What About The Bee
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Posts posted by What About The Bee
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- Types of rewards, beyond points and discounts, that would feel like a real coup
Hornby website prices are in general higher than the exact same item at a stockist. The rationale is that a consumer's item is guaranteed from Hornby, not from the stockist. The rationale is that your price at Hornby is guaranteed for a pre-order, not at a stockist. The inducement to order from Hornby, even at a higher price, is surety of getting the item at the price you ordered it for. FOMO [fear of missing out] drives sales to Hornby.
Points may reduce the price of an item to below that of a stockist, but it may not.
If you want the rewards program to feel extraordinary to a consumer, combine the two concepts.
Guaranteed item, at a price BELOW what I can expect to get it for at a stockist, but only when I pay for it, or pre-order it, with points.
Surely Hornby have an idea what discounts stockists give. Exceed that discount, but only when you pay in points.
Bee
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Hi Three Link
Material between glass sheets should be flat and of uniform thickness. Felt would do. Cardboard would as well. Anything that could apply point loads would be rejected, as localized bending and stress concentrations could be created. Even a sheet of paper of requisite size.
I searched for images of your Coral A wagon and there are plenty. One lad did a fantastic job with his model, the wooden crate is loaded. Chains a touch overscale, but acceptable. I also note that "DAZ" has some 3D printed models of Coral A. Some cracking ideas there.
Bee
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Thank you LT&SR_NSE! That is very well put. I do not like everything in the Hornby range but I can certainly understand if someone likes a model I do not. The world certainly does NOT revolve around my preferences.
A perfect example is modern era. Anything diesel or electric holds less than zero interest for me. But are there enthusiasts? Yes sir, there are. I respect that and wish them all the best.
Hi JJ. I hope you enjoy your Bassett Lowke models and I do look forward to your review of them! Have fun JJ!!
Bee
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The oldest person ever whose age has been independently verified is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days. If Frank Hornby was alive today, he would break that record by 37 years, 201 days.
Not very likely.
Happy Birthday Frank.
Bee
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Hi Three Link
There is plenty of information on shipping and transporting sheet glass. Perhaps not in Coral wagons...
Glass is shipped standing on edge, never laying down. The box is lifted from the top, and usually not from the bottom. There would be separation packing layers betwixt the sheets.
This is all related to Beam Theory! A thin beam will deform more readily than a thick beam, as the deflection goes by the height of the beam cubed, in the denominator. Once accepted, a sheet of glass on edge has a tremendous beam height, a sheet of glass laid flat has little beam height.
Next, consider how yield strength and ultimate tensile strength affect this. The material bends, until deformation occurs at yield. When the material bends beyond ultimate, it shatters. Materials that have yield and ultimate tensile strength at nearly the same values are brittle. That is glass!
Putting this together, glass deforms under load. The deformation goes by the height of the beam. Orient the glass to maximize beam height to minimize deformation. Minimizing deformation of a brittle material reduces breakages. Separation of sheets reduces scratching.
This will have been very well known to glass factories, for the period you describe.
Bee
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David
We will not know until you perform the measurement. It is very possible that the motor got hot without melting insulation.
Bee
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To clarify my concept.
Look at the Bassett Lowke locomotives in the Outlet Shop. They continue to languish, even at ½ price.
Suppose there was a Move it, Move it sticker offering an additional 200 reward points. Would that be enough? How about 500 reward points? Maybe 1000 reward points will work. Various tiers, with the objective to move a slow item.
This benefits both Hornby AND the consumer. Hornby makes a sale of an unpopular item, and induces a sale of a future item. The consumer gets a Bassett Lowke loco (to continue the example) at a discount and a few points towards a future sale.
Now that is a win win.
Bee
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Hi David
Understanding WHY is always a good thing.
96RAF wants you to measure the ohms of resistance for each coil of the motor. Why?
An electric motor produces magnetic energy by the number of windings and density of those windings. To obtain maximum power, a motor manufacturer will make the coils with wire dipped in insulation. This allows the wire to be packed closer together, producing more magnetic energy.
When you measure the resistance of each coil, you are essentially measuring the length of wire by its resistance. If one coil measures a lower resistance, it means a shorter wire.
How could that be? Aren't the wires still the same length? Well, no. A very hot motor will melt that dipped insulating material, causing an electrical short within that coil. The electric energy has a shorter path, and therefore less resistance.
Once the coil is shorted, this is only recoverable via rewinding the motor. This may not be economically feasible or indeed, if the motor is potted in epoxy, complete junk.
Heat is the enemy of motors.
Bee
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The purpose of the rewards program is to move merchandise. To induce purchases and generate cash flow.
Yet there are models which languish, sitting idle in the warehouse. These occasionally make it to the outlet store, at large discounts.
You got to move it, move it
Why not combine these two ideas? An additional Hornby Reward on models that need to be moved from the warehouse. An uptick in the reward as a function of the model to be moved.
