Toastie

I'd go with @Pdaitabird Whenever I looked into the MILS way of living, I thought: How on earth do they get the funding for that. Nice idea, concept, even working mechanics ... but: How to pay for it? You can look for as many bargain/bulk/whatever deals. At the end of the day you will have to pay - a lot - for the MILS way. But then: Other hobbies are very expensive as well. And: Many, many people here on EB seem to spend a lot of money for their hobby. Which is nice to see and read - but not in my reach. Best Thorsten

Ha! Finally someone admires my superior sorting skills! No. I am a total amateur - never bought tons of bricks - just have my piles ... and then I simply do not care about subtle differences in parts - I am just using them. So when Piqabrick can achieve that for the above average part collectors/sellers/re-sellers/people who care about that: Go for it! I sure hope that this will be a success. Particularly when there is a need. Since it makes sense. That is the most important thing to me. Cross my fingers and all the very best! Thorsten

@Collector245 I believe @ToyInTheAttic said in the first post, that the set is mainly glued together, see below. Best Thorsten

Hee hee. Be careful: I said that once in a lecture at UC Irvine - phew. There were African American folks as well as - well - what are they called (politically correct)? Non-African American folks? Caucasian? Asian? Etc. pp. As if that matters, but when they told me I was Caucasian, I thought sh*t - that is bad ... So much for the political correctness. Now on with the little plastic guns: It >is< business. If it were not: Why don't they call it quits? The more, the better. The thing is: When you point a minifig gun at - lets say - our cat: She'll get you. There will be at least three - maybe four - seizures, seriously bleeding. Not the point though. What I would like to hear from TLG is: Yes, we do sell miniature plastic guns. They will never hurt anyone on this planet, provided you don't eat them in bulk. There are real world mock-ups, and they are part of the real world. Have been in the history of man in the past, today, in the future. That is all there is. I want them to just quit the nonsense talk and get real. Heck, they boldly capitalize on this! And just to make that absolutely sure: I love LEGO. I truly admire the success and creativity of TLG. I believe in the brick. But I don't like to be sh*tted around. That is really all there is! Best Thorsten

Oh sure it was like that. I got my first set in 1965. And then a couple more through 1980 - and then it went dark. As far as I remember there was no violence back then, but I may be wrong. In 1996 there was light again. And then it went off. Yes, that's true. SW is not the future. Actually, it sometimes reminds me of the past. People wearing black ... whatever. Best Thorsten

Your post was very nicely phrased and totally on the spot. I said that somewhere else on EB (in the political correctness discussion): The whole "not supporting violence" story is completely stupid. And makes them look stupid. Why do they not have the guts to put it right? I don't have any problems with that: Buy it or leave it. Kids love weapons of all sorts, maybe boys more than girls, but I am absolutely not sure anymore, not in modern times! It gives them - power. That is "not good" but it is like that. BTW: I can tell for sure that I liked weapons when I was young. I don't anymore, but that is not important. They completely endorse war, violence, shooting etc. ... happening in the past. And in the future. But not today. Sorry. I don't buy it. It is garbage. Just tell the truth. I love LEGO. With weapons or without - it is my choice. But don't tell me any crap. Believe in what you do and then do it and tell it right. Best Thorsten

I am completely - totally - confused. I thought it was not because a kid can watch it - it was because a kid can watch it with some - even barely visible - content appealing to kids. I thought it works like this: Someone gets pissed off - a parent, a lawyer, your dog, cat, or who not. They raise a flag: This video is for kids (regardless of what your intentions were or the contents was, spanning from porn to violence over advanced building for ages +50) because of this, this and that (which has to be decided on in court) >AND< YT was collecting data, all that because >YOU< did not mark it as "for kids" because you did want to make money, talk to old farts only or what not. Now they find out in court that you had a 1x1 black round plate on the table clearly visible, where some adults were doing what they do to ensure survival of the tribe. I thought that was the problem??? If not then I don't see any problem at all here. Because then I can decide on for kids or not. And not my dog. Well, she does not care at all, but I don't know about the two cats. One is watching me right now. I could swear she tries to scratch coppa into the carpet. Oh my. Every day, this world is getting a little more confusing to me. Best Thorsten

