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TEMPLOT 3D PLUG TRACK - To get up to speed with this experimental project click here.   To watch an introductory video click here.   See the User Guide at Bexhill West.

  • The Plug Track functions are experimental and still being developed. Some of the earlier pages of this topic are now out-of-date.

    For an updated overview of this project see this topic.   For some practical modelling aspects of using Plug Track see Building 3D Track.

    The assumption is that you have your own machines on which to experiment, or helpful friends with machines. Please do not send Templot files to commercial laser cutting or 3D printing firms while this project is still experimental, because the results are unpredictable and possibly wasteful.

    Some pages of this and other topics include contributions from members who are creating and posting their own CAD designs for 3D printing and laser-cutting. Do not confuse them with Templot's own exported CAD files. All files derived from Templot are © Martin Wynne.
  • The Plug Track functions are experimental and still being developed.

    For an updated overview of this project see this topic.   For some practical modelling aspects of using Plug Track see Building 3D Track.

    The assumption is that you have your own machines on which to experiment, or helpful friends with machines. Please do not send Templot files to commercial laser cutting or 3D printing firms while this project is still experimental, because the results are unpredictable and possibly wasteful.

    Some pages of this and other topics include contributions from members who are creating and posting their own CAD designs for 3D printing and laser-cutting. Do not confuse them with Templot's own exported CAD files. All files derived from Templot are © Martin Wynne.

Dev: symbols - droppers and gaps

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Martin Wynne

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Please do not send requests for help direct to me via email.

Post your questions on the forum where everyone can see them and add
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With the new forum running quite smoothly, and the old one now archived and accessible, at long last I can get back to the long-overdue next program update.

I mentioned that I was adding a new symbols function (suggested by Ian) to add feed droppers and isolation gap marks to the templates.

It's very useful to have these marked on the template at construction time. Especially if you want to prepare for them, for example by drilling holes through the rail web to receive the feed wires. It's 100 times easier to do that before the rail is fixed in place! It's also easier to leave neat narrow isolation gaps if you remember to make them during construction rather than cutting them afterwards.

Most folks would mark up the printed templates with felt-tip pen, but having them planned in advance means you can print duplicate copies of the template if needed, and create circuit diagrams on-screen. Another handy idea would be to print a mirror-image template which can be attached to the underside of the baseboard to aid identification of the connections.

I have now made some progress with this function. The symbols can be added by sliding a blue target marker along the rails by mouse action, and clicking a button to add the desired symbol at that location. There is an option to put a dropper on an adjacent check rail if desired (improves pickup if using plastic chairs):

symbols1.png


symbols2.png


Symbols can be any desired colour. It's likely that you would want to choose a colour for the droppers to match the connecting wires. Each dropper can be given an ID label to reference your circuit diagram. The dropper symbol resembles a solder tag below the rail.

Gaps don't need an ID or any special colour. I imagine they would usually be red or similar, but can be any colour. The gap symbol resembles the H-section locking plastic fishplates available from C&L, Exactoscale and others.

In addition there are sticker symbols which can be attached to the template with any important reminders (max 12 characters). A sticker is very similar to a background label shape, but is attached to the template rather than the background, and can be in a variety of different colours.

Each symbol can be in any of 4 sizes as preferred.

In addition to being useful on the printed templates, these symbols can be used on the sketchboard to prepare colourful circuit diagrams, by linking the droppers with coloured lines.

The dropper symbols can of course be used to mean anything you like. For example if placed directly over a timber in some designated colour, the symbol could indicate the position of L1 bridge chairs, as a reminder when threading the chairs.

Thanks to Ian for the original suggestion: https://85a.uk/templot/archive/topics/topic_3704.php

Will be in 227a as soon as I can get it released. But don't hold your breath -- I post details of new features in advance like this so that there is time for me to respond to any feedback and suggestions. :)

cheers,

Martin.
 
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How useful that would have been some time ago 😀. It’ll actually mean I can go back and mark up the Templot drawing as a more convenient record of what I’ve done than keeping the full-size diagram below. I’m really looking forward to the next update!

B49F69A3-312C-4D34-A878-80286AA1C02F.jpeg
 
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Hi Martin,
I received two email on Thursday afternoon informing me that new messages had been posted on the forum. The first was this one :-
dev symbol test.jpg


and the second was your reply about changing colours etc. Neither message seems to be visible when I view the forum for some reason. It is just me or can you see them ?

Rob
 
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Hi Martin,
I received two email on Thursday afternoon informing me that new messages had been posted on the forum. The first was this one :-
View attachment 938

and the second was your reply about changing colours etc. Neither message seems to be visible when I view the forum for some reason. It is just me or can you see them ?

Rob
I’m very sure I saw those two on the forum but they’re not there now - it’s not just you! I can only assume they’ve been deleted for some reason.
 
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If you find a link going nowhere, try clicking the your Alerts button:

your_alerts.png


You should see a list of links to everything which generated an email to you. Things can change after an email has been sent, topics get edited, added to, moved about. Links in an email aren't necessarily valid after a few hours.

I put that button at the top-left of the screen for a reason. :)

You can browser bookmark it as your Templot Club entry point:

https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?account/alerts

cheers,

Martin.
 
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Hi Martin,
The new topic you started is not visible to me - I get an Oops...message when trying to view that page. It does show in the alerts list.
oops message.jpg


Should an email be generated when you move a post ( or series of posts ) to a new topic as in this case ?

As you may have seen I still rely on email before looking at the forum - call me old fashioned. You do usually put a post to notify us in a topic if you have moved anything to a new topic.

Rob
 
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The new topic you started is not visible to me - I get an Oops...message when trying to view that page. It does show in the alerts list.
@Guinea_Pig_Tester

Hi Rob,

I can see the problem in your URL -- "topics" instead of "threads". Here is the true link:

https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?threads/changing-trackpad-colours.160/

I have a script running which changes all mentions of "threads" to "topics" to be more compatible with the old forum (and with common sense and everyday usage). But it is not supposed to affect URLs. Something is going wrong.

Should an email be generated when you move a post ( or series of posts ) to a new topic as in this case ?
There is an option to notify the author of the posts being moved, but not anyone else. The only solution would be to post a fresh message saying the post has been moved -- which rather defeats the object of cleaning up the topic.

As you may have seen I still rely on email before looking at the forum - call me old fashioned.
Me too. But I never have emails displayed as full HTML -- far too risky in my book.

You do usually put a post to notify us in a topic if you have moved anything to a new topic.
Well yes, but in this case you should have received an email of the new topic being created, if you are watching the relevant forum. Which presumably you are, if you are relying on email for forum updates.

Just at the moment I'm desperately trying to make progress with 227a, but for months now it has been one distraction after another keeping me away from it. Sorry if the forum isn't working as you expect, but for now it will have to stay as it is. :(

cheers,

Martin.
 
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Hi Martin,
I know how much time and effort is going into 227a so I do feel a tad sorry for slowing you down. As with all issues on here they will wait - you are more than capable of scheduling the workflow as you think best:)

I am watching all the forums and I take your point about the HTML emails.

Rob
 
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