PowerCAB Fixed

Posted on by
Reply

powercab-screen

When I returned to the club after the Christmas / New Year break I was told the club’s PowerCAB in the workshop wasn’t working. Basically the symptom was that it would only come up in the initial ProCab mode — it would never switch to PowerCAB mode like it should. After a lot of investigation, fault finding and research on the ‘net (including the excellent NCE-DCC Yahoo Group) I was able to determine the fault was actually in the internal microcontroller (i.e. the ‘PIC’).

A fellow NCE-DCC Yahoo group member (Gary Rose in Sydney) read my post on the Yahoo group and contacted me off list to offer us his old PowerCAB microcontroller as it was surplus to his requirements after he upgraded to V1.28c for compatibility with the NCE USB adapter:

nce-usb

True to his word, the PIC arrived in the post from Gary (gratis I hasten to add) and it immediately fixed the problem. The PowerCAB is now back in the workshop at the club and fully functional (see picture above). So a huge thanks to you Gary for being so kind!

This PIC has later firmware (V1.28a) than we did have in the PowerCAB before (V1.10). The additional features we now have access to include a display of the total current draw (to two decimal places), software current overload protection and support for up to F28.

Need a new foam loco holder

Posted on by
1

Foam loco holder

I cleaned up the workshop bench again and noticed the extremely sorry state of our foam loco holder (see above). Now whilst this heirloom has a great deal of history (it looked worn out when I joined the club 12 years ago) I really think we can treat ourselves to a new one!

pl-70

A brand new Peco PL-70 Loco Servicing Cradle (see above) should cost of the order of $12 judging by prices on the internet, but Perth Hobbies didn’t seem keen on ordering one in for me claiming it will “probably cost in excess of $50” and that I should just make one. Fair enough — looks simple enough.

So does anyone have any spare foam they can bring in so we can make one with the hot wire?

Call for Nominations

Posted on by
Reply

Irv Woolley

As advised at the last General Meeting, Irv Woolley (pictured above) has resigned his position as a Committee Member, due to relocation back to the UK (again). Pursuant to clause 10 of the club’s constitution, this creates a casual vacancy in the Committee that must be filled at the next General Meeting on Wed. 19th 21st January 2009. Accordingly here is a nomination form for this position:  Nominations Form Dec 2008

Candidates for the position must be nominated and seconded in writing by financial members of the Club, and the nomination form must contain the candidate’s signed consent to the nomination. Completed nomination forms must be lodged with the Secretary at least 21 days prior to the meeting (i.e. no later than Wed. 31st December 2008). Either pin it to the noticeboard or post it to the Secretary before the end of the year. The notice of General Meeting and postal ballot form (if required) will be distributed on Wed. 7th January 2009.

At the last General Meeting, the possibility was discussed of expanding the committee by up to two additional positions to balance the increased work load of the committee. However, clause 8 (ii) (e) of the club’s constitution is clear in only allowing three committee members. Allowing additional committee members will require amending the club’s constitution.

However, clause 8 (iv) does allow the committee to appoint additional members for the purposes of forming a sub-committee with non-voting rights. As such, I suggest if more than one person nominates for this vacant committee position, anyone who is unsuccessful in the ballot may still be considered by the committee for inclusion in a sub-committee.

Image: Irv Woolley at his farewell dinner (the first one!) in January 2008

WAMRC Christmas BBQ

Posted on by
Reply

As discussed and decided at the November general meeting, the annual WAMRC Christmas BBQ will be proceeding this year as it has for the past several.

Saturday 20th December 2008, 5pm onwards. BYO meat & drinks — the club will supply the BBQ (and gas), bread, salads and condiments. And of course bring some money so you can buy an ice-cream for afterwards!

Image: Harry & George hard at work on the BBQ, Christmas 2004

RailCon Model Railway Control

Posted on by
Reply

As often happens in these days of mass email marketing, we received some unsolicited information (aka SPAM) about a new DCC based modular model railway control system for controlling all your layout accessories (e.g. signals, points, turntables and lights). A quick browse of the web site and it seems legitimate enough and as it purports to be Australian designed and made, I thought it was worthwhile posting up on the web site.

So if you are interested, point your browser at http://www.railconmodels.com/ and check it out for yourself. (Usual disclaimers apply of course — we neither endorse or nor recommend in any way the products offered by that web site. Please exercise caution when purchasing anything over the Internet.)

Edmonton send their thanks

Posted on by
Reply

We received a nice note from Ian Jenkins at the Edmonton Model Railroad Association (our sister club in Canada). They were so impressed with our donation of a copy of Rails Through the Bush earlier in the year that they built a special holder for it and mounted it on the wall of their clubrooms rather than simply file it away in their library!

In other news, Geoffrey Higham (Rail Heritage WA) tells me that Latest issue of the Westland journal is now available from the entry kiosk. Apparently if WAMRC members identify themselves appropriately (e.g. by wearing the club green shirt uniform), we can pick it up for $6 (same as Rail Heritage members) instead of the normal $7 cover price. Please make enquiries at the Rail Heritage kiosk if you are interested.

RailHeritage Newsletter

Posted on by
Reply

The November issue of the RailHeritage WA newsletter is now available: 11–08-newsletter

An interesting point to note in the newsletter is that the museum is planning to change their opening hours next year to open on Sundays and Wednesdays (not just in school holidays), but not on public holidays. Contrary to what is stated in the newsletter (“The WAMRC will also be open on those days”), we are yet to formally discuss this at a general meeting of the club (it will be discussed at the general meeting on Wednesday 19th November). It was discussed at the last committee meeting and we struggled to see how we can achieve this given the small number of our members who are available to open the club on Wednesdays… we shall see!