Toastie

Well grey is grey and thus grim but more like "real". Bley is bley and not grim and thus not like real. Never saw not grim bare concrete, did you? Best Thorsten Merde - forgot: Lead and grey - Lead can do bright white, orange-yellow and some weird mixtures. So it may be tough to make grey with Lead.

@collectormania - plus the "plan" should read "plain" - my goodness, that was so badly phrased and written. Sorry again for the confusion. Now, I believe that when you want to go the Arduino route (located on the engines or driving the switches), then you should find someone capable of programming the BLE stack of the Arduino to comply with the LEGO Wireless Protocol. That could be a rather restricted subset of commands, requests, etc. you need to handle; after all you most probably want to send out motor commands and/or receive sensor readings. Once your Arduino mimics the service(s) etc. of e.g. the LEGO BLE device called "Hub", which has 2 I/O ports, signing up etc. should be possible using built in routines - but I surely don't know. Thing is this way you would not need to alter things at both ends (Arduino and BAP). Best Thorsten @Walt White Bit late to the game. In any case - I believe that some averaging is a good idea to get a more stable reading - the battery level won't change that fast - without load that is. With changing load and not fully loaded batteries (or rechargeables) things will turn far less "stable" though as the clamp voltage will become a pronounced function of the load. It can be viewed (in principle only) as an increasing internal resistance of the battery with drainage. Also, different battery types have different clamp voltage/drawn current responses. I believe your approach is the only viable here - and perfectly suited for the case! All the best Thorsten

But why wouldn't they do it? It should be there!!! Best Thorsten

Wow! These are surely some parties! After the Corona stuff of course. Very nice bridges and very cool idea. It bet your guests love this. Best, Thorsten

"food cell" I love micro scale. Best Thorsten

Heehee - cool. But I believe everything under the body can rust, right? So maybe on the floor there should be more brownish colors That is a very nice barn!!! So many lovely details inside ... and the exterior is perfectly weathered as well - the flowers ... beautiful. Congratulations on such a lovely model! All the best Thorsten P.S.: Wait: Does this work? @Eurobricks (Yesssss): This is very much frontpage worthy!

USS Donald J Trump ... and Col. J.D. Smith with a weapon - now that's some bold approach to land on an Earth-like planet. I know: There may be bad guys. But it is a very nice model. I love micro scale. I believe it is the most inspiring way of building. With all the fun. As they said over in the Technic Forum: The larger the scale, the more "responsible" it gets But why do you need the pack of fuel cells for electricity generation off from a fuel and e.g. the oxidizer you need to store in good amounts? 24 years is quite some time. Plus the folks in there are riding a fusion reactor. That means you have electricity available at infinite amounts - for ages ... I'd say make them into bio-food-production units. Then the people have also something to eat on their journey. Best Thorsten

Same here: Why is that happening? There are good number of posts of members branded with that "banned" thing. Best Thorsten

I am sorry: What I wanted to say is that any LEGO motor, preferentially a PF-M motor (#8883 - about $9) will do, as you can use a very compact switch drive design. The LEGO servos are much more expensive (about $25). But as you are using 4DBrix equipment, it is a different story. Best Thorsten

I believe BAP has means of knowing in what track section (you are defining) a train is. This is what I understood. But there are many folks here you know better. I believe @Lok24 does a lot of automation as well as many others. Yes, the BLE stuff and the Arduino nanos are really nice. I am not sure why you want to use a servo for the switch drives. It is elegant but again maybe too expensive? A plan vanilla motor will also do. This is amply discussed in another thread here on EB. Have fun! Best Thorsten

That's the thing. However, in pure train operation, many of the LWP 3 protocol things are not necessary. Best Thorsten

Well, I believe some control their trains with Arduino based on-board hardware, e.g., instead of using old school PF. I believe that was mainly driven by the limited address/channel range PF has (8 and when you use your own software 16). But I never tried that, pure speculation here. Also, Arduino hardware is readily prepared to go RF, which could be another motivation. Best Thorsten

I believe @collectormania meant to control an Arduino based server with the BAP (client) software. When that is the case: The Arduino based server needs BLE hardware and a BLE software stack and some programming but should be possible. Best Thorsten

Absolutely true. I believe it has a major impact on the fall out of events like this. Elections. Being apparently in control. When they do it we have to do it and even better - all that utter crap. I am following this closely in Germany - there is now a pissing contest on which state announces curfew first - you know, we'll "get" a new chancellor next year. It is all so crazy. And the means of getting every bit of electronic trash into every mobile phone on this planet. Which is in principle a good thing. As long as people behave responsibly. Well. Assemble 50 people and chances are, things may turn ugly - after they were told that the toilet paper industry crashed because of aliens that infused an unknown virus into the toilet paper making machine computers. Some will believe it. The alien bit. That's the Black swan theory, isn't it? Nice read on wikipedia. All the best! Thorsten

