Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
In message e52b13a9-39dc-432f-acee-b30a8b631...@hotmail.com, Francois Lanciault francoislancia...@hotmail.com writes Hi Francois, Interesting the 80's technology is still so reliable ... :-) Are you doing the programming is SBASIC? The QL is sitting outside the chamber... The servo controller is connected directly on the back of the QL and long leads are going from the controller to the test setup through an opening in the thermal chamber. The chamber is also purged with nitrogen. It is real QL hardware, i.e. SuperGoldCard + Aurora + Minerva but in a PC case. What stand out is the 5 1/4 floppy drive and the two 3 1/2 drives :-) No I can not takes photo, but anyway a photo would have been nice if it was a standard black QL, An ugly beige box sitting next to an old thermal chamber is not as sexy. François On 2012-11-23, at 04:23, Tony Firshman t...@firshman.co.uk wrote: Wolfgang Lenerz wrote, on 23/Nov/12 09:17 | Nov23: On 23/11/2012 07:13, Francois Lanciault wrote: . But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Hi, was the QL in the chamber, too, or outside and just connected through a serial lead? Yes that was a mite ambiguous. It *must* have been outside I think. Incidentally what QL was it? I do hope it was a black box. Tony -- t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm -- Malcolm Cadman ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
On 23 Nov 2012, at 06:13, Francois Lanciault francoislancia...@hotmail.com wrote: Hi group, here is a short story for you this morning: My trusty QL is controlling a test setup built to qualify a new component for space use as we speak. To make the story short, I work for a company that build satellite and other space hardware. Two weeks ago, one of our design failed during an official life test in the lab. We made some changes to the design and we are about to restart the test soon. But I found out that changing the material of the failed part for a different type might be an even better solution. After talking to my boss, he said that we have no time to qualify that new material before the official test. His other objection was that a new test setup was needed to mechanically bend the part made of the new material for many thousand cycles before he would even consider it. There was no time, and no money. You need to understand that a setup like that usually cost a few $1 and take about a month to built, program the test computer etc. The day after I told my boss: I WILL test this solution. Give me 24 hours to built the test setup, and it will cost you nothing. I agreed with a smile. 24 hours later, the test was running. I use scrap flight parts, a couple of brackets and a lot of Meccano parts. For the actuator, I use a small $20 servo-motor that I had for a robotic project of mine. I also had the controller for the servo. This controller can be attached to a simple serial port. That is where the QL comes into play. I needed a computer to control the amount of bending, the timing, the large quantity of cycles and able to log everything. I also needed a computer that was easy to program, as I started to work on the program at 23h00. Because the QL is the computer I know best, the program was finished 2 hours later. The next day, when I installed everything in the thermal chamber, I must admit that it looks a bit foolish. But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Everybody knew it would not last through the night. But this morning I opened the chamber and it was still running great, 25000 cycles later. When I left work it was at 4 cycles. Anyway, It is fun to see my QL in a lab running this test, and I thought you might like it. The other thing that I like is that I can work on my 3D game at lunch time :-) Absolutely brilliant. Are you allowed to take photos? A video (youtube) would be good. That is a story that could go global if your company would allow it. Great publicity for the company and the QL. I am very glad the QL didn't crash (8-)# Tony -- t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, Tring, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
On 23/11/2012 07:13, Francois Lanciault wrote: . But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Hi, was the QL in the chamber, too, or outside and just connected through a serial lead? Wolfgang ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
Wolfgang Lenerz wrote, on 23/Nov/12 09:17 | Nov23: On 23/11/2012 07:13, Francois Lanciault wrote: . But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Hi, was the QL in the chamber, too, or outside and just connected through a serial lead? Yes that was a mite ambiguous. It *must* have been outside I think. Incidentally what QL was it? I do hope it was a black box. Tony -- t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
The QL is sitting outside the chamber... The servo controller is connected directly on the back of the QL and long leads are going from the controller to the test setup through an opening in the thermal chamber. The chamber is also purged with nitrogen. It is real QL hardware, i.e. SuperGoldCard + Aurora + Minerva but in a PC case. What stand out is the 5 1/4 floppy drive and the two 3 1/2 drives :-) No I can not takes photo, but anyway a photo would have been nice if it was a standard black QL, An ugly beige box sitting next to an old thermal chamber is not as sexy. François On 2012-11-23, at 04:23, Tony Firshman t...@firshman.co.uk wrote: Wolfgang Lenerz wrote, on 23/Nov/12 09:17 | Nov23: On 23/11/2012 07:13, Francois Lanciault wrote: . But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Hi, was the QL in the chamber, too, or outside and just connected through a serial lead? Yes that was a mite ambiguous. It *must* have been outside I think. Incidentally what QL was it? I do hope it was a black box. Tony -- t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
