07-09-2010, 08:32 PM
I don't know that I'll ever get it! Now Don, in a very kind attempt to explain, has introduced a fourth word into the mix! Now we have Ohms, Amps, Watts ... and Current. I read Don's post three times and the only thing I can tell you is ...
Do you remember what the parents sounded like in the "Peanuts" cartoons? "Whaa whuh whaaa whaa wa wa," like a trombone, sorta.
it took me several years to figure out how to not have a short when I threw a turnout to the "other" route on that 4'x8' "platforn" I had as a pre-teen/teenager! I was in my 40's when I finally understood the DC thing well enough to wire my hand laid turnouts with isolated route-dependant live frogs ... I'm sure that's not the correct term, and I can't remember the right one at the moment, but you know what I mean. [And the truth be known, I had a Kalmbach "How to Wire ..." book opened to the right page while I wired up the first couple. Now I can wire them without the book.]
I feel like some sort of village idiot sometimes, but I just don't get electrical/electronics! I mean, I actually feel pretty good about myself if I install a new special IC-controlled switch for the ceiling fan where there was once just a regular light switch ... and it works ... first time, and doesn't blow a breaker!!!
I actually took photos of the engine bay of my project car with about 30 close-ups of connections, because I don't know what it is or what it does, but if I can see the way it was wired up before, I can wire it up again. On the other hand, I had no trouble building the engine, checking ring and bearing clearances and torquing the crank main bolts and the head bolts down to spec, and all that stuff! (It has a 280-degree duration camshaft ... it's a loper at an idle, but comes on really strong when you step on the loud pedal!) I had an SCCA friend come over and install the new wiring harness - I pinstriped his Harley as payment.
When the time comes, I'll find someone to come over and help me wire and put power to my layout, especially if I eventually spring for DCC!
Seriously ... thank you, Don ... I know you were trying to help! We all have our areas of expertise and then there are the things best left to someone else ... well, I can design damn near anything (I may have to do a little homework first if I've never don aanything like it before,) I can build all kinds of stuff, but I generally don't mess with anything beyond wiring positive/negative/green wire ground ... other stuff I leave for others who are more qualified.
Do you remember what the parents sounded like in the "Peanuts" cartoons? "Whaa whuh whaaa whaa wa wa," like a trombone, sorta.
it took me several years to figure out how to not have a short when I threw a turnout to the "other" route on that 4'x8' "platforn" I had as a pre-teen/teenager! I was in my 40's when I finally understood the DC thing well enough to wire my hand laid turnouts with isolated route-dependant live frogs ... I'm sure that's not the correct term, and I can't remember the right one at the moment, but you know what I mean. [And the truth be known, I had a Kalmbach "How to Wire ..." book opened to the right page while I wired up the first couple. Now I can wire them without the book.]
I feel like some sort of village idiot sometimes, but I just don't get electrical/electronics! I mean, I actually feel pretty good about myself if I install a new special IC-controlled switch for the ceiling fan where there was once just a regular light switch ... and it works ... first time, and doesn't blow a breaker!!!
I actually took photos of the engine bay of my project car with about 30 close-ups of connections, because I don't know what it is or what it does, but if I can see the way it was wired up before, I can wire it up again. On the other hand, I had no trouble building the engine, checking ring and bearing clearances and torquing the crank main bolts and the head bolts down to spec, and all that stuff! (It has a 280-degree duration camshaft ... it's a loper at an idle, but comes on really strong when you step on the loud pedal!) I had an SCCA friend come over and install the new wiring harness - I pinstriped his Harley as payment.
When the time comes, I'll find someone to come over and help me wire and put power to my layout, especially if I eventually spring for DCC!
Seriously ... thank you, Don ... I know you were trying to help! We all have our areas of expertise and then there are the things best left to someone else ... well, I can design damn near anything (I may have to do a little homework first if I've never don aanything like it before,) I can build all kinds of stuff, but I generally don't mess with anything beyond wiring positive/negative/green wire ground ... other stuff I leave for others who are more qualified.
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln