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Clank · October 23rd 16, 04:11 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 23.10.2016 5:54 PM, wrote:
In article , (Clank)
wrote:

On 23.10.2016 2:41 AM, wrote:
In article ,
(tim...) wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Oct 2016 18:56:06 -0500
wrote:
In article , d ()
wrote:

On Wed, 19 Oct 2016 18:39:46 -0500
wrote:
GTO electronics are seriously obsolete which could, I suspect,
make obtaining further sets quite hard. Note that some Networkers
have had their GTO controls replaced by Hitachi.

Surely if a manufacturer builds a train with a working life
probably exceeding at least 30 years then then should either
guarantee a supply of parts for that time period or suffer
penalties such as swallowing the cost of train upgrades if they
can't? Even car manufacturers I believe are by law required to be
able to supply parts for their vehicles for a minimum of 10 years
in the USA & EU.

ROFL!

Well that was informative.

The problem with trying to guarantee replacement parts for electronic
components, is that your suppliers wont guarantee supply of their
devices for an extended length of time.

I recall once working on a project where one of the components that
had been selected for the product was obsoleted during the development
phase and the board had to be re-engineered with a newer component.

You can usually expect to get guaranteed supply for 5-7 years out of
a supplier, but more than that and you are stuck having to make
alternative arrangements. You might stretch a repair stock to 10-12
years by buying in before an item becomes obsolete, but 30 years!

And with modern electronics, the timescales get shorter and shorter.

NRN radios were 1980s technology. We made lots of them when I worked at
Philips.

Hail well to a fellow Philips veteran! Ex PRL Redhill here).

You didn't make the Research Labs move to Cambridge then?

No, I left before they closed PRL - was offered a job paying more on
new-fangled internetty sfuff and I had a hunch embedded software
engineering wasn't a good long term prospect, even though I loved it. They
offered me a transfer to Sunnyvale which often makes me wonder how my life
would've turned out if I'd accepted. (Absolutely no regrets, mind.)

I've got nothing of value to add... Err, ob.transport, I always use a
train when I visit friends/old Philips colleagues in Eindhoven (clutches
at straw...)

Have you travelled on a Croydon tram? The original Bombardier Flexity fleet
still have their Simoco-branded FM1000 radios. Simoco had gone bust by the
time the tramway opened but I think Philips had to back the guarantees.

Many times, I lived in Croydon for a long time (moved there when I started
at PRL, in fact - it was as close to Horley as I was willing to live ;-).)
Of course the trams didn't exist then, but I watched it built and used it
from opening day on :-).