Last thursday I had my last treatment for my HHC. I had to undergo 3 extra treatments :-(
I'm still not fully recovered (will take some more weeks), but this did not prevent me from "playing with my new toy".

Christel ordered a 50W CO2 Laser CNC for my upcomming birthday in april.
Because this device needed to be shipped from "oversea", she ordered it at february 29th, with the idea that it would take
several weeks for the device to arrive. It was a big suprise to see that the package already arrived on march 2th :-)
Because with the Profiler machine, I had to wait several months after Christmas to get it delivered, Christel decided
that I was "allowed" top openup this present in advance :-)


Me, with the 2 boxes ...


Device allmost unpacked :-)

To my suprise, the laser and mirrors where already aligned, this saved me some time :-)
Furthermore, the device comes "ready to run", with everything needed (including smoke exhaust and waterpump for the watercooling)
So, it was time to fire up the laser :-)


A CO2 laserbeam is invisible (infrared), what you see here is a flame, burning trough material. Without the colored plexi, this flame is white.


First test - some gears: in 0.6mm white cardboard, 2mm black cardboard, 3mm synthetic material and 6mm MDF

So, cutting wasn't a problem, if you can make perfect gears, you can cut every shape :-)
Next up was testing the engraving possibilities of the machine. So, I did take an (old) picture of Christel, and engraved it
on the backside of a mirror, and on plane 12mm MDF. As you can see in the next pictures, it was a succes :-)


The original picture ...


On top the mirror (with some reflection of the MDF board), and on the bottom the MDF part.

To thank Christel for this wonderful present, I cutted an IPAD stand for Christels' IPAD :-)


The stand, cut in synthetic material.


The stand, in it's natural habitat :-)

Furthermore, I did some testing in cardboard, because I will use this machine mainly to laser-cut parts for my modelrailroad.


Simple squares, the small pieces cardboard, are 0.4mm thick !

I already started using this machine for modelrailroad purposes, so please also check out the "Modelrailroad" section :-)

Tomorrow I will get my 5th treatment for my HHC. (I'm normally "booked" for 6)
This is also the moment that a blood-sample will be taken, and after the weekend, I will get my results.
Based on these results, the doctors will decide if 6 treatments are enough, or that I need a few additional treatments !
So, lets keep our fingers crossed ...

For the moment, some days are bad, some days are OK (mostly on Sunday I feel OK), so, for the good days, I started a new project :-)
My own digital carsystem for my modelrailroad layout.
Please check out the "Modelrailroad" section for more info ...

Hello all ...
I'm still under treathment for my HHC, but today is one of those days that I feel slightly better ...
So, I took the opportunity to give our website a small update :-)

First of all, we noticed that we still did not post any pictures of our Christmas presents, so here they come:


Christel got this Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V phone for her Christmas.
It runs Android, on a 3.7" touchscreen (gorilla glass), does have GPS/UMTS/Wifi/Bluetooth and HDMI onboard :-)


I got this Android IOIO development board. It gives the ability to control some selfmade hardware with Android devices.
You can connect it via the USB port of the android device, or connect remotely to it, over bluetooth.
It does have lots and lots of IO-pins available, SPI/I2C/RS232,PWM ports etc ... etc ...

Furthermore, I managed to take pictures of our newest modelrailroad additions for this month,
And also did take some pictures of the current status of our second modelrailroad room ...

Check out the "Modelrailroad" section for more info :-)

The very first posting in 2012, so to all our reader: HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BEST WISHES FOR 2012 !
br> Due to all Christmas- and New Years parties, I hadn't much time to post on our website.
I had also a week of vacation, to do something on the modelrailroad-extension, and got some nice presents :-)
I will surely post some pictures this week.
Also some less good news, my HHC ilness (something in my blood) needs another treathment, so next week,
I start with some sort of Chemo-therapy again.
(this is the 4th time in my life, and the last treathment is about 5 years ago)
So it will be very quiet on your website for the next 2 months !

Our best wishes ...

Today Saint-Nicolas came by :-)
Christel got a pair of wireless microphones for her WII, and I got a keyboard extension for my wireless imac keyboard.
Check out the "Digital Visions" section.
Furthermore, I'm currently busy with enlarging my modelrailroad layout.
I also got some new additions, and I started building a large company-building, with full interior !
Check it out in the "Model Railroad" section !

