Who makes the slowest switcher ?

[webenda]

Interesting. How was your Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) calibrated? Ball Bar or Ball Plate standard? Who calibrated the standard used to calibrate the CMM? Just saying the CMM is calibrated and certified does not prove traceability. You will need to show how it is traceable to an artifact calibrated and certified by NIST (formerly NBS) for the measurement to qualify (Rule 10.) Also, you should include information on the date of calibration and when it is due for calibration again. If the calibration on the CMM is overdue, your data will be in limbo until the CMM is recalibrated to determine if it was in or out of tolerance at the time you measured your cut and ground length of steel. The alternative is to calibrate the CMM before use. In that case due date does not apply.

Does your CMM use a laser interferometer to measure distance? If so, you might claim that it is an intrinsic standard (measurements based on speed of light) and does not require rule 10 compliance.

For those with access to a calibrated length measuring machine at work, it might be easier to take your ruler to work, verify its accuracy, and then use it for this contest. You might also be surprized at how accurate rulers purchased at stationary, hardware, supermarket, etc., stores are.

Reference, http://search.nist.gov/search?q=cache:tva3BPViwl4J:emtoolbox.nist.gov/Publications/MSCProceedings94.pdf+plastic+rulers&access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&site=default_collection&oe=UTF-8&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend

[Jim Duda]

Well...I thought I'd calibrate my yardstick the old fashioned way...I duct taped a flashlight to one end of it and a mirror
to each end. Then I borrowed my neighbor's vacuum pump and evacuated all the air out of the train room until I had a
perfect vacuum. Since the speed of light is believed to be constant (in a vacuum) I would just count the number of times
the light beam bounced back and forth between the mirrors in one second. I would simply lengthen or shorten the distance between the mirrors and when the number of "bounces" was correct, I should theoretically have the distance dead-on!

I asked my other neighber what the speed of light is per yard (36.000000~inches) and she told me
327.857019 MHZ. So I think once you got exactly 327,857,019 "bounces" in a second, you could say the distance between
your mirrors was 36.00000~ inches...or 983,571,057 'bounces" per foot.

Alas, since I can't count reliably past 20, and since my stopwatch has low batteries and it's accuracy is not traceable
back to NIST, I'm afraid I won't be able to contribute any meaningful data...

Sorry Idaho Tim et al...

Shucks!!! I guess I'll just have to run switching operations at what speed looks "right" to me...(wink)

[macdannyk1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by garyseven

I made the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs! [;)]

She's fast enough for you, old man...
:)

[spankybird]

Wayne - We still haven't seen the results of your test, even if it is with just a tape measure.

BTW - with our company being both QS and TS quilifitied, our CMM our ceritfied every 6 months. Our PPM our under 50.

[webenda]

Spankybird,

I was waiting until I could retreive my NIST ruler from work.
If I ignore Rule 10 and do the best I can with Rule 4...
K-Line Plymouth Switcher
Northbound 98 in/min (std dev 6.8)
Southbound 64 in/min (std dev 11)
Average 81 in/min
Looks like I am second to last.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
garyseven------Kessel____________<12 parsecs (that's less than zero, right?)
Dr. John---------Lionel 040___________0
Spankybird-----MTH PS2 Diesel______20 in/min
spankybird-----PS2 Hudson_________20 in/min
ChiefEagles---MTH PS2____________22 in/min
FJ and G--------MTH SW-9___________22 in/min
webenda-------MTH Plymouth Switcher_ 81 in/min
Jim Duda-------K-Line Scale Hudson__240 in/min

[webenda]

QUOTE: Originally posted by spankybird

BTW - with our company being both QS and TS quilifitied, our CMM our ceritfied every 6 months. Our PPM our under 50.

Oh! Sorry, I did not know, otherwise I never would have requested proof. I know that when you pay a third party auditor to give you QS or TS registration, no one else needs to question the validity of your measurements. My apologies.

[Jim Duda]

Wayne...we may be on the bottom but I'll bet our timing instruments are the most accurate...! HA!

Tom - now you can brag that you're TWO INCHES shorter than Chiefie...!