A reward tier for those models Hornby Marketing wishes to enhance sales.
Bee
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Hello Paul
When Garden Leave suggested a stepper motor, I assumed he was to couple the spindle of the turn table bridge to the spindle of stepper motor via helical, bellows or (heaven forbid) rigid coupling. This makes the pan of the turn table just a hole or depression in the layout The circular pinion in the pan would then be superfluous.
That said, your experience dwarfs mine. By orders of magnitude. I defer to you sir!
Bee
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I should hasten to add. Hiding a seam from another person can be accomplished. Hiding a seam from the person who did the hiding? Not going to happen. You will always see it. I've some projects around that are many, many years old. I can never un-see that "thing".
Bee
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Hello Injury20
Re: hiding seams and joins. Flip the problem over! When making a joint between any two surfaces, you will fundamentally not be able to hide it by subtlety. I have found that emphasizing any joint fools the eye. For example, a fence or hedge, right at the line. The edge of a roadway. Etc. This trick is used quite often in woodworking, a joint is brought forward as a design element rather than being papered over.
Re: those dowels. Please be very sure to allow plenty of clearance between the dowels and the holes they go into. Wood changes shape over time and too snug a fit will lead to you flexing the part to force it into position, destroying the materials on top. Yes to locating it via the dowels. No to a snug fit. Build in tolerance.
Bee
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Hi Brew Man
Garden Leave's bold (ha!) request came with a novel work around. His phone number!
The ebay listing is exactly what is searched for. I do suppose the cost could be considered quite reasonable.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145066158371
Bee
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Hi Three Link
Look back at my first feeble efforts in FreeCAD. I wanted to draw Tiger's auxiliary buffer, so as to push Chaldrons about. The so called Banking Engine test. We discussed that extensively at the time.
The model was 4 rectangular blocks. 4 threaded rods. 8 threaded nuts. It took me forever to understand how to do this. How to draw it. How to arrange the pieces. I was so proud of myself. Yet that would only take a few moments to accomplish today.
As I continue on through OO Planet, my confidence and facility with the FreeCAD tool has increased. It is a marvelous tool.
I do encourage others to try their hand.Start small. Do simple designs. Learn the tool. Do not, however, expect to design a full scale working steam locomotive in your first week!! Hehehe! Maybe a few blocks to start. Perhaps a mile marker post, or simple gate.
You Can Do This!
Bee
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Hello David aka Big Cheese*
Excellent catch and a huge error on my part.
The sandwich frames, footplate, springs & etc were drawn full scale. Since FreeCAD is parametric, I installed a vertical, horizontal and longitudinal scale factor to each and every dimension. It was a miracle of scaling, functioning beautifully to tweak the shape. I was convinced I had hit upon a clever scaling method, but it functioned only so long as the model was simple. It did not work for a complex sketch. My sandwich frame model collapsed into a pile of 1s and 0s. Whoops!! I attribute this error to my learning curve in how FreeCAD functions. It was challenging enough to translate the Armengaud drawings into FreeCAD while simultaneously learning FreeCAD. Armengaud provides plan, elevation and some sectional views, without isometric views. Teasing information from the Armengaud drawings can be very challenging. I did not want to add in the complexity of the OO squish at the same time. My error. An error I will not repeat.
The gears, motor and boiler shell are drawn directly in OO, as a consequence of that catastrophe. I started with the Rumford axles and wheels. Those large yellow wheels you see are 20mm diameter with 14.3mm back to back. Gear design uses 0.4 module. The boiler shell follows the OO requirements and is NOT scaled directly from Armengaud. All those tiny Stephenson Valve Gear parts will be difficult to fabricate, but are drawn to OO.
So yeah, I get to draw the sandwich frame again. In OO. Weeee!
Bee
*Fantastic handle, please never change that!
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Hi Rana
For what it is worth, there are ~14 MTK kits listed on ebay. To find them, I searched, in quotes, for "modern traction kits". Perhaps one of those would have what you need.
Bee
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Hi Big Cheese
Having a motor in the tender is a good idea, and one very well underway. The Hanazono motor boggie has been tested for tractive effort and current draw, all whilst under a 3D printed tender.
https://uk.hornby.com/community/forum/planning-planet-343735#post-344650#post-344466
Thus, the motor in OO Planet need only drive the mechanism. Any contribution to tractive effort will be a bonus. Nice to have, but not necessary.
The Hanazono motor boggie is also providing requirements to the gearing seen earlier in this thread, as I wish to speed match OO Planet to that tender, under DC.
Bee
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Hello George
I did spend some time, to understand your concerns.
The primary concern is that you would like Hornby to communicate status more effectively. Roger that. Many of us would agree with you. Not just TT120, but across the spectrum of offerings. The vague "quarter of year X" may have sufficed in the 1950s, but not today.
Hornby should communicate better. A simple log or status statement on the website, per model, on a quarterly basis would be much appreciated.
