Episode 39 - Dash Darn It!

Forsh · Senior Member

Episode 39 - Dash Darn It!

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Forsh wrote:
Well it seems like we'll have to wait till the next episode to see the fancy gauges with Richards new found Arduino skills and 3D printed circuit boards
No doubt they do it in way to be suitably understandable for the masses whilst being adequately nerdy with a sprinkling of BOM humour!

or Episode 39 - "We build a wider trailer!"

Dash or Trailer, either one is fine with me! Although I am VERY curious about the PC Boards.

GRC

Grandell · Member

I'm curious too, especially to find out why they would go to all the trouble of printing their own boards when there are companies online that already do this.

Possibly because this is a one-off, or maybe because of the size? Or just the ability to change design on the fly without having to wait? Guess we'll have to wait and see

Kirk · Senior Member

Grandell wrote:
... without having to wait? ...

Yes, they do seem to be in a great hurry to progress this project.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

I'm feeling like the "Maytag repairman" lately. :(

I'm the only Moderator on a forum where someone put up a spam (Dreefter!!!!!) post 11 days ago, and nobody has messaged me to take it down yet. (FWIW, It's gone. I swatted it.)

It appears that no other (formerly active) members have been here in a while.

bmwmaniac · Veteran Member

Slowly giving up on this whole project binky thing,

Forums have died along time ago anyway

Kirk · Senior Member

Forums live and die by their content and in this case, there is very little to discuss, hence the apparent death. For whatever reason (presumably traffic), Richard seems to post content to Xwitter and never here; All we've had recently is a picture of a blow torch that he plans to use to restore colour to interior plastics.

It's a real shame, as ALL the projects were interesting and the videos were exceptional. Perhaps they just got sick of every man and his dog typing "Bracket" in reaction to any post they published? I just feel a bit of a pilchard posting replies to myself here all the time, so I stopped.

Maybe the smart move would be for them to remove this forum and direct everyone to other platforms?

PS/ Wouldn't it be nice to see the state of the dash? Wonder if anything's happened to the Cargo? Did they ever find bits for the MG? (passed a red one on the M42 the other day).

Kirk · Senior Member

Judging by Twixer, we appear to be in danger of a Binky episode.
Quick, everyone: hide!

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
Judging by Twixer, we appear to be in danger of a Binky episode.
Quick, everyone: hide!

Based on the Twixer post, I'm not expecting much more than the last episode.

Kirk · Senior Member

Blimey GRC - that's sounding quite down on the whole thing. Almost like you have the job of moderating the quietest forum on the internet (not counting the spam) without even the support of the stars of the show...
I genuinely believe that Nik and Rich will finish this thing well before fusion reactors are in every home. The final reveal video will probably be a hologram.

Always look on the bright side of life!

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
Blimey GRC - that's sounding quite down on the whole thing. Almost like you have the job of moderating the quietest forum on the internet (not counting the spam) without even the support of the stars of the show...
I genuinely believe that Nik and Rich will finish this thing well before fusion reactors are in every home. The final reveal video will probably be a hologram.

Always look on the bright side of life!

It's an unpaid position too, not even tea & biscuits!

Dave Fleet · Member

The absence of either Nik or Rich from a board associated with THEIR OWN WEBSITE suggests that they aren't doing anything with the Mini. A real disappointment as a couple of years ago people were keen to follow progress. They've squandered the goodwill - when the patreon subs dry up it'll be game over.

Kirk · Senior Member

I think that that is a bit of a leap, Dave. Rich continues to drop the occasional nugget on to his Xitter page that suggests that work continues, albeit at a reduced rate as compared with the past. It does seem a little curious that he doesn't duplicate the posts here, but I guess the simple truth is that there are orders of magnitude more people on that platform than this. A missed opportunity, nevertheless.

Dave Fleet · Member

I admire your optimism Kirk, but when did either Nik or Rich actually put anything out regarding the Mini? There was a video in April this year, but nothing since - and the video before that was in 2021.

Forsh · Senior Member

I guess at the end of the day they are car men with a successful business and despite their undoubted talent for it they are not out and out YouTubers

I'll still wait with baited breath for the next instalment but it is what it is

Get my fixes from Retropower Cars vids & Mat Armstrongs builds and rust repair fix form Yorkshire Car Restoration's coverage of MA's E24 635CSi

Can't get over no tea & bickies for GCR though!

smile

Kirk · Senior Member

@Rich/Nik: I'm seriously thinking of going on strike and not posting again until GRC gets a decent mug of tea and a whole pack of classic caramel digestives. Let this be nearly your last warning! Probably.

@Forsh: With you on those, though I haven't come across Yorkshire Car Restoration and, although I love his boundless enthusiasm, Mat sometimes scares me when he starts hitting gearboxes with hammers.

