.  

Basically, the lift you get from a fin is a function of area - among other
things.  So a blade fin gives you the same lift as any fin with the same
area - all other things being equal.  The difference is that you get the 
lift with less associated drag.  Maybe drag is a function of chord length
- among other things.  

Maybe you said all this already and you're just looking for the corresponding
formulas now.  Don't look at me.
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: phansen@moose.uvm.edu.UUCP (Paul Hansen)
Subject: Re: Weather patterns
Originator: phansen@moose.uvm.edu
Organization: University of Vermont -- Division of EMBA Computer Facility
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 19:47:37 GMT

From article <1992Nov11.151532.9994@walter.bellcore.com>, by ngs@sailor.bellcore.com (Ned Stoffel 21374):
> Is it just my imagination, or is this fall's weather pattern
> unusual? I have watched a half dozen big low-pressure centers
> form over the middle of the US, and had big dreams of shredding
> on the trailing cold fronts as these systems crossed the Atlantic
> Seaboard. Instead, every one of these systems has drifted north
> over the Great Lakes and gone to Canada.
> 
I sail on Lake Champlain, and we get great swells and chop with 20 to 30
knot winds on good days.  This fall seemed VERY poor; I missed the 2 or 3
real sailing days because of classes :-( . Now it's too cold, with the 
air 25 degrees and the water 47 degrees.  Aruba, anyone? :) 
-- 
Paul Hansen                             |\        
Burlington, Vermont                     |  \              
phansen@moose.uvm.edu        windsurf!   \___\___       Gorge Bound...         
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing