I have a Samsung, if you have a PS4, do not buy a Samsung.

Colp… That’s Austria? If its the one I’m thinking of, there are a bunch of dodgy jumps/gaps there. The landing on that one does not look nice, you could really send it and do some proper damage!

With drops I have no idea what I do anymore! Close my eyes, hope for the best and then pretend I’m a cool guy when I land it. I certainly don’t lean back, body in a neutral position so the front doesn’t dive and the rear lands at same time as front. As someone else has said, speed helps hide a multitude of sins!

If you are into tinkering, then squeezeboxes & LMS are being kept alive with the Raspberry Pi community and PiCorePlayer. I have a few that are plugged into a few sets of old logitech computer speakers and then a couple with half decent DACS hooked up to the proper HiFi’s. They all have BT, Airplay, WiFi and can do a million things more than you wanted it to. They also stream from the device, rather than using your phone, unless you are using Airplay or Bt. Works very similar to Sonos, but with a few more bugs. It is extremely cheap in comparison to Sonos.

If I was to think about this before building a new house… I would probably go with speakers in ceiling, run speaker wires to a room that houses the Amps/Pi’s/etc.

I do run 2 seperate wireless networks, one for smart devices/audio dev/video dev and another for wireless devices/phones/pads/pc’s, this works well and I don’t have any problems with dodgy WiFi… Until a neighbor changes their WiFi channel!

I’ve tried some cheap bulbs over the years and none of those were bright enough, the Hue bulbs are definitely bright enough for a room. I was quiet impressed with the brightness.

I use daylight bulbs quite a lot and previously screwed/unscrewed bulbs in/out depending if I wanted a warm or cool light. I can now just change the temperature of the colour just by asking Alexa, or I can have it change automatically based on light levels or time of sunset. Also now have a couple of lights setup so they turn on in the morning and turn off when I go to work and a few others that turn on before sunset. I’ll buy a motion/light sensor so it can turn on when it goes below a light level.

The possibilities are nearly endless, you can setup a routine so that if your SO rings your mobile, you can get the lights to flash a certain colour, or maybe just set a timer and have the lights flash when it hits 0.. The hardest part is thinking of what is actually going to be useful.

Hue Disco App…

Is it actually any good!?? Honestly interested, I want to re-live the 90’s again! ;-)

Are there any particular advantages or pitfalls to choosing the hub over the echo?

I might be wrong, but unless the echo has the Philips hub built in, like the Echo plus, you will need a Philips hub to do any smart things with the lights, like setting timers/wake/sleep/etc. I think you can turn lights on and things without a hub, but smart features won’t work as you don’t have a hub that makes it smart.

For an extra £10 you can get it with the Echo Dot 3rd Gen

Wow this thread (previous page at least) just seems to be a bunch of grumpy old men whinging about technology/privacy. I was hoping for some tips n tricks for Alexa.

I have an Echo Dot & Philips Hue system arriving today. Hopefully I’ll be able to automate some of the lights, so they come on before I get home and turn on certain lights when we’re not home. I’ve ordered a new LED strip controller so I’ll be able to add that to the Hue system too.

I’ll be having a play with the system this weekend, as I know you can set a timer and have the lights blink. I’m trying to think of a real world use… Maybe have the lights blink red when another person gets home, I’m struggling for an automated use.

Obviously I’ll be doing the standard stuff with Hue, set moods/groups. Turning off lights at night, having bedroom lights increase in brightness in the morning. Get the bulbs to turn to a warm white at night and have a few automated for movement & light level.

I have a few things I want to try, restarting my server can be a pain, no screen or keyboard, so I will try and get Alexa to do that. Apparently Alexa can work with Plex too, which might be handy as the app seems quite slow on the TV. Hopefully I can get Alexa to work with my 3D printer, it currently messages me when it’s finished or there is an error, but it would be nice if it sounded this out through Alexa as I generally don’t have my phone with me around the house.