Forsh · Senior Member

Classic Caramel digestives or chocolate Hobnobs? that is the question!

Yeh Mat does get a little giddy at times - love that he does what he wants coz they're his cars, his taste in mods can be a little marmite but so what?

MA 635CSi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MszGH-QR1M

YCR 635CSi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdLwd7rjXZQ

I do love a 635CSi - I blame David Addison (Bruce Willis) !

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSkk9ulmg7coSYynSRIUl1ZZgk6qhNrJ1b-YA&usqp=CAU

smile

-- Edited by Forsh on Sunday 29th of October 2023 08:58:38 AM

Grandell · Member

For what it's worth, the lack of updates makes me feel better about not having finished my own Binky project

It is unfortunate that Richard and Nik don't have a presence on here though, as the end goal of my project is to send a couple of Lego Binky's their way. But as they say, good things take time

Dave Fleet · Member

The whole thing has soured in my opinion - especially for those of us who supported through Patreon. I recently pulled my subscription as it seemed very one-sided: I donated money and didn't recieve any updates/videos/explanations.

Kirk · Senior Member

Never seen them publish a timeline and project plan. I guess if I'd contributed money on the expectation that I would get anything other than an early view of the unevenly scheduled videos then perhaps I'd be disappointed too.

@Forsh: Show me someone who doesn't like a 635 and I'll show you Bert (the sad Muppet). YCR seem to love theirs a lot. Enough to get them to look past ALL THAT RUST. Aaaggggghh!
@Grandell: Pictures, or it isn't true.
@GRC: Sorry about the apparent lack of solidarity. You really should demand biscuits. Or spam. Spam and biscuits. Spam, tea, biscuits, spam and spam.

Forsh · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:

@Forsh: YCR seem to love theirs a lot. Enough to get them to look past ALL THAT RUST. Aaaggggghh!

I don't know where Mat Armstrong got his 635 (same ocean Freddys P1 came out of?) but YCR are certainly getting through the new metal and welding wire on it - I wonder if Mat will go lairy or fairly stock with it once YCR have done with it?

smile

Grandell · Member

Kirk wrote:
@Grandell: Pictures, or it isn't true.

you've already seen the Lego Binky thread :)

-- Edited by Grandell on Wednesday 1st of November 2023 10:50:20 PM

bmwmaniac · Veteran Member

Regrets - We've Had a Few...

What a rollercoaster of a last 18 months. If we had our time again, well...
If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through. It's been a turgid time at our secret volcano lair; illness, stubbornness, Elliot Ness and others have seen what should have been the culmination of ten years effort pay off in a satisfactory way have actually left us in quite a state in many different ways. The whole team has been dumped on in one way or another and we have all had to work through our own issues while dealing with the most frustrating and soul-destroying part of the build.
I know many of you have lost faith and truth be told it's been very hard at times for us not to as well; demons come in many different guises... We are not ones to air our troubles publicly.
However, we refuse to dwell on the negatives anymore, we've got loads of new content in the editing phase, we've got tonnes of footage for Binky Episode 39 in the can and we're shooting more every day. The M50 Celica video is just being polished, the 100-year-old Dodge is going to be an absolute hoot over two videos, we've got a beautiful replica Jaguar C Type BOM Classics that just needs a few more tracking shots to complete the shoot and more in the planning. Ben is taking care of most of this in his spare time.
Kicking and screaming the mini is being finished. Whether is bloody well likes it or not and that is our sole focus, after all that's our bread and butter. The payoff will be awesome - I have no doubt. (Narrator: He has doubts...)
Always ones to look forward, we'd very much like to offer you - our long suffering Patrons - the opportunity to give us a steer on what you'd like to see next. We need something to look forward to apart from the road trip to Ireland to get the Mini mapped on the Dyno...
The Escargot is going to take up a fair amount of our efforts in the new year, but the build bay will be empty so we have a number of projects in the shed that are due some attention. We have the MG X Power SVR that is going to be amazing, but very expensive as parts are hard to find. We have the Peugeot 205 Rally car with our custom built 1600 16v engine that we'd like to re-build with custom suspension and a host of modern improvements and turn it into a proper lightweight 1600 class winning car. We have an Opel Ascona shell sitting upstairs that we don't really know what to do with yet - anything is possible. We have a Ford Anglia 105E that's ripe for a nice restomod and we have an extremely rare 1967 (half year) Datsun 2000 Roadster that needs a total restoration. Also it needs an engine, oh, and a gearbox, and a back axle...
So if there's anything in the above list of stuff we already have in the shed that you'd like to see in the build studio, please let us know. None of them will ever match Binky for complexity or sheer WTFery, but each has its own areas that we have proper BOM ideas about. And none of them will take 10+ years!
I know we've been the worst content creators in the history of content creators recently creating barely any content worthy of your consideration so for that, we humbly apologise. In reality, and I mean this sincerely, it's only those of you who have kept the faith that have allowed us to do the same no matter how dark it’s been in the our shed.
Thank you, as always.
Cheers,
Nik, Richard and Ben.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

bmwmaniac wrote:
Regrets - We've Had a Few...