Noway is that a problem - I tried, but I could not get a proper emoji like in the comment window. Plus: I am getting adopted by this modern world ... back in the days, it was ;-) wasn't it? Oh well. Tried to be funny but that did not work out, I guess. I was more resorting to this thing: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=24084#T=C&amp;C=77. I am living very close (about 1/2 mile away) to the Neanderthal along with a local museum telling us they actually were not running around all day and killed everything in their way but were rather family oriented and caring. So that thing is less of a club and more of a - well - weapon. But old. Which is good. Because when it is more than 100 years old, it is good. That's what I learned Best Thorsten

I was under the impression that it was considered "for kids" when "for kids" stuff appears in the video. And that LEGO stuff is per definition for kids? Best Thorsten

This. It is so overly cynical that I cannot believe it. "... never support". I have a whole box with LEGO pieces labeled "weapons" including the red 3 stick dynamite accessory. Oh, that is just for blowing holes into the sky and let the sun shine in, I know. This is so much of a lie - I'll never get that. This is the reason why I do not believe at all that business bullsh*t talk they are currently cranking out. Man. Take any freshmen business text book and you will find it right there. LEGO is a truly wonderful toy. Operated by a multi-billion corporate company trying theme parks, clothing, and what not in addition to their little plastic bricks. Why don't they have the guts to just put it right? Cowards. They should get their act together and not talk trash. There are LEGO guns, LEGO cannons, LEGO knifes, swords, sabers ... - their interpretation of a Neanderthal inhabitant has a mace in the hands. To do what? Play the drums? My goodness. Best Thorsten

I truly believe that as well. To be honest: I am instantly losing trust in BL. And TLG. Why on earth did they do that? So prices will go >anywhere< they want because they have a handle? Will there be emails to individual sellers telling them the stuff they sell is too cheap? TLG has behaved recently like very, very big and totally stupid elephants in so many ways - in rather delicate environments. Oh my. No. I don't like that move at all. It gives me the creeps. It may be getting me out of here - as we are not allowed to talk about alternatives. My goodness. Sure. Provided they believe in "we" and not "them". Their recent actions on some folks out there makes me wonder.

Huh? Metric or imperial? When imperial, elaborate a bit on the fractional part: .75 as in 1/16th (or was it 1/12th?) of 2.54 mm Ooops - we are talking LEGO dingsies don't we? So it is 6.75 studs, translating to ... uhmm what is the fraction below 1/12? 1/24? ... love it. (When living in SoCal for some (wonderful) time, I once asked the guy at HomeDepot to cut about 3 m of some irrigation tubing for the backyard - standing right in front of the stuff. He said: We don't sell that kind here - that was (after getting it) really funny and we had some good time talking ... So what about the 6.75? Studdic or what? All the best Thorsten

Telling you what exactly? Best Thorsten

Damn - missed that All the best! Thorsten

Woah! Capitalism? So this forum is a closed-shell, non-competition, socialist, 5-year plan environment? With The Masters shuffling it all out? Sometimes I remotely do get that feeling here - when the speculations (count the topics) are going crazy about what "The TLG" will be giving us next. Wait: Here it is: Best, Thorsten

Oh truly yes. I'd put it even differently: Political correctness is - just that. Politics changes - correctness as well. As far as history tells us. I'd go with: Do it or leave it. Whether a movie or movie company makes dying, fighting, getting injured so much easier (albeit it is reality: People die in everyday violence - or in the numerous wars on the planet going on now) or not: Do you take that on or not? It is your choice. The Great Brick War ... Why on earth is that ... happening? When I was a kid, I was building rifles I saw in "Western" movies. "Shot" people and they faked dying. It really depends on time and your perspective. Personally, I'd love to see nothing of that crap using toys. And particularly not using LEGO. It feels sort of ... misplaced. But that is only me. I really don't like movies on YT showing two crashing trains - with XX.X million views. It has been like that and this and that. I know. I find it more intriguing though, when the bricks actually do something or look like something - and are not used to show what is happening when you crash them. With a minifig standing up in the end, claiming that nobody was hurt. For me, it doesn't fit - not in the world and the humongous tasks we are facing. Let's build - but not crash or kill. Just my personal view, not meant to be offensive. Just do what you want. Really. Best; Thorsten

Well, the party of three looks like they are pretty much on ... whatever. What they said means that the boost color sensor has a light emitting device which is controllable - sounds sort of reasonable. Provided the sensor emits IR for color detection - as this is what the PF receivers recognize. Hmm. Best Thorsten

Been there? Well one serious fart may ensure that your control finds >your< server only.

