I can see now why they used IDC to make the looms in later MPU4 machines, once you
have the matrix sorted you could fly through each connection.
If I use spades, I'm
going to have to daisy chain them with 2 wires in each spade connector. Will be fiddly
and time consuming methinks.
I think if I do make the loom from scratch, I may remove
the top frame and wire it in position so I can number each lamp in the mask.
I videoed
the attract sequence and then advanced it frame by frame.
RD lights all its lamps
consecutively in the first stage of attract which is a massive help. So I thought
great, I just map each lamp as it lights to the corresponding lamp on the RD glass.
I assumed that the first lamp to light was lamp 1, but that may not necessarily be
the case since there could be a missing lamp before it, it is extremely difficult
to locate the missing lamps because you don't know which of the lit lamps is correct
do you?
If 5 nudge lamps should be lit and only 4 are lit, which one is missing, 2n,
4n, 6n, 8n or UL? It's a puzzle. I'm going to do the loom from scratch.
I've been putting it off for a few nights, partly because I was trying to get out
of removing the top frame. In the end, however, resistance proved futile and out
it came.
I also couldn't face the wiring diagram after work, but in the end, the need
to move the project on becomes a necessity and so you have to tackle it.
I had to
put the wiring diagram back together in photoshop, then map the lamp numbers onto
the back of the mask. The RD circuit diagram actually includes this little map which
is shown in reverse. This makes life much easier because you are effectively viewing
the diagram from the back.
So, with a marking pen I wrote all the lamp positions on the mask. Then I just worked
through the lamp diagram. At the time the picture was taken I'd done the the lamp
enables for the top glass. Unfortunately, I put them spades on the wrong connector
on the lamp sockets, so I had to change them. LE to goes to cathode of diode, so
that's right now.
I ran out of time tonight, so maybe over the weekend, if I get time,
I can do the lamp drives and then work on the bottom glass lamps.
I'll end up re-wiring
the whole machine, to do anything else now would be a waste of time, it's just easier
than trying to rework any part of another loom, I think.
Once you get into it, it's
not so bad. Just a bit time consuming
.
I've fully wired the top glass. It more time consuming than anything else. It's not
as neat as the real loom, but it's good enough for me.
Next to wire is the lamps for
the 3 switches in the middle of the cab and then down to the bottom 11 lamps on the
bottom glass. Then fit the blue plug for testing.
