Member postings for Colin Heseltine

I built up the DS0138 version last year, but never put it in a case. It appears to work okay but not used it for anything as yet.

If you do a write up the I think some notes on how to use it for simple fault finding would be very useful. I also have a full size Tekronix scope but do not have a probe set for it.

Colin

Martin R,

Yes the bottom slat is clear of all the others so will not get rolled up.

Murray,

A wifi smart switch is not a bad idea. I was lent one to try a year or so back but the but the owner needed it back.

Overall a good few ideas to think about.

Thanks gents.

Colin

NDIY

More of a security thing. Couple of times I have accidentally triggered the door to open when the remote is in my pocket and as it has a good range I would not necessarily know the door was open. The door control panel does have a light on it which comes on when door is opened, BUT after about 5 minutes it goes off. Had it stayed on it would have been ideal.

The micro-switch and associated led lamp may be the simplest and best way.

Colin

Thanks for the answers so far received.

I already have the Cisco PTZ wi-fi camera (unfortunately not IR). I want the light to be attached to the bottom slat of the roller shutter door so it will indicate how far open the door is. What I may not have made clear is the fact that this is all inside the garage so a solar powered device would not get charged up.

Also I do not wish to drill holes in the door slats.  I was hoping to fix lamp via industrial Velcro or double sided tape.

Colin

Edited By Colin Heseltine on 03/01/2018 12:09:38

I'm looking for a small battery operated (preferably by single AAA battery) LED lamp. Does not need to be overly bright, but needs a long battery life. Needs to be light sensitive so only switches on when dark. Has anyone come across such a thing.

I want to fit it to inside bottom edge of a remote controlled roller shutter door. I have a camera watching the door but at obviously at night there is not enough ambient light to be able to tell whether door is open or closed when looking at the camera display. I thought that a small LED lamp (that was only lit up at night) fitted to bottom edge of door could be used as a positional indicator.

Colin

I took a wrecked wheel and tyre of my Renault Tafic van and was charged £4 for the privilege of leaving it there. Our council are charging for all sorts of things to be left there. Redoing daughters house, took old toilet (£4 please), bags of plaster (£4 each please). We even now have to pay for our all our Brown Bins (Garden waste). Had one free and if needed another paid £36 for the year, from start of January it is £36 per Brown Bin. We need two and really need three for a good portion of the year. I have a horrible feeling there will be a lot of people who will not pay for the single bin they have and that fly tipping will increase significantly. I think we will see lots of back bin bags full of grass on Cannock Chase.

Colin

Do they have smart meters for three phase supplies

Colin

Concur with Phil. I have an F12 which is its predecessor but almost identical, but a friend of mine has an F1. I do not have an Aciera Dividing head on it only the simple indexing head. I do have a Myford dividing head sitting on a shelf which could now have found a new purpose in life. Unfortunately it is missing the bar and the tailstock.

Colin

Jon,

I used the M-DRO-EH01 for the cross-slide and M-DRO-EH-05 for the saddle.

Colin

I also have used the Yuriystoys solution. Although I had not done any electronics for 40 odd years I managed to build up the circuit as per his instructions. I used a chunk of Veroboard and plastic box from Maplins along with a few components and the remainder of bits I had in my IT box (9 pin 'D' connectors etc.). The display is a spare Android tablet I had lying around.

Scales wise I used the Machine-DRO magnetic scales and read heads. I appreciate they are a little more expensive than the Igaging type of scales, but they are IP rated and so not affected by cutting fluids etc. To my mind the advantage of the magnetic scales and head is their small size and I have fitted them to both Myford S7 and aslo to Cowell lathe and mill where their small size was a boon.

Colin

Many years ago an acquaintance of mine, who was an apprentice at a local garage, was using a screwdriver two handed to persuade a rubber boot to locate on the grease cup on the rear suspension arm of an early mini. As he moved the screwdriver to the front of the boot as was to be expected it slipped out of boot and thence into his eyeball. Cue loss of one eye. Whenever I did the same job I used to use a crotchet hook, nice rounded end and the hook to catch on the inside of the rubber boot.

