Tuesday June 13, 2006 5:15 am Lethbridge Alberta

A. Morning Musings

5:15 am The temperature is + 10 C with a high forecast of + 28. It is still overcast with a 60% probability of showers.

The main activity today will be sidewalk activities. First we will work on the door frame then the parging. After that we will obtain and lay down the sand, and then, finally, obtain and begin laying down the patio bricks.

I want to phone Fountain Tire and get a price for 4 tires for the Toyota. Then I will compare that with the estimate from Toyota and make a decision.

I hope to see a new Mac Powerbook Pro this morning. I am interested in seeing what software is installed on it.

B. Plan

Immediate
Chores	Complete door frame	4 hr
	Clean front wall for parging	1 hr
	Arrange for appointment for Toyota maintenance	.5 hr
	Rent tamper from Ward's rentals for tamping sidewalk base	2 hr
	Apply parging to front basement wall	2 hr
	Buy sand and lay on foundation	4 hr
	Buy patio bricks and install	6 hr
	Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence	2 hr
	Take Toyota in for maintenance & new tires
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "A Dream of Eagles: The Singing Sword"	1 hr
Mathematics	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"	1 hr
Later
Chores	Take 5th wheel in for maintenance	2 hr
	Investigate water softeners for home	2 hr
	Buy muriatic acid for removing mortar from blocks	1 hr
	Paint door frame white	1 hr
History	Continue reading "Citizens"	1 hr
Technology	Read manual for cell phone	1 hr
Technology	digital photography
	try using extender lens and monopod	2 hr
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
History	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Add blue backdrop to layout
	Review layout for under the table turnouts
	Wire lower mainline track for a power block
	Fasten lower mainline track to layout
	Draw schematic diagram of track layout	2 hr

C. Actual/Notes

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Model Trains Chronology
5:40 am Here is a summary of the important points from "DCC Made Easy" by Lionel Strang: the command station, boosters and throttles should all be from the same manufacturer. the decoders may be from any manufacturer. (in the case of the mobile decoders in the locos I should see what I can find with google first as some decoders may be recommended for particular locos.) for me, initial cost is not as important as ease of use of the throttle and the potential to expand to incorporate new products. "One of the most critical elements to successfully installing a Digital Command Control system is first-rate wiring." [p. 11] keep the two wires (called the track bus) under the layout parallel to each other at all times. They should closely follow the actual track layout since there will be numerous feeder wires joining them. the book suggests a pair of feeder wires every 3', but the fellow at Trains and Such said the real issue is the number of track connectors. Ideally there should be a feeder wire for every other connector. A feeder wire for every other connector seems a good solution. a circuit breaker module is an excellent way to break a layout into small power districts. I could use this idea to break my upper and lower levels into 4 smaller power districts (e.g. a main line and three yards/sidings) [p. 22 - 23] the main track bus should be 14 gauge wire (which I have). It is "heavy enough to carry as much power as 5-amp boosters are capable of producing". [p. 12] "be sure to solder most of the metal rail joiners connecting sections of track. This ... decreases the chance of a weak signal." [p. 13] The booster takes the signal from the command station and boosts the signal (i.e. amplifies) to a higher voltage. That is all it does. Two boosters should be plenty for a medium size layout such as mine. The booster should be placed under the layout where sufficient air can circulate around it. If one has more than one booster then one needs a control bus which connects the boosters to each other and to the command station. "Radio control DCC is becoming more popular and will most likely become the industry standard. ... A duplex radio controlled DCC system is much easier to operate and install." [p. 26] use a reverse loop module (i.e. circuit board) to control a reverse loop. I have two of these on my layout. "All DCC layouts should have one section of track where locomotives can have their decoders programmed (called a programming track) . ... This is a section of track (generally a siding of some kind) that can be isolated from the rest of the layout using a DPDT (double pole double throw) switch. This track should be near the command station. A terminal strip may be used to connect the track bus to a series of feeder lines to sidings. Or a terminal strip is a way of extending the track bus to a yard layout which then has its own feeder lines. My idea is to set up the wiring for the mainline for the lower power district at the same time as I set up the track. I will use a pair of feeder lines on every other connector. I also need to add feeder lines for special modules such as a circuit breaker or a reversing loop module. It also makes sense to use as few connectors as possible. That means cutting the flex track into appropriate lengths. I will begin with the lower level mainline. Each time I add a section of track I will drill two holes for the feeder wires. Once I have the entire mainline track laid I can then add the mainline wiring under the table and connect all of the feeder lines. I must make sure to include a programming track. Once this is done I can attach the DCC system and see if it works. Once I have verified this I can add the ballast to the track. At this point I will have an operational mainline on one power district. However the very first step is to draw a wiring diagram that shows all of this. The idea of a terminal strip shows just how new I am to this! That is the way to extend the track bus to all of the sidings and yard tracks, which will each have their own feeder lines. I am feeling much more confident about what I am trying to do now. I now need to carefully review the web sites for MRC and NCE. I may learn more about wiring while reading about the capabilities of the various modules and components. 7:10 am

8:05 PM This has been a satisfying day. We worked on the door frame for the front door to the garage most of the day. It was a great experience as Jim very carefully insured that the door was perfectly square and plumb. We replaced one of the side panels and I added the framing wood in the late afternoon. The highlight was when we raised the inner post about half an inch and closed a gap in the brickwork due to settling of the foundation. It worked perfectly! Basically we were at the job from 9 am until 6 PM with an hour and half for lunch. But it is finished, except for repainting the frame white. Tomorrow I parge.

D. Reflection