Notifications
Clear all
Introduce Yourself
8
Posts
4
Users
6
Likes
348
Views
Topic starter
2023-05-05 10:54 am
Dear all,
Thank you for allowing me access to this forum. A little bit about myself, I am or will be sixty nine years old on the 13th of this month. I retired from my work at the age of 57 and up till that point never had time for any hobbies so on retiring I started looking for something to pass the time away, I tried several things and eventually about seven years ago settled on model railways. I decided on 'N" scale 1-160 as I model mainly continental early steam. I started life as an electrical fitter apprentice in HM naval base Chatham, until its closure in 1984 and then took a transfer to Rosyth Naval base in Scotland, this didn't really work out for me and my family so we moved back to Kent and I got a job as a maintenance electrician in a foundry for a few years, we had a big recession about this time and work was very scarce. Eventually I got a position as a machine tool electrician for a company called CAV's which then became part of a major American company called Delphi, a part of the General Motors corporation. I ended up as a buyer for this company until I retired. My electrical knowledge is reasonable but I'm afraid my electronic knowledge is fairly limited. My hobby has led me deeper and deeper into the electronics world and I find I have to use Youtube a lot of the time now, this is where I stumbled across the Dronebot Workshop and how I ended up here. I am married with two children a boy and a girl both now in there forties, not really much else I say about myself. I hope I won't be too much of a nuisance asking stuff that is probably bread and butter for most of you, I have tinkered with the Arduino items and the hardware is something I am fairly comfortable with, but the programming is something that I dont really understand at all, I get by in copying other peoples sketches, not really understanding how they work. Hopefully I am not too old to learn!
Best Regards
Phil
2023-05-05 3:37 pm
Welcome to the forum Phil! I'm sure you will enjoy interacting with the members of our very diverse forum members.
To help you on the programming side of things, I would suggest you take a look at the YouTube channel of Paul McWhorter. He has multiple playlists that start you from scratch on programming with different devices. Remember we all had to take baby steps to learn to walk.
SteveG
Topic starter
2023-05-05 8:10 pm
Thank you, I will head over and take a look!
2023-05-05 8:55 pm
@thephilnewman The book most of us started with is also a decent teaching tool. It is affectionately known as K&R, but the full name is "The C Programming Language" I have attached a picture of the cover. C++ is only really needed if you are writing libraries or classes. Learn logic and basic language skills first. After over 60 years, I still have not learned C++ and rarely need to figure something out, which is not that hard with the internet today. On Amazon.ca, the hard cover is quite a bit cheaper than the softcover Here is a link. Change to the country of your choice. LINK
First computer 1959. Retired from my own computer company 2004.
Hardware - Expert in 1401, and 360, fairly knowledge in PC plus numerous MPU's and MCU's
Major Languages - Machine language, 360 Macro Assembler, Intel Assembler, PL/I and PL1, Pascal, Basic, C plus numerous job control and scripting languages.
Sure you can learn to be a programmer, it will take the same amount of time for me to learn to be a Doctor.
Topic starter
2023-05-05 9:11 pm
@codecage Just to let you know, first lesson completed, he's very good, I can write the blink programme!!
Topic starter
2023-05-05 9:15 pm
@zander Thank you I will take a look, I'm in the UK so I'm sure it will be available over here!
2023-05-05 9:36 pm
... programming is something that I dont really understand at all, I get by in copying other peoples sketches, not really understanding how they work. Hopefully I am not too old to learn!
Welcome to the forum. There have been other railway enthusiasts posting here.
Learning to use Arduino C++ seems to me a good way to go for model railway projects. You start with controlling LEDs and reading buttons. Later reading sensors and controlling little motors and making sounds with a speakers. I wouldn't bother at this stage with an in depth course in C or C++ which may be more than you will ever use or need unless of course you find it enjoyable in its own right.
Ron reacted
Topic starter
2023-05-05 10:18 pm
@robotbuilder I hear what you are saying, and I have a few projects that I want to try and build, which is how I ended up here in the first place, but for me it is good knowing what is going on rather than copying someone else's work and not understanding what is actually really going on. The basics would be good for me!