Furthermore, you may have already noticed that we did put our website in a holiday theme :-)

On Friday, we enjoyed George Michael in Symphonica (in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp).
I was ill, but I decided to go afterall, I didn't regret after all, this was a really awsome concert !
(We did have tickets via the official GM site, and had seats within the "Golden Circle".
I even twittered with George personally :-)



For the fans of George Michael, here are some recordings from the concert :-)




Furthermore, on Saturday, we did go to euromodelbouw in Genk. We bought a few nice things :-)
Check out the "Modelrailroad" section for more info and pictures ...

Today we visited the train maintenance depot of Antwerp North.
You can find about 48 pictures of this visit in the "photoalbum" section, under the "Various 2011" header.
Enjoy :-)

The holidays are over, we are back home :-(
But we had terrific holidays :-) Lots of nice and warm weather, and ofcourse
lots and lots of "train fun" ...
I added more then 1000 pictures in the "photo-album section, So check it out :-)
(most of the pictures are modelrailroad or "real railroad" (mostly steamtrains) related !)

Furthermore, we also visited the Internation Modelrailroad Exhibition and Marklin in Goppingen (combined),
and we couldn't resist to buy lots of modelrailroad stuff :-)
Christel even decided to start with LGB trains in the garden !
So, check out the "Modelrailroad" section for new pictures :-)

Furthermore, just before the holidays started, I did have some problems with my main PC.
So, Christel gave me an early Christmas present after we got home: A brand new Imac 27" Quad Core 3.1 Ghz !
Check out the "Digital Visions" section for more info.

All backgrounds are done, and the 5 TFT screens are re-located.
I also did take pictures of about 66 of my locs, and resized them to 230 x 80 pixels.
(for usage in RocRail)
And finally, I started with the wiring ...
So, check out the "Modelrailroad" section for new pictures :-)

For the moment, I'm sitting at our terras, next to the pond, enjoying
the nice weather :-)
But, before noon, we plotted some extra pieces of the modelrailroad backgrounds,
and we also did put them on the wall !
So, check out the "Modelrailroad" section for new pictures :-)

Today we visited a modelrailroad expo in "Houten" in the Netherlands,
and we couldn't resist to buy some new things ...
So, check out the "Modelrailroad" section for new pictures :-)

Yesterday I noticed that I forgot to take pictures of our newest additions for the past 2 months.
So, check out the "Modelrailroad" section for new pictures :-)

Today we did put the first "background" picture onto the wall next to the harbor environment
on the modelrailroad. Take a look in the "Modelrailroad" section for more info and some pictures of the result.

Unbelievable but true, in a timespan of less then 2 weeks, I managed to almost completely build
the wooden construction for the modelrailroad, and layed out almost all tracks !
Check it out in the Model Railroad section :-)

Yesterday, I made a movie (4 minutes) of the current status of the modelrailroad construction.
Check it out in the Model Railroad section :-)

Last week, I had a week off, so I managed to get some work done on the new modelrailroad. Go check out the pictures
of the current state of construction, in the "Model railroad" section.

Furthermore, I got some new "toys", a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab, combined with a Sony Ericson Liveview watch, and also
a DSO203 - digital storage oscilloscope, and an Eye-Fi X2 8GB SDcard with Wifi.
Go check it out in the "Digital Visions" section !

It's been a long time since we updated our website, this is mainly because off illness.
(I'm still strugling with my kidneys)
But here is finally a major update :-)

First off all, my brother in law, is going to stop working this year. The call him "knight of the night", because
he drives a salt-truck during freezing and snowing winter nights ...
Therefore, he wanted some nice pictures of him, in a shiny knight armor :-)
He contacted the Pinnock Knights Horst, which resulted in a magnificant photoshoot !
(Take a look in the "Photo Album" section, for an overview of the highlights)
First of all, a big thanks to "Pynnock Ridders Horst VZW", please take a look at there site, by clicking here !
Also, while writing about them, I want to point out, that they have some castle party comming up in august, this summer ...

ARGH ! there is some info on my site about Robert Evers, but I forgot to link to his homepage !
Sorry Robert, this was not on purpose ;-)
I found this important enough, to not only fix the links, but also to put it here in my Blog ...

Robert is great with electronics and modelrailroading, so, please, visit Roberts' homepage at
http://members.home.nl/robert.evers

Some new modules/cards for my home automation / bus system, are finished.
For more info, take a look in the "Automation" section.

What's a "traffic light" controller without traffic lights ?
Well, actually, nothing, so I started building my own traffic lights, go check it out
in the "Modelrailroad" section :-)

I made a "traffic light" controller for a modelrailroad friend, and we also have some new "things".
Check it out in the "Model Railroad" section.

