Hi Giorgio,
I'm enjoying your participation in this discussion. It's opening my eyes to how we can make JMRI more friendly for users in other parts of the world
To clarify one point ... a SSL signal head can protect up to 5 Track Circuits, 2 Signal Heads and 1 Turnout. Accordingly, it can protect a group of Track Circuits without requiring virtual heads at each gap, however it does require a virtual signal at any Track Circuit which includes a turnout
I gather from previous comments that SSL doesn't quite match up with common European aspects. Would it help if instead of calling the aspects red, flashing red, yellow, flashing and green that we called them Stop, Restricting, Approach, Advance Approach and Clear and then had a table to match the desired appearance up with the appropriate aspect? By default it would use the typical US arrangement, so as not to mess up any existing panels, but folks from other parts of the world could easily modify things to match their countries standard ABS arrangement
Steve Brooks
Lansing Model Railroad Club
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 11:09:00 +0100
From: xntcp.interface@...
To: jmri-developers@...
Subject: Re: [Jmri-developers] Observations from using RT3 for a weekend show
I don't care very much how they are called, probably because English is not my mother tongue and I already had to learn JMRI terminology: turnout (instead of switch), closed, thrown, etc.
What I find confusing is that users often assume JMRI-blocks to be the only way to model prototype-blocks. SSL, if I correctly understand it, is based on this assumption and encourages this misunderstanding (e.g. the idea that each JRMI-block must be "protected" by a signal, whether physical or virtual). A prototype-block, as it was correctly noted, is a piece of track between two signals. Sensors (i.e. JMRI-Blocks) placed within the block, may serve to set the proper aspect of block signals (if any sensor is active, the block is occupied), but don't require a separate signal for each of them.
The German word for "track circuit" is "track current circuit" (Gleissstromkreis), while the Italian word is... "track circuit" (cicuito di binario) :-) Nonetheless, I would suggest that the new name (if any) should include the word "detection", since this is the purpose of JMRI-blocks: detecting that a segment of track (section or whatever you like to call it) is occupied and allow it to be highlighted on the panel. There can be several reason for using them: implementing OS sections, or simply detecting that the train reached a spot where some action must be triggered (braking, stopping, changing speed, operating a level crossing, playing the whistle, etc.).
Including the "detection" (or "sensing") world in the name would make it clear, also to not English users (or uneducated users), what they are, without the need of searching a railroad dictionary.
By the way, I use JMRI-sections (introduced by Dave Duchamp) to model prototype blocks. They have the advantage of being composed by one or more JMRI-blocks (i.e. detection circuits) and offer, in addition, an unambiguous indication of train direction. They could perhaps be promoted from "sections" to "blocks" or simply being indicated as one of the possible tools to model prototype-blocks :-)
ciao from Italy
Giorgio
On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 12:15 AM, Bob Jacobsen <bob_jacobsen@...> wrote:
On Mar 5, 2011, at 1:40 PM, Dick Bronson wrote:
> Because 'Track Circuits' are called 'Track Circuits' by the railroads,
> then I would like to propose a somewhat radical idea. Lets call them
> 'Track Circuits' in JMRI. It has nice ring
Or, you can tie it even closer to what it really is on the model railroad, and call them "Detection Circuits".
> as well as a distinct
> advantage over calling them 'Segments' because if someone sees the term
> he can easily do a lookup on the internet and find out what they are and
> how they work. If one was to look up "Railway segment" he would be
> utterly confused because that term seems to mean a section of the
> railroad that gets constructed at one time. E.g. "High speed rail line
> gets approval to build first segment."
>
> If someone in the JMRI community says "This block consists of two track
> circuits" I would hazard a guess that folks might be able to figure out
> what was meant by that without the necessity of a clinic presentation. <G>
>
Agree completely.
Bob
--
Bob Jacobsen, LBNL
Bob_Jacobsen@... +1-510-486-7355 fax +1-510-643-8497 AIM, Skype JacobsenRG
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