Union Pacific Stack Train at Pleasanton Ridge

I was driving on I680 when I saw containers next to the freeway. Uuuuuuuh, shiny! A train!

Naturally, I had to get off the freeway and take a closer look. When I caught up with the train, it was slowly creeping to a stop for a red signal at CP FO38 at the south end of the siding from CP Hearst, just a couple miles north of Sunol.

UP 7791, an AC45CCTE, is hanging out in the sun.

There was a single mid-train helper: UP 7083, an AC44CW, mostly in the shade of lineside trees.

The train extends a couple cars beyond the turnout at CP Hearst. The siding is 4,175 ft long, which puts the train at about three quarters of a mile, or 1250 meters.

The maximum train length on most lines in Germany is 700 meters. Yes, those American trains are long ...

SVL: Block Signs

I'm making block signs indicating DTC blocks on the SVL layout. The signs are oversize, but should be legible by remote operators observing the track ahead with a CabCam.

SVL: Broadcasting Trains

After the business meeting tonight we tested running trains with remote operators and two CabCams. For some time we also streamed the to Youtube Live and club members are discussing the experience. We had one camera run out of battery just before the live-stream started, so most of the stream is the cab view from a single train.

My camera ahead of the train in the video.

James mounted his camera in a dummy unit. Looking good!

Rancho San Antonio Hike

Another hike with friends. Today we hit Rancho San Antonio County Park, which was surprisingly busy. Many trails in the park are one-way only, so that people don't need to meet on narrow trails.

The black-tail deer didn't care that I was taking photos of their breakfast routine.

The view over the South Bay from the lookout is very nice

Hibiscus

Working From Home - Properly

Desk is set up and ready for work come Monday

I have been working from home since March. While other countries have been able to relax COVID-19 restrictions by now, the U.S. has done a particularly terrible job at containing the virus and there is no end in sight. Guidance from work has been that work-from-home will continue well into next year. While I have been able to work effectively from various couches and armchairs in the house and on our patio, a month ago I finally admitted to myself that I needed a more proper setup. In the office I spend much more time walking between conference rooms and buildings than at home. Changing meetings now merely involves a couple mouse clicks to join another video conference, when before I had a few minutes to walk to the next conference room and sort my thoughts.

Desk finally arrived

I didn't use my standing desk in the office much, but being at home and not moving much, I think it would be a much more pleasant experience to have one here. Now that I'm used to being able to look up over the top of my laptop screen and watch birds in the garden for a moment, or look through the patio doors outside, I didn't want to place a desk against a wall, and I wanted a view. That removed pretty much every suitable option around the house. In the end we decided that we could rearrange a corner in the living room which I already used for work and video meetings by replacing my trusty IKEA Poäng armchair, and moving a couple other pieces of furniture to make room for the new desk setup,.

Putting it all together

After some research I ordered a small Uplift Desk V2 Bamboo Standing Desk, 42 x 30". The desk has linear actuators to move the top up and down. I added the memory module, so that I can raise and lower the desk to preset heights, and easily switch between standing and sitting positions with no fiddling. I also ordered the Uplift Starling stool. 

Desk in raised position

Uplift Desk apparently is overrun with demand, so it took a month for the desk to be delivered. It finally arrived today and I went to work to set it up. Assembly takes some time, but is easy. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, except for the paragraph describing how to mount the control unit. The way it's done is trivial, but I can see why the tech writer had some trouble finding the right words to describe it.

I'm very happy with the desk, but not quite convinced of the stool yet. Let's see how it works out over the course of next week. 

Raspberries

It's raspberry season. For a change I joined the family for berry picking at Berry Island Farm. After a quick 45 minutes we had filled a good portion of our trays.

Untergroeningen: A Case for Segment One

This afternoon I turned a sheet of 1/8" hardboard into a case for Untergroeningen segment one. Now I can store it with the other modules in the storage rack in the garage, instead of having it take up space in the train room. 

You can never have too many clamps. I'd like to protect the underside better, but this will do.

All packed away.

Santa Teresa County Park Hike

Another morning hike in friendly company at Santa Teresa County Park. It was overcast, but I'm not complaining as it kept air temperature low for most of the hike.  The Bay Area's golden brown is now in full swing even with only a moderately warm July.

As we left the parking lot, a flock of wild turkeys was having breakfast nearby.

SVL: Audio Cable for FRS radio

When I last played with connecting an FRS radio to the computer, I didn't connect the radio directly to the computer, because a) I didn't know what the pin-out of the radio was, b) I read that connecting line out to microphone input can blow the microphone circuit, and c) I didn't have enough time to test things out.

In the meantime I learned that connecting output to microphone input works if you are careful with volume levels. I also found out what the pinout of the headset plug in my Motorola Talkabout EM1000R is. Hence, tonight I sat down and butchered some cables. The wiring is very simple:

The Motorola EM1000R FRS radio has a 2.5mm plug with a shorter than normal shaft, i.e. only 2.5mm plugs specifically designed for this (and similar) radio fit. I solved that problem by cutting the plug off my crappy and uncomfortable Motorola headset purchased years ago. The photo below shows the cable in operation with separate microphone and stereo 3.5mm plugs. The wiring works similar to the 4 pole TRRS plug: Ground at the shaft, and signal (Mic or Left) at the tip of the respective 3.5mm plug.

