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Having collected my data, I went off home to start producing computer
aided drawings of all the parts. For a long time other things took
precedence and the project fell into abeyance, but in 2009 I resumed
work on the project. With most of the parts drawn up I realised that
I had overlooked a number of measurements and so a number of further
short visits were made. The drawings of individual parts are now complete
and only a number of composite drawings remain to be done.
Further Involvement
Shortly after my stay with John Anderson, both John and Alan decided
to stand down as Stewards, and two replacement Stewards were appointed:
Alan Berry, who worked at Taylor's Bell Foundry, and Barry Ward who
had worked in the Science Museum in Birmingham. Sadly, Barry died
just before Christmas, 2009 and a replacement was needed. I felt
greatly honoured to be asked if I would undertake this
rôle and eventually, at the Annual General Meeting of
the Central Council I was appointed Steward.
My first public appearance was actually the day preceding my appointment
as the Bell Foundry were having an open day to coincide with the
AGM weekend, and I was asked if I would talk about the machine and
demonstrate it to those who attended.
Needless to say, the machine performed tolerably, but not 100% reliably,
so I have been trying to resolve some of the problems that I became
aware of. I created some web pages
detailing the problems and
my proposed solutions, and hopefully how well they suceeded (or didn't).
A 'personal' project arises because of my lack of the ability to follow
a peal by ear. Skilled bellringers can tell immediately if the machine
is misbehaving and does not follow the expected course. In order to
check the behaviour in the absence of such experts, I am building a
computer interface to the machine. This can be inserted into the
connection between the machine and the bell cabinet. The computer
can then record the sequence of strokes and check these against the
expected sequence and report any errors. Once the problem causing
the error has been fixed, the computer will then provide a confirmation
that the expected sequence is now being followed.
By Bill Purvis - 24th September 2010
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