ALL FOUR PRECOMBUSTION CHAMBERS HAVE BEEN REMOVED...and are sitting on the workbench...

Photos have been taken...which I will try to post later...and I will have to write this up with more detail, specs on tool we made, and such...

Right now, it's time to relax and enjoy our success !...Have a cold drink, eat lunch, tak a hot shower, go to town, get a haircut...and so on...

Have a Great Successful Day !

Thanks. Respy, CarlsCAT

Photos have been posted on ACME...I have filled my quota on posting photos...So, you'll have to go to the other forum to see the photos...
When we tried to install the new version precombustion chambers yesterday, we found we had the wrong o-ring seal for the pre-cup...Ordered the correct ones and are waiting for them to be delivered Priority Mail...Hopefully, get them tomorrow...
Respy, CarlsCAT

Hi,
You need to open your user cp file, scroll down to attachments and delete some of your old pictures to add more....I don't like the limitation either but that's as good as Joe Black can do I guess.

There's just no need for any of the tractor boards to have to fork out for the cost of expansion and maintenance .. by hosting a huge amount of photos .. when there are literally dozens of free, or low-cost, photo hosting sites out there, that you can host your photos on, and link to your postings.

These sites give you the linking information, and the codes that you just swipe and copy and paste into your posting. JB has his hands full, and the clubs and enthusiasts rarely have enough money or volunteers to look after expanded forums .. so the hosting method is the simple solution.
In addition, hosting your photos means they are still there, if the forum crashes for any reason .. and you can send the links to others to view.

I have spent probably way too much time, checking out enthusiasts great photos, that they have taken at shows that I will likely never get to see .. and most of that is due to free, or low-cost, photo hosting sites.
Take a little time to upgrade your computer skills to learn how to upload to photo hosting sites, and then learn how to post photo links in your postings on here.

Below is a list of some of the more popular photo hosting sites. There are many free sites, that usually have ad banners .. but most also have upgrades to banner-free hosting for payment of an annual fee.
I haven't found any yet, that provide free hosting without ads. Someone has to fund the site. The trick is to find one that doesn't have annoying ads.

Be aware that many of the free sites have restrictions on uploads, time limits on photos, and conversion to a piad account if you exceed a certain amount of photos. Read the Terms & Conditions of each site carefully. Some of these sites require you to hand over copyright of your photos in exchange for hosting (Picasa, SmugMug).

I use ImageShack, because its basically simple, and I've got used to it. In addition, ImageShack has the least-onerous terms of use. ImageShack allows sizeable uploads, and doesn't delete your photos if they aren't viewed for a certain period of time, or if a certain period of time elapses.

However, every now and then, an image disappears on Imageshack, due to technical problems. You just upload it again, if it does. I haven't used many other sites, but other people often have a preference for a particular site, because they find it easier to use.

ImageShack .. www.imageshack.us (free - or upgrade to Pro for $8.95 a month)

Photobucket .. photobucket.com (free - no paid upgrades that remove ads)

Picasa .. picasa.google.com (free - but requires Picasa imaging program download)

Shutterfly .. www.shutterfly.com (free)

Flickr .. www.flickr.com (free - upgrades to Flickr Pro for $24.95 annually, for unlimited uploads)

Pbase .. www.pbase.com (30 days free, then 500 MB for $23 annually)

Tinypic .. tinypic.com (free - no upgrades available)

Fotki .. www.fotki.com/int (free - upgrade to Premium for $27 annually)

Smugmug .. www.smugmug.com (14 days free only - then $39.95 annually)

Keep & Share .. keepandshare.com (free basic service, then from $24.99 to $249.99 annually, depending on your needs)

Fototime .. www.fototime.com (500MB space/2000MB bandwidth, on free basic service - upgrade to 4GB/20GB for $23.95 annually)

Webshots .. www.webshots.com (1000 photos on free basic service - upgrade to Premium for $19.99 annually - 5000 photos)

Oz,
I'm well aware of the picture hosting sites. My starter conversion stuff is with Imageshack. They are also the ones that crashed and the material was lost for several months and although it was eventually recovered it is still not right today (pages missing).

There is no reason the picture file capacity could not be expanded on this site nor is there any good reason to limit the file size to the point you can barely read the material if you post a full page.

Quite frankly the only reason I pay dues to this club is the BB function and there hasn't been any attempt at improvement that I am aware of in years.

If it's too much for JB I'd suggest it be handled by someone else.

OzDozer,

Thanks for the info...I have been curious how some post links to photos...I have spent hours re-sizing photos to post on the forums...The value of photos far exceeds all words for description..."Show Me"..."Don't Just Tell Me"...
Some of us are "Visual" learners, as opposed to "Audible" learners...You know..."Monkey See...Monkey Do"..."A picture is worth a thousand words"...

I have worked with computers since the days of the earliest PC's...Commodore 64's, Floppy Discs, and such...before there were laptops and such...I retired from AT&T as a Communications Technician after almost 30 years of service...Computer Processors have increased from K's to Gig's...and in the smallest of electronics...I was testing High Speed Data Circuits, Frame Relay, Packet Switching, and such from Coast to Coast, Border to Border, and Internationally...Since I retired, almost ten years ago...I don't even wear a wristwatch...and most of the time I don't even carry a cell phone( which we didn't use when I was a telephone man ) (and only have one now at the instance of my children)...
Why ? Because I don't care to be bothered...And, that's pretty much the same for "up-grading computer skills"... No offense intended...I don't play computer games...and dislike Menus and Sub-menus...and a mulitude of passwords...and all the time it takes to get information...A computer is just a tool to access information...and share information...very quickly...doesn't need to be a toy, or game...