You could always re-create the setup outside of your lab (with any sensitive items removed), with a black QL, as a photo-op...? -Original Message- From: ql-users-boun...@lists.q-v-d.com [mailto:ql-users-boun...@lists.q-v-d.com] On Behalf Of Francois Lanciault Sent: 23 November 2012 12:23 To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component The QL is sitting outside the chamber... The servo controller is connected directly on the back of the QL and long leads are going from the controller to the test setup through an opening in the thermal chamber. The chamber is also purged with nitrogen. It is real QL hardware, i.e. SuperGoldCard + Aurora + Minerva but in a PC case. What stand out is the 5 1/4 floppy drive and the two 3 1/2 drives :-) No I can not takes photo, but anyway a photo would have been nice if it was a standard black QL, An ugly beige box sitting next to an old thermal chamber is not as sexy. François On 2012-11-23, at 04:23, Tony Firshman t...@firshman.co.uk wrote: Wolfgang Lenerz wrote, on 23/Nov/12 09:17 | Nov23: On 23/11/2012 07:13, Francois Lanciault wrote: . But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Hi, was the QL in the chamber, too, or outside and just connected through a serial lead? Yes that was a mite ambiguous. It *must* have been outside I think. Incidentally what QL was it? I do hope it was a black box. Tony -- t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
Thank you for sharing this, Francois. It was a very interesting read! I studied space hardware technology as a secondary subject at the university so this story brought a smile to my face. I recall thinking at the time that space hw engineering must be a glamorous field. Having read your story... well, it seems I already had all the necessary glamorous tools at home :) Have a great weekend! /Petri On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 8:13 AM, Francois Lanciault francoislancia...@hotmail.com wrote: Hi group, here is a short story for you this morning: My trusty QL is controlling a test setup built to qualify a new component for space use as we speak. To make the story short, I work for a company that build satellite and other space hardware. Two weeks ago, one of our design failed during an official life test in the lab. We made some changes to the design and we are about to restart the test soon. But I found out that changing the material of the failed part for a different type might be an even better solution. After talking to my boss, he said that we have no time to qualify that new material before the official test. His other objection was that a new test setup was needed to mechanically bend the part made of the new material for many thousand cycles before he would even consider it. There was no time, and no money. You need to understand that a setup like that usually cost a few $1 and take about a month to built, program the test computer etc. The day after I told my boss: I WILL test this solution. Give me 24 hours to built the test setup, and it will cost you nothing. I agreed with a smile. 24 hours later, the test was running. I use scrap flight parts, a couple of brackets and a lot of Meccano parts. For the actuator, I use a small $20 servo-motor that I had for a robotic project of mine. I also had the controller for the servo. This controller can be attached to a simple serial port. That is where the QL comes into play. I needed a computer to control the amount of bending, the timing, the large quantity of cycles and able to log everything. I also needed a computer that was easy to program, as I started to work on the program at 23h00. Because the QL is the computer I know best, the program was finished 2 hours later. The next day, when I installed everything in the thermal chamber, I must admit that it looks a bit foolish. But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Everybody knew it would not last through the night. But this morning I opened the chamber and it was still running great, 25000 cycles later. When I left work it was at 4 cycles. Anyway, It is fun to see my QL in a lab running this test, and I thought you might like it. The other thing that I like is that I can work on my 3D game at lunch time :-) Have a nice day! François ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Sinclair QL running a qualification test for a space component
Hi group, here is a short story for you this morning: My trusty QL is controlling a test setup built to qualify a new component for space use as we speak. To make the story short, I work for a company that build satellite and other space hardware. Two weeks ago, one of our design failed during an official life test in the lab. We made some changes to the design and we are about to restart the test soon. But I found out that changing the material of the failed part for a different type might be an even better solution. After talking to my boss, he said that we have no time to qualify that new material before the official test. His other objection was that a new test setup was needed to mechanically bend the part made of the new material for many thousand cycles before he would even consider it. There was no time, and no money. You need to understand that a setup like that usually cost a few $1 and take about a month to built, program the test computer etc. The day after I told my boss: I WILL test this solution. Give me 24 hours to built the test setup, and it will cost you nothing. I agreed with a smile. 24 hours later, the test was running. I use scrap flight parts, a couple of brackets and a lot of Meccano parts. For the actuator, I use a small $20 servo-motor that I had for a robotic project of mine. I also had the controller for the servo. This controller can be attached to a simple serial port. That is where the QL comes into play. I needed a computer to control the amount of bending, the timing, the large quantity of cycles and able to log everything. I also needed a computer that was easy to program, as I started to work on the program at 23h00. Because the QL is the computer I know best, the program was finished 2 hours later. The next day, when I installed everything in the thermal chamber, I must admit that it looks a bit foolish. But it did work. I closed the door and set the temperature to -50degC. Everybody knew it would not last through the night. But this morning I opened the chamber and it was still running great, 25000 cycles later. When I left work it was at 4 cycles. Anyway, It is fun to see my QL in a lab running this test, and I thought you might like it. The other thing that I like is that I can work on my 3D game at lunch time :-) Have a nice day! François ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