...

Thank you, as always.
Cheers,
Nik, Richard and Ben.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you. But, it's a shame the lads couldn't be bothered to post it here themselves.

Dave Fleet · Member

bmwmaniac wrote:
Regrets - We've Had a Few...

Cheers,
Nik, Richard and Ben.

Talk is cheap.

Kirk · Senior Member

Dave Fleet wrote:
Talk is cheap.

I'm guessing you haven't stopped your Patreon direct debit yet then? biggrin

Grandell · Member

Dave Fleet wrote:
Talk is cheap.

I find this mildly ironic :)

Dave Fleet · Member

Kirk wrote:
Judging by Twixer, we appear to be in danger of a Binky episode.
Quick, everyone: hide!

Nope. Just the "please don't stop subscribing to Patreon" update.

Kirk · Senior Member

You mean they've NOT stopped holding you down and forcing you to give money, Dave? I'm not surprised you're miffed.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Dave appears insecure. I think his mother may have rejected him as a child.

Kirk · Senior Member

That's a bit harsh GRC. Perhaps he just hasn't figured out how to unsubscribe in Patreon and is suffering from a lack of BOM humour? A few episodes of Police Squad and a stiff cup of tea should fix the latter.

Anyway, there'll be a new episode of Binky along soon* and all this grumpiness will be a thing of the past.

K

*"Soon": Sometime before the sun explodes.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
That's a bit harsh GRC. <snip>
<snip>
Anyway, there'll be a new episode of Binky along soon* and all this grumpiness will be a thing of the past.

K

*"Soon": Sometime before the sun explodes.

I guess I'm just tired of "Newbies" b**ching and moaning about how they aren't getting what they paid for as fast as they want it! I don't see any of them building a custom car, making & editing videos, etc.

By the way, to which Sun do you refer?

Forsh · Senior Member

Well Richard tweeted (or X'ed) yesterday saying they'd had progress in the shed at the weekend - so that's progress!

smile

Kirk · Senior Member

GrayRaceCat wrote:

By the way, to which Sun do you refer?

I was thinking of the star at the centre of our solar system that makes up over 99% of its mass and which is due to expire in about 5 billion years (when its light will no doubt be replaced by Binky's main beam and its heat by Binky's turbo). I'm hoping that the like-named newspaper will be long gone before episode 41 - although I suppose that it could be argued that it is less awful than the Mail and Express.

Incidentally, who else here is a Arduino and 3D printing tinkerer? I started making simulated aircraft instruments a while ago and can sympathise with how something that starts off simple can rapidly get mind-alteringly complex.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
Incidentally, who else here is a Arduino and 3D printing tinkerer? I started making simulated aircraft instruments a while ago and can sympathise with how something that starts off simple can rapidly get mind-alteringly complex.

I can't help with the Arduino or 3D printing, but I can relate to instruments. As the resident "old Volvo" expert at the "shop" (RIP) I have logged many hours making one good dash cluster out of the remnants of many. Are you building an aircraft cockpit simulator?

Kirk · Senior Member

GrayRaceCat wrote:
Are you building an aircraft cockpit simulator?

Harrier GR9. I've built a software only prototype and am slowly moving this to a reasonably realistic hardware environment. Had a bit of a hiatus whilst I built a fully-scalable AI Air Traffic Control provision system. Then another one whilst I finished working on the old air-cooled thing in the garage (which now has an MoT certificate once more). Some time after Binky is done, the simpit will get finished. Maybe.

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
GrayRaceCat wrote:
Are you building an aircraft cockpit simulator?

Harrier GR9. Some time after Binky is done, the simpit will get finished. Maybe.

I just looked up images of the GR9 cockpit, you've got some work ahead of you!

I wouldn't wait for Binky, project cars are never truly 'done'.

GRC

Forsh · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
old air-cooled thing in the garage

I've got one of them! (other than the one in my avatar) that's been on the back burner longer than Binky has been a thing

Its a 1964 VW Type 3 Notchback waiting it's time to shine

What you got Kirk? VW? Porsche? Corvair? Citroen? something with 2 wheels? Sopwith Camel radial powered batmobile?

smile

Kirk · Senior Member

Forsh wrote:
Kirk wrote:
old air-cooled thing in the garage
I've got one of them! (other than the one in my avatar) that's been on the back burner longer than Binky has been a thing
Its a 1964 VW Type 3 Notchback waiting it's time to shine
What you got Kirk? VW? Porsche? Corvair? Citroen? something with 2 wheels? Sopwith Camel radial powered batmobile?