Comet NEOWISE

On our second attempt this weekend, we did get to see Comet NEOWISE. Despite all the hype, so far I hadn't bothered to try and catch it. Tonight Tatjana and I drove out to Barker Pass, which has nice open views near the Pacific Crest Trail trailhead.
And indeed after sunset, as the sky darkened and the stars came out, the comet showed up prominently on camera. Once we knew where to look exactly, we could barely make out the comet with the naked eye, too.

The photo above is taken on a Canon T7i with kit lens, 20 seconds exposure, ISO 3200. I zoomed in all the way to get a close-up, too. This photo is taken with 30 seconds exposure. Movement of the earth is clearly visible with exposure that long, so the stars turn into streaks. However, the comet's tail is coming out more pronounced that way.

SVL: Looking Around The Corner

[ CabCam posts ]

When mounting a camera on a flat car for layout videos or remote operators, a common approach is to set the camera close to the front of the flat car, since we want to give the illusion of being in a locomotive cab. Seeing the front of the flat car destroys that illusion.

However, doing this has an unfortunate side-effect: Depending on the length of the flat car used viewers now complain that they can't see as much of the scenery along the track as they had hoped. Especially in tighter curves there is a distinct lack of scenery visible on the inside of the curve.

The camera doesn't "look around the corner".

Part of the reason for this is basic geometry: The car rides on a curve. The center of the camera view is on a tangent off the center of the curved track. Hence, the center line of the camera image and the center line of the track diverge. The tighter the curve, the larger the divergence, the more scenery on the outside of the curve is taking up screen real estate on the inner side of the camera view.

An additional factor is the length of the flat car. The longer the car, the more the ends of the car hang to the outside of the track center line, making the natural tangent effect worse.

The effect is demonstrated by the car in the middle above. The teal triangle simulates the view of a camera mounted at the very front of the car looking straight ahead. Barely anything to the right of the track is is visible to the camera, while plenty of scenery to the left of the track can be admired.

There are multiple ways to even this out:

• Mount the camera in or near the front, but use a short flat car: By reducing the overhang at the end of the car, the camera's lens is positioned closer to the tangent off the track center line. Positioning the camera above the center of the front truck, or front axle, minimizes the overhang.
• Using a long flat car, mount the camera in the middle of the car: Long cars have an overhang to the outside of the curve at the car ends, and an overhang to the inside of the curve in the middle of the car. We can use the middle overhang to move the center line of the camera to the inside of the curved track center line and pick up more visibility.
• Using a long flat car, mount the camera in the rear of the car: Moving the camera further towards the rear of the car creates a "steering effect" where the front truck is "turning the car deck into the curve." In this setup the camera center line is not on a tangent off the curve, but on a chord. Hence the camera view captures much more of the scenery to the inside of the curve as demonstrated by the car on the right in the image above.
• Using a wide-angle or fish-eye camera lens can help as well, but results in distortions along the edges of the image.

Using a single long flat car is convenient, since it has plenty of space for the camera and supporting gear like batteries.

If too much of the front half of the car is visible in the resulting video, in many cases cropping the video can hide the car deck. If that's not possible or insufficient, push the camera lens forward until the car deck is no longer visible. This will still produce a better video experience than mounting the camera at the very front of the car. Alternatively, use two flat cars. The front car holds the camera pushed as far to the rear as possible, and the second flat car holds the support gear.

Magnifying Glass with LED light

My eye sight used to be better. I guess I'm getting older ... Working with small detail parts or soldering in tight quarters is a bit of a gamble. The Brightech LightView PRO is a 5 inch magnifying glass with built in LED light. The arm mounts to the work bench. 

I tested it with soldering the parts for the SWD Fredi. It takes a little bit practice to get used to the magnifying glass, but then it's a real joy to work with. 

My first SWD Fredi

Tonight I built my first SWD Fredi. The instructions are easy to follow, but only accessible to FREMO members. I have two kits. One was built tonight. I guess I'll do the other one tomorrow.

The main board comes partially assembled. All the SMD parts are installed, and I just need to do the regular sized parts like connectors, LEDs, and buttons.

LEDs are soldered to the board. Moving on to the buttons.

Finally, I work on the direction switch and the speed knob. 

A locomotive gets assigned to the Fredi by dispatching it from another throttle connected to LocoNet. Hold Shift + Emergency Stop on the Fredi and the locomotive address is programmed. I tried this out with an UT4 on the Welztalbahn and it worked just fine.

The next time I'll attend a FREMO meet, I can contribute to the meet with a locomotive or two. Meanwhile, the SWD Fredi is a great throttle for the switching jobs on the Welztalbahn where changing of loco address is not required.

Update July 18, 2020:

The other Fredi is now also built.

Santa Teresa County Park: More Hiking

Rocky Ridge Trail

Today's hike leads from the Madrone day use area via Rocky Ridge Trail to Coyote Peak. The trail is quite rocky, but easy to navigate. It's a gentle climb from the parking lot to the peak with stunning views of the South Bay.

Almaden Valley with Quicksilver Park and Mt. Unumhum in the distance

Coyote Valley is not far

Railfanning the southbound Coast Starlight

Almost there

The descent from Coyote Peak to the parking lot via Hidden Springs Trail is much shorter and steeper than the way up, which worked out well for all of us. The round trip worked out to just over 4 miles.

Coyote Peak

Once again a nice morning hike in friendly company, and I was back home just in time for the first meeting of the day.