Hopefully with the Harmony Hub that I’ve never used, I’ll add commands to turn on the TV/Amp and set volume, mode, etc. Eg. “Alexa Blackout mode”… dim living room lights, turn on TV & amp, change amp to game mode and set volume, not sure it can turn on the PS4. Hopefully I’ll also be able to add something “Alexa set TV to night mode” which will reduce the screen brightness, turn the colour to a warm white, etc”. I may be able to automate some of these tasks, so in the morning it turns it back to daytime colours/brightness/etc and then I can manually enable night mode.

Got loads to try, most of it not essential, but definitely easier than me pressing a million buttons a night trying to set it, thinking to myself “why can i not automate this with something like a macro, in 2018 it should be possible”. Maybe it is now ;-)

Any other SLA or other technology printers worth looking at? Don’t really want to go down the older, extruder style tech route unless there’s a more pro-level machine that needs less sodding about, finishing, etc?

Have a look at SLS printers, but you won’t find one for home/desktop use. SLA looks messy as I think you have to soak the object in a fluid after its printed.

Made a quick release jig for sharpening some cylinders on a lathe, it worked well, better than I expected.

Noticed the Creality printers seem quite cheap atm through HDUK.

Currently building up the courage to strip down my machine down, replace the cheap bearings and rods with more precise items, but it seems quite daunting!

I did a week in Solden at the end of September, flew in to Innsbruck from Brizzle, they were flying every other day. TBH it was too late in the season, most restaurants and all the strip clubs were closed, Giglojoch lift was closed too. Meaning the only trails that were lift accessible were Teare, a blue and a black and a couple of off piste ones, did notice quite a few “no bike” signs about.

Despite this, I would recommend this place for the future. They are doing a lot of work, hence why the Giglijoch lift was closed. They are cutting new trails in and there was a lovely flow line that was bedding in. We will be going back in a couple of years.

We stayed in a place called Haronmie in Innerwald, just up from the main village/town. It was a self catered apartment, rooms were very big, even had a bean to cup coffee machine, kitchen was very new and the view was awesome. We would stay here again.

You will want 60fps minimum for Sim Racing, anything less is a real struggle, I didn’t think it would be until I tried 30 vs 60fps, so much easier to place the car. I use a TV too, but you may need a beefy GFX card for 4k @ 60fps, such as the 1080ti or 2080 which is more than your budget. If running at 1080 you should be able to get away with a cheaper GFX card. I too was interested in VR racing on the PC, but the cost of GFX cards for VR are way too expensive, once you add the cost of the headset/etc. In the end I bought the PSVR and GT Sport which keeps my VR need at bay. A couple of laps of Nordeschleife in an F40 and I’m happy.

I highly recommend building a simrig for your wheel. RaceDepartment is a good resource for simrigs/tactle transducers/wind generators/PC stuff. Here is my build thread of my sim rig.

I’ve had my Retropie for a few years now! It gets its annual dusting off over Christmas for a bit of nostalgia.

I have the NES Case:

Modified so the power button works properly.

I have the usual console games, along with a bunch of MAME arcade games. Managed to get Super Mario War, Quake, Darkplaces, Doom, Wolfenstein, Duke Nukem, Dune, all working now and probably a bunch more I can’t remember. I find the Steamlink quite handy, last year I think I installed emulators on and linked it with Steam and played them through the Steamlink.

My advice for anyone building one of these sytems, is do not add 1000’s of games, just stick with the ones you remember. You get bored pretty quickly when you’re constantly opening and closing really shit games.

I can’t remember the video plugins I use, but I think it was a smoother and some scanlines. I may update it this weekend, ready for Winter.

4K gaming monitor is going to be very expensive. Buy a TV with 4K/HDR with a low input lag time. I use a Samsung 40″ cheap 4K/HDR TV for gaming (FPS & Driving) and PC work. When he upgrades the console, the TV will be able to show the higher resolution 4/HDR image.

As someone else above has said, being on a wired network connection rather than WiFi will make a much bigger difference than any TV/Monitor ever will.

Shhhhhh!!!

Yea the download is quite big! I think it was an 80gb download including the update.

I much prefer this blackops without the jetpacks over the WW2 and the previous AW COD’s.

This is the first time I’ve played a Battle Royale style game, didn’t think I would enjoy it… Really like it! It is so much better playing with friends and chat. I can actually get in the top 5 sometimes!