Economic? Yes. Civilisational? Well, maybe. Time will tell. When you go through the "plagues" of the past, and you go way back - it depends on what you take as measure. Is it dramatic economic loss, the crash of a totally overheated, completely bubble based "economy" - with all the fall out for billions of people? Then: Yes. It is. But only because we are living in mass hysterical times. And within a trade/economic system that is sick. Every time there are hick-ups in this system - it freaks out. When the going gets tough, this system becomes immediately worthless. And all, really all people, want the government to take over. Man. Capitalism works beautifully well when all is "good" (heck THAT is cynical); but where are all these stock exchange super power players NOW? When it comes to death toll - sorry. I cannot follow that path. Not with the death toll, the populations on this planet are causing every single day - without any and all hesitation. I cannot. But what do I know. Logic, that is for sure, is not around these days. Best Thorsten I cannot agree more. But this means that we get used to the threat of SARS-CoV-2, that we accept what happens and may become worse. China is apparently over it. Do you really believe that? To me that is utter nonsense. Who found the switch to turn off SARS-CoV-2? Nobody. They are willing to take the tough route. That is my take. Because when they don't, all that economic glory over there will vanish and one billion people will soon become insane. Even in a country that is under dictatorship, such a scenario is unthinkable. That is what I believe. Best Thorsten

Merde - that did not work: I tried to quote a quote you quoted - so above is what I wrote earlier and not @Mylenium! Well, I believe you misunderstood that - it was phrased crappy anyways. Sorry for that. With "coming to grips" I meant: Get our apparently so advanced home sapiens sapiens head around the fact that a) viruses have been, are, and will be there for the existence of earth, causing regularly epi- and pandemics b) that homo sapiens sapiens will of course try (and is able to!) to generate serums faster and faster (I mean, honestly, 100 years ago, next to nothing was known about "them", today, we can produce a serum for mass vaccination within a year, make that two. RNA known to the last bit in the amino acid sequence, functionality unraveled, synthesis done, and at least with some degree of certainty, sure that is does not only kill the virus but the host as well, and produce that stuff - for the wealthy of course) most importantly: Homo sapiens sapiens does not completely >freak out< each time a new virus apparently conquers the world. Instead of: Get used to the presence of SARS-CoV-2. So far we got - as it seems to me - very comfortably used to the presence of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and the HCOV varieties. And the very same is true for Influenza A/HxHy viruses. Wikipedia knows: "Influenza spreads around the world in yearly outbreaks, resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness and about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. About 20% of unvaccinated children and 10% of unvaccinated adults are infected each year. In the northern and southern parts of the world, outbreaks occur mainly in the winter, while around the equator, outbreaks may occur at any time of the year". That's all I meant. Believe me, I know what the loss of a life means. I feel that I have experienced that too often in my own circle of life - regarding loved ones way younger than I am. But what I really can't get into my head is this complete and utter loss of internal integrity and logic. In the end, whenever that is, we will get used to SARS-CoV-2 as well. For sure. And I sure hope earlier than later. When it continues as it does know, the collateral damage will be (or is already) much larger than what would have happened without all the craziness. And finally: We have to follow "the daily changing new rules" - of course we have to. Everything else would mean anarchy - and nobody wants that. My entire research group + other personnel I have to take care of are in home-office since last Friday - that was days before it was mandated by the higher university authorities. (Why? Because we often work with exponential functions and b) because I pretty much remembered what happened when Influenza A/H1N1 was bringing the world to a wood be grinding halt. From the present perspective, it looked - well - small. But even "back then" it was interpreted by many as the end of the world). However, that little extra time made that "relocation" very, very smooth. We had fun actually in arranging all what was necessary. Best Thorsten Same here. With your serious health condition, you have naturally an even way more distinct perspective on what is going on right now. But yes, I do the same. Not because others are in harm or are hurt badly by all that, as @Brandon Pea interpreted that part of your post, but rather from the perspective of the world of hybris homo sapiens sapiens is living in the western world. We think we have it all and can do what ever comes to mind, but we are dwarfed by our own craziness. Best Thorsten

Heehee - I like to be an a**hole: Covid-19 is the name of the disease. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus. Corona is a beer. So when you suffer from Corona, you most probably have a serious hang-over. Best Thorsten And that is very true. Hope all is well! Best wishes, Thorsten

Does the government also check on the credibility of the "possible" bit or is that up to the "creativity" of your employer? This is what it is in Germany right now. Find a creative way to stay home and we will (at least partly) compensate the company. Best Thorsten