Hornby obviously have internal status meetings. The status of products should be known at Hornby. If not, I seriously question process at Hornby. Clearly, that isn't the case. Hornby cannot be blind to objectives. Anything would be better than the stone wall of silence or a change in due date without explanation.
Instead of waiting for Hornby track, George, may I suggest you start looking at track you can play with today. There is absolutely nothing like getting a locomotive running on a layout, no matter how diminutive.
Hornby will be along with product, but patience is a requirement when waiting for Hornby.
Bee
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Whilst this component will absolutely NOT appear on my OO Planet, I do feel it is necessary to complete the description of how the Stephenson Valve Gear works. Why Robert Stephenson did not patent this is beyond me. It is extremely clever, permitting a locomotive to move either forward or reverse, at the whim of the enginemen.
Rocket had to be rolled about manually until the admission of steam would cause Rocket to move in the desired direction. Yet Planet simply required footplate controls.
If you have been following along, I have described in this thread the eccentric rods, and the manual control levers. You may also recall some chatter about a pedal on the footplate and 3 positions. As a brief review, the footplate pedal selected forward, reverse and neutral.
In the image, we see the green levers which connect to that pedal on the footplate. Pressing the pedal moves the eccentrics from left to right, along the main axle. The red eccentrics are essentially a hollow sheave wrapped around the main axle. When the eccentrics are pressed against Detent 1, the admission of steam into the ports at the cylinders is in the order 1,2,3 and 4. When the eccentrics are pressed against Detent 2, the admission of steam into the ports at the cylinders is in the order 4,3,2,1. Obviously, when the green control lever holds the red eccentrics in the middle, neither detent is engaged. Thus the admission of steam into ports is manually controlled by the oscillating levers, and the order of steam admission is completely at the discretion of the enginemen.
Bee
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Hi Three Link
An average modeler? That is a person far and away better than me. I am still a novice!
I look around here, and I am continually amazed at the level of prowess on full display. It is inspiring to see and something to strive to achieve. A goal, tantalizingly just out of reach.
Bill, may I suggest that a rising tide lifts all boats. 3D printing and CAD modeling represent the future. I would dare say that many here have produced excellent models using this, including Hornby themselves!
You need not worry Three Link, my intention is to continue with my development and posts about it.
Bee
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Hello Potterton
I found this thread which may be of use to you.
https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=47895
It discusses the resistor value supplied with Eckon signals, which have the grain of wheat filament bulbs. One individual there states 270 ohms [270R resistor] was supplied with the older Eckon kits.
Its worth a try!
Bee
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To the Moderators
Could one of you lads fix the title here to something more appropriate?
"Why are" seems somewhat nondescriptive, and likely a typographical error by HST Mainline.
Thanks!
Bee
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Hi Potterton
This is fairly straight forward.
Step 1: Find the resistance of the bulb. From the internet, I see quoted amperage draws of 50 milliamps and 70 milliamps for grain of wheat bulbs. Divide the voltage by the amperage to get resistance.
12volts/0.050amps = 240 ohms of resistance
Step 2: place a resistor in SERIES with the bulb, using mathematical ratios. To cut the light output by a factor of 2, place a 240 ohm resistor in series. By a factor of 4? 240 ohms for the bulb, 720 ohms on the resistor. Total resistance =960 ohms. 240/960 = 1/4.
A couple of quick cautions, light bulb output isn't strictly linear with voltage. Further, the resistance calculation assumes you know the current draw. You could measure the resistance, understanding you are at the mercy of your meter's accuracy and resolution.
But for just dimming the light, the above steps should be plenty good enough.
Bee
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Hello Bill
I always attempt to explain, in detail, what is presented. The usual result is a large body of text. It is always possible for a reader to miss a critical statement. Here is one you may have missed:
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"I am not yet sure what part of the Stephenson Valve Gear will be operative, and which parts merely static display." - Bee
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I've no issue with valid criticism of a model. I do take on board your comment, the absurdity of the situation is not lost on me.
The tiny motion bits will produce correspondingly tiny motions. For example, the total stroke of the slide valve rods is ~1.6 mm, roughly 0.06" ( ¹/₁₆"). Will that be observed? After all the expense and effort, will that tiny wiggle be worth it?
Yet the oscillating handles on the footplate will rotate +/- 10°, clearly and readily apparent. Head on over to youTube, and watch the Planet replica move. The most obvious part of the steam engine motion are those handles. Please do go watch the video. What do you see?
Of course, it is entirely possible I missed why you think this "ridiculous". Would you care to expand on your views?
Bee
Request from Hornby : Rewards Development Ideas
in General Discussion
Posted
2. Attractions, Events and Experiences
This is fine for UK consumers, but what of EU and ROW?
There is one experience I see discussed here in the forum which I would like to experience, but cannot: TV programs. I see the lads discussing the programs, but alas, they are out of reach for EU & ROW.
Perhaps offer a CD of the past season, but only can be purchased with points!
Bee