Furthermore, I soldered and programmed some PCB's for a bus-system, connected to my FriendlyARM.
(but it can be connected an controlled with every device that does have a serial port)
For more info about that subject, take a look in the "Automation" section.

We decided to "print" our background for our modelrailroad by ourself.
So, we bought an HP designjet plotter :-)
Go check out some more info in the "Model Railroad" section.

Some new additions in the "Model Railroad" section.
Even a birthday-present that arrived to early :-)

Yesterday, we have been to OnTraxs, a modelrailroad event, at the Railroad Museum in Utrecht (The Netherlands).
We left home at about 8 AM, for a drive of about 120 Kilometers. We arrived in Utrecht at 9:30 AM, just in time !
(The museum opened at 10 AM, but 10 minutes after we arrived, all the places at the parking at the museum were full)

We had a lovely day, and did see some amazing detailed modelrailroad layouts.
(Check out the 85 pictures in the "Photo Albums" section)

Also, Hagen Von Ortloff was at Ontraxs :-)
For those who don't know Hagen, check out this wikipedia link or visit the Eisenbahn Romantik website


Christel, in front of the Railroad Museum.


No comment, lol !


Hagen and me, I must say, he really is a very sympathetic guy :-)


Hagen and Christel ...


Hagen, signing our Marklin Eisenbahn-Romantik coaches.


Our newest additions: 2 signed coaches and the "spoorwegmuseum" car ...


Detail of the Eisenbahn Romantik coach.


Other new additions: Hagen Von Ortloff filmcrew, farmer and pigs, a couple getting married, and some bicycles.

Yesterday I have been to a modelrailroad market in Houten (The Netherlands) and today,
we have been to a modelrailroad market in Merksem (Belgium - near Antwerp).

I did take some pictures of our newest items, go check them out in the "Modelrailroad" section :-)

Today I started with the cobblestone road ... I made a small tool to create the cobblestones.
Check it out in the "cargo dock" tutorial :-)

First of all, a happy Valentine to everybody :-)

Today a "shipwreck" called Amerigo Vespucci drifted by ...
Someone (who wants to remain anonymous), donated me a building kit of the Amerigo Vespucci in scale 1/84.
Once finished, this ship will be 1,25 M long (almost 50 inches).
Curious about this "shipwreck" ? Check-out the corresponding tutorial, in the "Tutorials"-section :-)

Supersticious or not: Note to myself: NEVER EVER do some jobs with electric tools on dates with a 13 in it !



Read more about this accident, and a LED controller for "momentary-switched" modelrailroad turnouts,
in the tutorials section ...

Another small update on the "Cargo Dock" diorama ...
Please take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials" section :-)

Still working hard on the "Cargo Dock" diorama ...
Please take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials" section :-)

Due to illness, this is the first posting of 2011 !
Happy New Year to all our readers :-) (better late then never)

During the first 2 weeks of january, and this first week of february, we did some work on "The Cargo Dock".
(Our first diorama in scale 1/35th)
Please take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials" section :-)

We also have some new things to show, in the "Modelrailroad" section, go check it out !

Merry Christmas to all our readers :-)

I recently started working on the 1/35th scale dioramas again. (To give my electronics "obsession" a small break)
Check out the "Tutorials" section for some pictures and info :-)

Today I finally managed to finish the "major update" of our website.
Due to various reasons, it was a few months ago, since we published some updates.
- A selection of our holiday pictures are online in the "Photo Album" section.
- Pictures of the modelrailroad expo in Mechelen (october, 17th - 2010) are also online in that section.
- Various items are added in the "Digital Visions","Electronics" & "Model Railroad" section.

During our holidays, we visited lots of (model-)railroad related items, those pictures are also
available for your pleasure in the "Photo Album" section.

In total, I added more then 600 new pictures in the past few days !

Concerning our holidays in September, due to my medical conditions, we decider not to go "far away" :-)
(Next year we are planning a trip to Italy or Portugal, depending on my health condition)
So, we made a trip trough the south of Germany, sometimes crossing the Austian border.