It seems to me that the limit on photos with the forum is just plain...SILLY...To out-source photos and information to other sites, is...Wellllll...that's the problem here in the USA...with everything being "Out-sourced" to every other part of the world...and nothing being done at home...to protect files and information...

I am happy to have access to and share information about CATerpillars through this forum...Being fairly new to the forums...I am learning, through reading, asking questions, and observing, on how it works...

No offense intended, OzDozer...I appreciate all the knowledge and information that you have and share with us...

The resounding question remains...Why can't the forums be up-dated, or up-graded, to a higher capacity to store information and photos ? It's only the size of the memory...
Are we just using Kilobytes...when we could be using Gigabytes to store and process information...?

Respy, CarlsCAT

CarlsCAT - Well, I've made my opinion known on the photo storage question, and as I'm not an ACMOC member, it doesn't really concern me greatly. I do enjoy the ACMOC BB, and have tried to keep it interesting, by way of contributions, on and off, for a long period of time .. for at least 10 years, IIRC.

The photo storage and hosting problem is the one area that has created the most angst over the years. As someone who is a recent user of the forums, perhaps I should educate you as to a little history. The ACMOC BB was on-line from around the mid-1990's, thanks to some forward-looking ACMOC members in that era. However, there was .. and probably still is .. a great diversion into the 2 camps of non-computer literate, and computer-literate.

There are people (usually older and highly conservative folk) who pretty much refuse to have anything to do with computers. In the early 1990's, I was definitely one of them.
I didn't even know where the start button was on a computer (I was a "hands-on" man, relied on telephones & faxes only, and direct face-to-face contact, for communication, and pieces of paper for all information).

However, about 1998, I started getting concerned. I was being left behind, and started realising, I was likely to become a dinosaur. Everywhere I went, people were talking about computers .. the Internet .. websites .. forums .. and things I didn't understand.
I thought it was time to change. I took a computer course (no easy thing when you're getting old and fixed in your ways, and getting very deaf with it) .. got up to speed with the help of a BIL who was deep into IT .. bought a computer (Windows 98, 386 chip with Multi-Media capabilities - woo-hoo!!) and I was hooked into a world of information, explanation, expanded purchasing, cost reduction, paper reduction .. and communication speed-up, like you wouldn't believe.

I found the ACMOC BB by pure accident one day, and I was hooked! Here were people who shared my working experiences .. my working knowledge .. my outlook .. and who expanded my knowledge levels again .. by offering advice, and showing pictures, of places I'm probably unlikely to see in person.

Unfortunately, the ACMOC BOD in that era mostly regarded the Bulletin Board as a cost burden, and of no real use to the club. As we all know now, that isn't true.
The ACMOC BOD of the day, refused to expand the bandwith, and the BB kept getting more and more restricted .. and the users got more and more frustrated.
Finally, the BB crashed and was re-instated with a 2-bit, honky program, that was utterly useless. Many of the regular BB users were appalled, and a lot left.

Joe Black appeared at that time, and commenced a forum of his own - the ACME forum. He solicited users of the old ACMOC forum who were disappointed in the ACMOC attitude to their forum, and the ACME forum was formed.
The ACME forum was formed as a loose group of enthusiasts, with a wider range of machinery tastes .. and who believed that a club wasn't really necessary .. but a good on-line forum, with a good BB program, was.

I was initially reluctant to support the ACME forum .. but when Joe Black produced a superb forum program, in the shape of the Jelsoft vBulletin program .. I was won over .. and I have supported the ACME forum, financially, and with regular contributions, moderation, and technical submissions, since its commencement in late 2004.
With the ACME forum, we set out to fill the gap that the ACMOC club failed to do for us, as an online community.

The basic problem of bandwidth use still remains, with both forums. I firmly believe .. and repeat on a regular basis .. that picture hosting is the answer. To host forum users photos on your own forum, on a large scale, seems to me to be the equivalent of purchasing a $250K Cat hauler, to use twice a year, to haul your antique Cat to shows .. rather than paying a haulier a couple of hundred dollars to do it.

With a club of 3000 members, and each wanting to post an ever-increasing number of photos .. the storage requirement is not in Gigabytes .. it's in Terabytes. I don't believe this is practical for the Bulletin Boards.
The photo-hosting sites have mega-storage available .. and numerous of these sites offer unlimited picture storage.

I'd suggest that the ACMOC BOD needs to address the photo-hosting storage level, curly question, on a serious basis, and make a decision, once and for all, on photo storage.
The bandwidth problem is one that has never been fully addressed by the ACMOC BOD, and I'd suggest that they take a poll of ACMOC members, to garner support for increases in BB photo storage .. or for members to offer their opinion of alternatives.
The way I see it, an increase in photo storage within the BB, is likely to cost, and that cost usually has to be passed on to members.

My .02c worth .. that cost you little more, than some time to read ..

That is about the size of it. The BoD has to make the decision that expanding the disk space available for storage and paying for the additional bandwidth requirements is a cost effective investment.

Sometimes when the storage capacity and bandwidth are increased the BBS software becomes unstable so that unknown has to be factored into the decision also.

Outstanding job, Bruce Oz !
This the kind of info we need available on all technical questions.
Thanks again for putting this together.
Respy, CarlsCAT