Whilst the desire to say "Sopwith Camel radial powered batmobile" is strong, it's just a 964 that I bought back in 2001 when I thought I could afford the maintenance time/money. Some years later, it developed "terminal complex electrical problems that I really don't have time to deal with now" and went into the garage. When I finally got around to digging around underneath it, these turned out to be a well corroded starter earth. The fix for that was pretty straightforward, but the "whilst you're in there" list took me about 10 years.

What's the state of the Type 3?

Kirk · Senior Member

GrayRaceCat wrote:
... you've got some work ahead of you!
I wouldn't wait for Binky, project cars are never truly 'done'.

True, but I'm in no great rush. Like everything you put your mind to, it's actually a little simpler that it first appears. Tucked under all those warning lights on the right hand console is an electrical panel that deals with (guess what?) switching the battery on to the starter/aux generator (which actually has it its own electrical starter motor) and then you get power to fire up the complex stuff. Under the main keyboard thing in the middle (the "UFC" - military love TLAs) are a bunch of instruments that are not far different from the ones you might find in a Cessna single engined prop. These are the bits & bobs that I've started with. If I can figure out how, I might post a pic of the artificial horizon (technically an ADI) that I've designed and (part) built to the dimensions of the real one. It's quite fancy and has lots of Arduino magic in it to make it move. This is why I sympathise with Rich doing something "simple" like a rev counter.

Finishing is for lightweights and is highly over-rated, in my opini

Forsh · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:

What's the state of the Type 3?

You know the "never buy someone else' unfinished project" adage? well...

With the exception of the Porsche 356 wheels this is how I bought it...

And this is how it looks now...

Lego set! - Car & panels had been painted but floor pan needed/needs going through before re-assembly

One day!...

Kirk · Senior Member

I like what you've done to it!
More seriously, do they have swing arm rear suspension? There's quite some camber angle.

Forsh · Senior Member

Yep torsion bar swing arms just like the beetle - I think that pic was taken when I'd just swapped the wheels over so would settle lower and less camber when rolled a few feet

Torsion bar front on the Type 3 too so (almost) infinitely adjustable ride height

smile

Kirk · Senior Member

Rich has posted a picture of instrument surrounds up on Twixtbook and indicated that there might just be another episode in the offing.

That's going to upset a lot of people who rant about no new episodes being promised/implied/suggested/threatened.

Nice bit of CAD work though:

GANBbTXWAAASUAp?format=jpg&name=small

PS/ Is it considered poor form to post a image to the copyright owner's actual discussion forum?

GrayRaceCat · Senior Member

Kirk wrote:
Nice bit of CAD work though:

PS/ Is it considered poor form to post a image to the copyright owner's actual discussion forum?

That is one sweet instrument support! I wonder what material they will print it with.

-- Edited by GrayRaceCat on Monday 4th of December 2023 01:42:29 AM

Grandell · Member

irk wrote:
PS/ Is it considered poor form to post a image to the copyright owner's actual discussion forum?

There are like 5 of us here... I don't think anyone's gonna tell

Forsh · Senior Member

Grandell wrote:
irk wrote:
PS/ Is it considered poor form to post a image to the copyright owner's actual discussion forum?
There are like 5 of us here... I don't think anyone's gonna tell

That depends on what Kirk is getting us all for Christmas!

biggrin

Kirk · Senior Member

Forsh wrote:
Grandell wrote:
irk wrote:
PS/ Is it considered poor form to post a image to the copyright owner's actual discussion forum?
There are like 5 of us here... I don't think anyone's gonna tell
That depends on what Kirk is getting us all for Christmas!

Christmas? Bah, humbug!

I was only trying to tempt Rich out of lurking and give us (5) the inside track on the Arduino based dash magic.

In the absence of that, today I shall be mostly learning about template classes in C++, so that I can make my Arduino Harrier data entry/display controls work - although I really should be completing a content management system. A little bit of Binky would go a long way to providing inspiration.

Actually, that's given me an idea for Forsh's Christmas present: Let me know if you want a copy of an HT16K33 library when I finish it. Very useful for those days when you just want to write something on 14-segment displays...

RustyRuss · Member

Come on boys put us out of our misery! Is Project Binky dead?

Dave Fleet · Member

RustyRuss wrote:
Come on boys put us out of our misery! Is Project Binky dead?

Yeah, it's toast.