I’m glad they got rid on the single player, hardly anyone played it and it was pretty boring, even with the difficulty turned up. Besides there are much better single player games than any COD.

There are loads of Speigen XS Max cases on Amazon with next day delivery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=iphone+xs+max+case

Whatever you get, make sure it has decent security as a lot are very easy to hack/obtain passwords/view.

The ceramic coatings work wonders for keeping scratches at bay. If you already have scratches, you will need it cleaned, clayed, machine polished and then you can apply the ceramic coating. All that work is not going to be cheap, unless you do it yourself, but that may take a full day.

What is a small change? 2 psi? When running low pressures, 14-20 psi, then yes I can notice 2psi difference. I cannot notice 1-2psi difference with the thumb test though.

I would recommend a PS4, GT Sport & G29 Wheel & Pedals for ultimate immersion.. For the price you won’t get much better, without spending £3k+ on a PC gaming rig.

Here’s my incomplete simrig..

I don’t have a photo of it complete with wheel, pedals, tactile transducers, VR, etc as I’m too busy enjoying it! ;-)

Sounds like separation anxiety, which is common in older dogs especially if they are going deaf or blind. DAP might help.

Does anyone have the measurement from seat collar to bottom of post including actuator?

I currently have a 150mm Reverb Stealth, but 2″ of post sticks out the seat collar (after removing the thingamajic), so I can’t slam it down and be cool as ****.  ;-)

My shock was packing down over the rough stuff. I sped up rebound and made the compression harder.

Here’s my X2 settings:

148psi

HSC 8 Clicks Clockwise

HSR 5

LSR 6

LSC 8

I was there on Friday and loved it. It’s not that rocky, your tyres should be fine, mainly fast, flowy with tables, step ups, step downs and gaps, if you’re brave.

I would say stay off Bomper (new trail with big drops and gaps), Full Moto (40ft gaps) and Tidy Darts (think BMX style jumps). I think everything else is fair game, take it easy on first red/black run, there are a couple of doubles that can catch you out… I think it was Ninja Alley and another one on a straight bit, possibly on Moto where there are 3 jumps. If you only just clear the first two, you won’t clear the last. The blacks really do seem quite tame, unless its a jump trail! ;-)

Pretty similar.

155lb

3 spacers

148psi / 30% sag when sat on saddle

I used a ShockWiz on Friday and it had me speed up LSC/HSC/LSR/HSR which made the shock handle the chatter a lot better. It also doesn’t bottom out as much anymore.

… will see how I feel when I hit the M50 as to whether I go the extra to cwmcarn.

Cwmcarn might be extremely hot at the moment, not sure if its open.

Wingbars and Thule Thruride 565 here.

Wingbars are great, look good, low profile, not much wind noise.

ThruRide 565 is ok.. I like the idea, it just wasn’t executed very well. Clamp marks/damages thru axles. Seems to be a bit more side to side play than the previous OutRide 561. Bikes wobble side to side a bit more than I would like.

BMCC gets my vote, not been, but someone on here posted a video and it looked awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Abs-U55P4&t=

Do I replace like for like or go with the cheaper normal pads? I can buy almost four sets of these for the price of two finned.

I would buy OEM pads, they have always lasted longer for me, whether it’s SRAM/Hope/Shimano brakes. For example, friends were replacing their pads (SS & Uber) every week, I am still on my original pads after 5 weeks in Whistler. I don’t know why, but I seem to go easy on pads, but have never had a set last this long.

Does the Ice-Tech stuff work… I would say it does. The only times I have overheated my brakes is following slower riders down very long decents. Pila > Aosta springs to mind. I haven’t overheated my Ice-Tech setup yet, nor has the bite point changed, which is usually the first indicator that things are getting hot, but I haven’t done Pila > Aosta in a slow train yet, but have followed some slow riders down some awesome long descents.

Create positive air pressure in the house. You’ll need a carbon scrubber (filters out the smells) and an inline fan. It is what some growers do to contain the smell to a room in a house. But it sounds like your house is full of holes, so it might not work well.