As many, as the BLE protocol can handle, which is close to indefinite, as fart as I can tell from sitting in a public train and virtually everyone present is talking to BLE microphones, listening to BLE earphones, headsets, and gazillion other devices. The thing is, you pair the BLE server (the hub) with a BLE client (the control) on startup. Just make sure, there are not 10 servers waiting for your control to connect. Other than that it is at it is with all your smart devices using Bluetooth LE. Best Thorsten

Well - that can be so many things. However, when it doesn't do anything, then usually power is not going into the pcb. The photographs thought are of help. You said, that you cleaned all contacts and current is going to the pcb. How did you check that? On the pcb? That requires to have the batteries connected. Did you do that? (you can attach the lower part to the battery compartment and work on the pcb top). In this case: There is a blue capacitor (photograph #2, top center). When the batteries are attached, do you have a volt meter to measure the voltage on the two pins of that capacitor? On photograph #2 there is substantial corrosion (lower left corner) on the pcb that connects to the battery supply. Did you take that photograph before or after cleaning? Sorry for asking all these questions, but we need to go one step after the other through this, as I don't know what you already did and what you can do. There is hope! (I will now take apart one of my RCX' and then let you know step by step how we can proceed with this. I'll start with the battery voltage going into the RCX, then will check, what turns actually on when the RCX is turned on). All the best Thorsten

That are a lot of thoughts and efforts you already put into it! So there needs to be a solution as well - this has to work in some way or the other. Another questions: What programming language are you using for the EV3? The linear programming will not work for this project, I believe. In the good ol' RCX world using NQC "start task_name" would - well - start task task_name. When that one is an infinite loop, it runs "in parallel" to the main loop, which was starting the task. In NXT-G (the graphical programming language of TLG for the NXT brick), you just pull another branch from the main branch (symbolized as Technic beams) and you have created a new task. I believe for the EV3 it is similar, but don't know for sure. Or are you using any 3rd party software? As others have mentioned already: I for sure would use the EV3 to control everything. In this thread @Cosmik42 has implemented EV3 support via Bluetooth LE communication for the PoweredUp (Control+) stuff. On page 14 in his version 1.0 the EV3 is integrated. Which means that it is doable. The EV3 -> train motor converter cable is one option to go. All the best Thorsten

Yes: Need pictures. What contacts did you clean ("all" as in getting to the PCB, taking that out?) etc. One issue with not getting RCX' "on" are the four "rubber" type buttons. Clean off the PCB board contacts with some ethanol and a clean piece of cloth. Do the same (carefully) to the carbon black coated rubber contacts (the "keys"). As PM will currently not work for you (you need more posts) - use tbenter(AT)uni-wuppetal.de for sending pics. Best of luck, Thorsten

Yeap. Not only certain types - virtually all do block UV. Unless you have quartz type glass - but you don't. I believe the yellowing etc. does not need UV - temperature and deep blue light or maybe even much of the whole spectrum will do. Just try it out: No sunburn behind windows. It may get very warm but that's it. Best Thorsten

Vimeo also has a standard account. I know that this is nothing for power users like so many here on EB. However, I have 5 (maybe 10) videos on YT - nothing special, no red-hot stuff at all. They are out there though. I am considering deleting my YT account and move on to vimeo. Best Thorsten

Huh? () You are absolutely right on the electronics. On BL "battery boxes" begin to flow in ... 2IO Hubs, 4OI hubs - and average out at €50, which is spot on with your estimate. Well then - look out for the €40 game changer. Best Thorsten