They don't even have >any< other option. Nice read, but this is what >every< company, school, university, flower shop ... is doing right now. >Has to< do right now. Whether they will survive that one (financially!!!) is not of concern, as they will be shut down by police and would be better people anyways. Maybe not today, but surely the coming days. Exponential functions, once you have got a grasp on them, are always full of surprise: Woah: I didn't see that one coming (Knife! ... Does anyone remember these hilarious movies? I love them). We are in full swing of mass hysteria. I believe it is much less of a great gesture. It is what they >have< to do to not look greedy or not-caring. Every single "entity" is doing this right now on this planet. For whatever reason and with what fall-out does simply not count anymore. Do it or see the shitstorm coming - right in your face. Oh ... the governments of all affected countries are now throwing >infinite< amounts of money into "the system". Nice move. You know what? I'd love to see that during less crazy times as well. But you know what? In these less crazy times you are called a not-knowing-anthing-about-the-market idiot. Or socialist. Maybe even voting green. Oh well, good times now: All hell breaks loose and all of a sudden survival of the fittest, competition, only the best, all that crap is - on halt. Now we want solidarity ... and when its over ... Woohooo! Best Thorsten

It happens every single year - just with Influenza A H1/H2/H3 - of which we get every 15 years or so pandemic scales. Yes they are fast - but our responses with serums as well. SARS-CoV-2 is new - we'll need a year or so. Once that is done: Just watch the new forms, make new serums (they are not that different from each other) - and wait for the next new one to hit hard. It is called the circle of life. Regarding our understanding and tools we are pretty much very well prepared. From or mindset and our social capabilities, we are - well - still 100k years behind. Best Thorsten

When - and I sure and desperately hope that we come to grips with that >way earlier< - that is the case, the impact for LEGO does simply not matter at all. When we still freak out that long - and I truly doubt that - than many of us will have other fish to fry than putting little plastic bricks on top of each other - or - when you are a SNOT genius - sideways or even upside down. But: I think the mass hysteria media will lose interest way earlier - and the mass hysteria addicts we do as well. Man. The summer will be hot and some tens of million of climate displacement people will be underway next season. We do have real problems. Not just Black Swan stuff. Best Thorsten

That it is, Black Swan Theory type thing. Royally. Big time. This ever-increasing mass hysterical population on this planet will eventually take care of itself. It is beyond any logic, any rational, any thinking. It is the pure fear. And it has propelled itself - as the theory predicts - into mass hysteria. I know: Every time someone says something like that, either a shitstorm breaks loose or "utter cynicism" is charged. Just for starters, look up influenza and death/infection rate - for each repeating year, for decades now. And then do count in all that what we do >not< know for the SARS-CoV-2. And then what we do know. And then statistics. And don't be shy. In the influenza season 2017/18, 25000 people died in Germany alone from that disease. Almost 10% of the population was infected. >Nobody< cared - no single event happened. Why? We're used to it. So some die, it seems - at least to me. Yes, they have developed a serum. They do it any single season, as the virus changes all the time. So there is SARS-CoV-2 now. No serum. Infection rate five times higher than influenza. Death toll most probably the same - do your own research. The Chinese put their analysis on-line. What is this all about? The fear that the medical systems will collapse. Not that we will get infected. Too many at the same time. The infection ratio will probably reach 50% of a population. You know, it is good to know that 50% of the infected don't even realize that. As they are saying publicly. I am asking myself: Is it worth to do what "we" do now? I am very curious what the suicide rate will be in the common months. What the criminal acts rate - particularly when you have guns for free at your disposal - will be. Do we count that in? The stock exchanges - another Black Swan Theory Breed - currently completely freaks out. It seems that every entity in charge freaks out completely. Based on the death toll? Never ever. There more orders of magnitudes more deaths today NOT caused by SARS-CoV-2. But we are used to that. My take: Get used to it. AND THINK. Lastly: About that thinking: In Germany, toilet paper is usually gone in the late hours. The fill it up every morning. How much sh*t must be around these days ... All the best and look forward to getting used to it Thorsten

To get something to drink and eat, right? Things are getting a little tight at least in Germany - availability of LEGO bricks are of very, very little concern the coming weeks. Best Thorsten

Heehee. I can't distinguish any of those from each other ... see, I usually put pinkish or whatever color that is into the grey bin - and just notice that something is weird/funny, wehn people look and me and ask whether "it " is on purpose. I am getting the "it" bit quite swiftly nowadays. Cool that you guys can see all that. I am fin with the bold colors. Best - and enjoy the curry-ish yellow with a slightly tint of ... ! Thorsten

In my opinion: No. That forum is more about technicalities, as far as I am concerned. This discussion is very closely tied to the philosophy of LEGO - and the options to communicate the various individual interpretations of that philosophy - including our own. A forum is so much better suited for that - provided that there are defined rules - and moderation. Moderation geared towards the goal of educated communication. That is my take only of course. Best wishes Thorsten