Pulse generator kludge with belts
Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 10:49 am
For situations where the Circuit Network pulse frequency is wavering so the standard simple pulse generator/clock can't be used: A single item on a looping belt with belt content detection in pulse mode in all the 4 segments.

In this example I dropped a single piece of iron on each belt type. It just spins round and round, triggering the belt's item detectors which are set to pulse mode.
Normally the Circuit Network cycles at 60 pulses per second. If it wavers, the belt clocks become more accurate then the circuit network, although their pulse frequency is lower. I've found the following values through testing:
Circuit network normal speed: 60 pulse/sec
Yellow belt, outside loop: 1.62 pulse/sec
Red belt, outside loop: 3.24 pulse/sec
Blue belt, outside loop: 4.87 pulse/sec
Yellow belt, inside loop: 1.35 pulse/sec
Red belt, inside loop: 0.9 pulse/sec
Blue belt, inside loop: 0.45 pulse.sec
So it seems the red belt is double the speed of the standard belt. The blue belt is 3 times the speed. The inside loop of the red belt at 9 pulses is a reasonable approximation of a second, should be sufficient for most "wait a few seconds" kind of timers. It runs slightly fast at 603 / 600 seconds if pulse/9 is set as the timer.
[Edit] Effed up the math again. Corrected values now.

In this example I dropped a single piece of iron on each belt type. It just spins round and round, triggering the belt's item detectors which are set to pulse mode.
Normally the Circuit Network cycles at 60 pulses per second. If it wavers, the belt clocks become more accurate then the circuit network, although their pulse frequency is lower. I've found the following values through testing:
Circuit network normal speed: 60 pulse/sec
Yellow belt, outside loop: 1.62 pulse/sec
Red belt, outside loop: 3.24 pulse/sec
Blue belt, outside loop: 4.87 pulse/sec
Yellow belt, inside loop: 1.35 pulse/sec
Red belt, inside loop: 0.9 pulse/sec
Blue belt, inside loop: 0.45 pulse.sec
So it seems the red belt is double the speed of the standard belt. The blue belt is 3 times the speed. The inside loop of the red belt at 9 pulses is a reasonable approximation of a second, should be sufficient for most "wait a few seconds" kind of timers. It runs slightly fast at 603 / 600 seconds if pulse/9 is set as the timer.
[Edit] Effed up the math again. Corrected values now.