Where I previously lived it was every other house smoked it. You could only smell it if the wind was in a certain direction and you were stood outside. Are you sure they are smoking it and not growing it as well? That creates a very pungent smell. ;-)

I have a set of LB carbon rims, had them for nearly 2 years now. I run stupidly low pressures, I only pump them up if I feel the rim hit a few things. 5 weeks in Whistler and they were still straight, despite dinging the rim on some trails. Still straight, no cracks and only a couple of rock strike scratches. They are definitely stronger than the Aluminium rims I had, they would be dented from low pressure/rocks.

I would definitely buy Carbon rims again.

The 0.05mm is the layer height and printing at that resolution will take ages. It will take twice as long as 0.1mm height, which is generally fine for most things with fine details. 0.2mm height will be 4 times faster than 0.05mm height. Remember the width of the nozzle will always be 0.4/0.5mm

You are correct it does have an all in one bit of software.. When has an all in one ever been better than specific programs/devices. Most of these bits of software are free, so it’s not like you are paying for 2 bits of specific software.

The best way to learn all this is to buy a printer.

3D prototype printing with no prior CAD/CAM or 3D printing experience. That is going to be a steep learning curve! Depending on how accurate you want the prints to be, it may take you a lot of fiddling with settings, etc to get them spot on.

That being said, we all started somewhere, not knowing a lot. You won’t be able to print a top cap bolt accurately though. I don’t know if that 3D printer is any good, I have heard good things about the Creality CR series, there are a few on here that have them.

Waterpump Guide for 130i

Basically jack up high, remove under trays, lower ARB out the way and PS lines. Pretty easy, very fiddly getting hoses back on. Bleeding is press a button, hold accelerator for 10s, make a cuppa tea, drink and it’s done. Check level once it’s cooled and top up. Clear code on the ECU.

https://youtu.be/o-

You’ll need, waterpump, WP bolts as they aluminium and one use only.

Thermostat, as you have to remove WP to get to it.

BMW Coolant & Di-Ionized water

Go onto RealOEM to find out the part numbers for the things you break while dismantling 😉

i like the ST’s, it’s just the repstation 😉

Oh Gawd, Must be the ST then ;-)

Jeez, I think there should be a 130i thread on here. ;-)

My waterpump went a couple of weeks ago too! It went at 80k, which is ok, as I was going to replace it this year. Just had to replace it a few months sooner than I was hoping! Luckily its quite an easy job to replace. I have only ever seen one other 130i while out on the road, and it was the same damn colour!

m135i?

and where’s the photo’s!? ;-)

If you think of them as 3 cylinder 1L engines, they are pretty quick. Will hold speed uphill, maybe not 4 up and fully loaded though, not tried it! Not great MPG when you’re on full throttle either.

As above, a test drive with loaded car would be recommended.

I swear STW is the new PH. OR maybe the old PH as there are loads of threads on the EcoBoost.

Errr… Depending on the age of the Mobo, guessing its old as its XP, you may have to enable or disable the on-board graphics card in the BIOS. Had the same thing with an old server recently.

I would check your BIOS settings, you may need to enable your on-board graphics.

Looks like PCI-E x16, which is standard with pooters. You can probably pick up something brand new for £30.

Mrs had a 130i terrible car imo ive driven a fair few performance cars and that thing was bad… Emgine too heavy for a small car turn in was abysmal and id have my pal in his mk5 gti up my backside down the lanes. Only on the straights did it decide to shine but still other cars still kept up.

Heavy Engine!?? You must be kidding, its pretty light, being a Magnesium Alloy. Turn in isn’t great as standard, add some camber and it turns in very well. 50/50 weight distribution also helps, the whole car is 50kg more than a Z4C. Not a car I would choose with 2 kids, but I guess it depends how much luggage, age of kids, etc. Although they are pretty cheap, especially if you don’t want all the gadgetry. If it helps, I can fit 2x 29’ers inside with the wheels off and seats down.

BTW: It’s defo a “yob” car, if I had a pound for every driver that insisted on pushing me along the road… I would have enough to pay for the waterpump that has just gone! ;-)