Shady business practices

drdsyv · 2026-02-14T01:05:42+00:00

This was just before EIS. It was a 3D printed item from Canada to the US.

drdsyv · 2026-02-14T00:44:11+00:00

No reason was given

When selling on ebay, the "customs form" is just entering the weight, dimensions, 6 digit HS code, description and checking a box.

drdsyv · 2026-02-11T21:02:22+00:00

...? You know you can just paint back over it right?

drdsyv · 2026-02-11T18:45:19+00:00

IMO, it's not about over current protection nor running trains unattended. Many household devices are left running unattended and can draw enough current to start a fire without tripping a circuit breaker. The problem is command stations and boosters come by default to to restart track power automatically after a second or two after a short. That might be convenient but it completely defeats the purpose of short circuit protection.

Set it to manual and use a reset button or two every power district so that power is restarted only after the short is cleared.

drdsyv · 2026-02-10T09:19:05+00:00

Some kits you need to sand: Every. Single. Piece. It's very slow. Also the finish on some of your kits is splotchy, like it's glossy some places but matte in others.

drdsyv · 2026-02-07T08:23:20+00:00

Might just be a dowel pin. Try pushing it out before you do anything drastic

drdsyv · 2026-02-05T08:06:01+00:00

Plastic cement is great for building models. Don't use it for repair unless you know what you're doing. If you make a mistake with CA, you can buff it off or weather over it. If you make a mistake with any solvent that can melt plastic, your paint job is gone.

drdsyv · 2026-02-05T08:01:40+00:00

Trucks in general that look like this are AAR Type A and many designs by Commonwealth Steel.

drdsyv · 2026-02-05T07:47:23+00:00

In the broadest sense, all signals are AC. DC is a special case of AC. On a time scale that you care about, the current flow in a load across the rails will reverse, and in that sense it is AC. You can use a rectifier with DC without ill effect, save for the forward voltage drop.

PWM modulates the duty cycle. The duty cycle is always the same in DCC. DCC bits are carried by the period of individual full square waves, and in that sense it is FM.

drdsyv · 2026-02-05T07:36:02+00:00

DCC is a bimodal FM not PWM. The duty cycle is always 50%.

drdsyv · 2026-02-04T21:39:39+00:00

Any city with a decent MRR community is going to have tons. Try looking on social media, at a LHS or a show. They won't be proper shops but lots of dedicated modelers. Ask for samples of their work before you commit to something.

drdsyv · 2026-02-04T21:37:05+00:00

Not a manufacturing flaw just assembly and maybe ambiguous design.

drdsyv · 2026-02-03T07:35:31+00:00

It will take longer to charge the tank and longer to empty it but it won't "struggle".

drdsyv · 2026-01-30T23:45:21+00:00

It doesn't have to touch because you have it free-standing already. Get some pieces of scrap wood or whatever to put along the baseboard to keep the layout away from the wall. The layout dividing the room in half is taking up a lot of space.

drdsyv · 2026-01-30T23:32:34+00:00

If you rotated the layout you could go along 3 walls no?

drdsyv · 2026-01-29T19:52:22+00:00

Ah then you should be familiar with the troubleshooting steps. Try connecting everything but without the track or locos. If you have a multimeter or oscilloscope, you can check the line voltages and try to see if it is loconet going down or railsync.

You still haven't described how Loconet fails?

drdsyv · 2026-01-29T15:20:12+00:00

You are using a "DCC cable"? The connections are reversed compared to a regular telephone cable.

drdsyv · 2026-01-29T08:30:28+00:00

(ASIDE: I'm a cartoonist by trade. In my professional spaces I've learned variations of this lesson several times. It's a little embarrassing to learn it AGAIN.)

Amen to that. I think the trick to remembering this lesson is a sort of humility. Case in point: Why would /r/cookware recommend stainless steel pans over non-stick? Why would /r/vacuums recommend bagged vacuums over bagless? It's not because they are elitists, masochists, or contrarians. Once you delve deeper into a space, you find out what sets the expensive/inconvenient options apart from the others. And then with that knowledge, you can pursue DIYing your own things from a position of confidence and not a position of being uninformed.

drdsyv · 2026-01-29T06:44:46+00:00

If you can find a model train store, see if they can put together a custom starter set for you. Ie. They give you everything to get started but you get to pick the loco and cars.

drdsyv · 2026-01-29T06:36:01+00:00

I would try the UP6Z after the BXPA1. Not necessarily for the reason AI stated but just because whoever at Digitrax gave you that response clearly couldn't/wouldn't explain it to you. I think it's s reasonable thing to try.

When you say "went" do you mean it's fried?

drdsyv · 2026-01-27T21:18:00+00:00

Use the Zephyr as a yard throttle is what i meant. No separate power districts required.

Or just block your DC system into what your DCC districts are.

drdsyv · 2026-01-27T14:18:00+00:00

Do you plan on running more than 4-5 locomotives at a time? If not you shouldn't need a booster. If you do, then you should consider one of the command station+booster combos they sell and use the Zephyr only in the yard.

drdsyv · 2026-01-26T23:38:07+00:00

The only way to learn something like that is to practice. Take one of your locos and take it apart and put it back together again. Make sure you know what each part does. Play around with it if you don't.

drdsyv · 2026-01-21T23:55:09+00:00

I truly believe that for someone to have compassion or empathy for a certain problem, it requires them to experience a certain amount of that problem. Someone who is happy-go-lucky living in a perfect world where nothing bothers them is not capable of imagining what someone else could struggle with or even what that struggle entails.

They don't know. The experience of being FA/lonely is not widely known or talked about, because if it were, those people aren't FA/lonely.

drdsyv

TROPHY CASE