Colin

Useful little boxes I have one on the shelf but not used it for a few years. Always good for making a quick cross-over link if did not have a cross-over cable around. Still carry RS232 cross-over cables and RJ45 cross-over cables with my laptop for on-site work. In fact my newest all singing/dancing Dell rugged laptop came with a RS232 port and a dedicated Fischer Power Port. Nor sure what I'm going to use the Fischer port for though. I've even got a self-configuring serial port adaptor somewhere.

Fun days in PC support when used to have to set up DMA and I/O ports and interrupts when added an new adaptor card to a PC. In fact I still have an IBM Model 64 hidden away. Monochrome, bugger all memory (16K IIRC) and 5.25" floppy drivers, no hard disk in those days.

Colin

I have used the Yuriystoys solution on both a Cowells mill and lathe. I bought the magnetic scales from Machine-DRO and built up the quadrature controller as per Yuriys plans. A spare Android tablet used as the display. The magnetic scales are more expensive than the glass but a very neat job can be done due to the small amount of space that they require.

Colin

So sorry to hear this sad news.

RIP John

Colin

I went yesterday. The queue at 10 was not very big but by about 11 it felt as though several long trains had passed through and deposited all their passengers at the show, it was really crowded.

Bought stock I want and only I item of tooling. The item I liked the most was the Anzani 'Y' type engine on Wolverhampton MES stand. I am trying to build one (over next decade or two) and got a few pictures to help.

Colin

John,

Get well soon. I miss reading your Bodgers posts. My old man was a time served engineer who could make anything on lathe or mill and get things working, but lots of your tasks and fixes (don't like to call them bodges) would have put him to shame.

Hope to see you posting soon.

Colin.

PS The Myford 33/34 gears are great now need another set.

I have got the Yuriys Toys Touch-DRO software in use on several machines. I have fitted 1 and 5 micron magnetic scales from Machine-DRO (Allendale) - (no connection just a satisfied customer) on both a Cowells ME90 lathe and a Cowells milling machine. I made all the brackets myself and built two of Yuriys quadrature controller (one per machine). I have several Android tablets to run the Touch-DRO app.

I also have the same scales on a Myford 7, Super 7 and Colchester Student but using a standard type display again from Machine-DRO. I have been very happy with both the magnetic scales and Yuriys software and hardware.

Colin

As a diver there is no way on this earth I would have that as a clamp on a first stage and I'm certain that is not its function. I would go for a nut cracker. Again it is not strong enough to use as a splitter for metal nuts.

Colin

Don't laugh but I have seen somewhere an advert for nappy type devices for a dog for just this problem. Not having a dog I did not take a huge amount of notice.

Colin

One of our three cats (the female) is a prolific hunter, usually get two or three small furry creatures a week, but on a good day she will bring home 3 or 4. Will quite often bring the things into the house and let them go at which point we will have two cats chasing them round the house. She also catches rabbits, brings them in through the cat flap and lets them go in the house or workshop. Other times she just eats them and leaves an ear or bit of a tail. She has even caught and eaten squirrels. Regularly also I'm afraid reduces the local bird population.

I remember an old cat of mine who used to catch rabbits climbing a 6 ft wooden fence to get on the garage roof with a fully grown rabbit in her mouth. It was an amazing site, the weight of the rabbit kept her head almost bent to her hind legs but she still made it onto the roof. Another time she manage to get one through a downstairs transom window and started to eat it in the middle of my parents bed, whilst they were asleep in the bed.

Last year we tried to take a mouse of our two year old male cat, we gave up in the end after we both had our hands lacerated by very sharp claws. He did not want to let go.

Regardless of the reduction in the local animal populace I would not be without the cats.

Colin