Well gents, I'm out

defcon.klaxon

Lifetime Supporting Member
D
Join Date
Feb 2015
Location
Far NorCal
Posts
616
Hi everyone. Today I gave my two weeks notice. I'm burned out on being on call 24/7/365, dealing with certain clients who are "difficult", and having to travel so much. Thanks for the seven years of all the help, this forum has saved my bacon more times than I can count and I've learned a lot about control theory. Thanks for everything and I wish you all the best.
 
I can certainly understand. Being on the road gets old as does being on call all the time. What's next for you? Be aware that the world of automation and controls does not have a monopoly on difficult clients. If you decide to stay in the controls game, don't be a stranger here.
 
@Steve Bailey and @Maxkling,

I have a professional engineering license (electrical) so I'm going to CalTrans and will do construction inspection. It sounds random but I actually did a very similar job back when I was in college and worked as a student assistant and really enjoyed it. This job would be in the office reviewing plans for constructability and coming up with solutions to problems that come up in the field; also, coordinating the electrical inspectors (though it is not supervisory). They're very flexibile with working from home, and I won't be client facing and won't be on call 24/7/365.

If I ever decide to move around inside CalTrans, there is a big group of ITS (intelligent traffic systems) that would be a little more technically interesting but we'll see.
 
Steve Bailey said:
If you decide to stay in the controls game, don't be a stranger here.
Click to expand...

New job as described in my previous post isn't controls focused, but I do have a Scadapack for personal use so I could help answer questions about Telepace. Unfortunately I won't have access to Logix Studio or InTouch so that knowledge will slowly fade but if there's anything I can to do to help, I'll definitely stick around.
 
I love the work and I love the field. I don't even usually mind the calls, hours or travel. For me it's all in the clients. I've met lovely people that I'd get out of bed at 3am for with a smile, but I've also dealt with people whose head I just want to repeatedly dunk in a toilet.

Good luck in your new career !
 
defcon.klaxon said:
If I ever decide to move around inside CalTrans, there is a big group of ITS (intelligent traffic systems) that would be a little more technically interesting but we'll see.
Click to expand...
That sounds interesting and a challenge. Imagine how much gas you could save if you could make traffic flow just a little bit faster.

Think of those guys in the navy.
 
Please visit often.
I feel your pain. when i was on call, i had to ask questions 8 different ways before i got to what the operators did to the production line.
even those of us that have been here a long time can learn from your experience.
Best of luck with your new career.
james
 
Steve Bailey said:
As a Caltrans employee you could be the resident expert on traffic lights.
Click to expand...

So it's very interesting you mention this! Here's the thing. CalTrans uses a traffic light controller that is very old, but VERY solid. Makes sense, that it's 30 years old. It's called a McCain 2070 and I was told many years ago "if anyone has a solid understanding of the McCain, they're a really solid programmer". The CPU is a Motorola 6800 (NOT a 68000) and if anyone gets a solid knowledge of how these things work, you'll be a highly desired SME. That's essentially what I would like to do. Far from ladder logic, but my goal is to get into the world of traffic controllers and get CalTrans into the 21st century with smart code and make it more efficient. I doubt many have this passion and I want to take the reins. Make a name for myself.
 
James Mcquade said:
Please visit often.
I feel your pain. when i was on call, i had to ask questions 8 different ways before i got to what the operators did to the production line.
even those of us that have been here a long time can learn from your experience.
Best of luck with your new career.
james
Click to expand...

Thank you James. I'd love to stick around and help out however I can, even if my experience is basically Scadapacks, ControlLogix/CompactLogix PLCs, and InTouch. Those are still my passions.
 
Do stick around, I'm retired so only have a couple of platforms to work with & obviously as time marches on systems change, but you can still help others, even producing coding ideas in other platforms can help other posters after all, the logic does not vary that much & can give them the basics of a particular coding idea.
 
Originally posted by defcon.klaxon:

I'd love to stick around and help out however I can, even if my experience is basically Scadapacks, ControlLogix/CompactLogix PLCs, and InTouch.
Click to expand...

I will always default to a point Peter Nachtwey has made several times. Programming platforms are just tools. the hard part is NOT knowing how to operate the tool. The hard part is how to effectively utilize the tool. Utilization is platform independent...within reason.

Your experience and fundamental knowledge are where your value is, not in the development environments you can operate in.

Keith
 
Since you stated motorola 6800, see if you can find a heathkit cpu programming board. that's what i learned to program at UTM.
i'll see if i can dig up my old manuals. they are in the attic, somewhere.
i will say this, there is a trick to clearing certain registers, i think you have to move the value to another location, then read the location to clear it.
james
 
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