This is the trip we made:
- Visit to Miniland in Munich
- Visit to the castle of Neuschwanstein and HohenSchwangau

Next stop, was a stay of 8 nights in the Schwarzwald, in hotel/gasthof Adler, located in Tennenbronn.
You can find more information or book a room by clicking here
Normally we never stay in a hotel for more then 2 nights, but since we wanted to visit a lot of things in the Schwarzwald, we decided to book a room for 8 nights at one place.
Ooh boy, this was one terrific choice ! We can highly recommend this hotel to anyone who want to visit the Schwarzwald :-)
The room & bathroom was very comfortable & clean. Breakfast was more then OK, and the hotel-owners are very very friendly, helpfull and polite :-)

- In the Schwarzwald we visited the following places:
* Voghtsbauernhof, an open-air museum about the history of the people and buildings in the Schwarzwald.
* The clock/watch museum in Furtwangen.
* The 2 biggest cukoos clocks in Sonach.
* The historical town of Gengenbach.
* The Schwarzwald modelbahn in Hausach.
* The Sauschwanzlebahn in Blumberg. (the most historical trainride I ever had)
* The Faller museum in Hausach.(Where we did spend some money on beautiful H0 kits)
* The Sulbergrube Segen Gottes.(Old silver mines)
* The glassfactory "Dorotheenhutte" in Wolfach (Where Christel did blow her own vase)
* The waterfalls of Triberg

- After our visit in the Schwarzwald, we visited the Modelbahn "Merklingen" on our way to Marklin.
- Before returning home, we visited the "opendoors" of the Marklin factory in Goppingen.
(this is where we did spend our last holiday-money, LOL, we bought 2 beautiful locomotives)

As promised yesterday, I started updating our website today :-)
- 3 photo albums from our latest holidays already uploaded. - In the Model Railroad section, you can find some or our newest additions, and also some DIY modelrailroad related electronics.
- In the Digital Visions section, you can find more info about our upcomming Christmas presents, and about my gadget of the year :-)
- In the Electronics section, you can find info about my stairs lighting controller.
- In the Electronics section, you can find info about our RGB LED clock.

Still 3 photo albums (Schwarzwald modelbahn, Miniland Munich and general holiday pictures) to prepare/upload ... (will be done this weekend)

Since august I didn't have any time to update our website (excuse me for that, lol) :-)
Today I did change the "theme" of our website back to the holiday-theme.
Expect some updates in the comming days:
- I will upload our holiday pictures soon
- I will upload my new locs and other modelrailroad-related items that we bought during our holidays
- I will also upload pictures of my new home automation plans and hardware I'm planning to use
- Also some pictures and info about some homebrewn multiprotocol command station, servo controllers, turnout controllers, are on the way
- Other things that happened the last few months will also be brought online ...

So, please be patient, and check back regularly !

It's almost a month ago since our previous update, but this does not mean we didn't do anything :-)
The "renovation" of both garages is as good as done !
Today, I also did lay out the first rails of the bottom hidden station.
Check out the "modelrailroad" section for some info and pictures.

The last week, I have been busy with installing a lots of electronics and wiring in the modelrailroad room.
Check out the "modelrailroad" section for some info and pictures.

Also, on the Dutch 3-rail forum, they organised a photo-contest, based on Weathering for modelrailroad.
I still have my WR360, so I did take some pictures, and send them in (click on the picture to view it in a larger size)







You may always leave some comment in the guestbook :-)

Today, I subscribed myself to the The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk ...
to learn more about this, have a look at this wiki page
I'm the first one on the list for Belgium (look here), so please, go ahead and "add" yourself :-)

Aah, the last week, I mainly did spend my time in watching "Lost" (all 6 seasons) and soldering Velleman kits.

Take a look in the "modelrailroad" section for some pictures and an explanation...

After some illness (again), I finally feel myself a little bit better.
So, this weekend i worked "hard" in the new modelrailroad room, and did make some "closets on wheels",
and also the first part of the frame where the modelrailroad will be built on.

Take a look in the "modelrailroad" section for some pictures :-)

I had a few days off at work (after a long hardworking period), so I did made some progress in the
modelrailroad room.
Take a look in the "modelrailroad" section for some pictures :-)

Another small update in the "modelrailroad"-section :-)

A small update in the "modelrailroad"-section :-)

I finally found some time to add some more information about the home automation projects. (even some screenshots !)
check it out in the "automation"-section :-)

Due to a high work-load and the startup of a major IT project within the company I work fore, I didn't have any spare time left, the last months.
All is "up an running" now (we still have some issues and work to do, before that project is finished), so I now have some "spare time" now and then ...

Last week, we even had some days of, so we started with the renovation of our second garage, to become a "modelrailroad-room".
Please check out the pictures of this "new beginning" in the "modelrailroad"-section ...

Furthermore, for the home-automation project, I have a "new toy", check it out in the "automation"-section :-)

Aah, it's been a few weeks ago, since we posted another update, but this one is *BIG* !

Recently, we started with the creation of our new home automation, so, this "project" got its own section on our website :-)
For more information, go to the "Automation"-section ...

First of all, a happy New Year to all of you, with lots of luck, health, fun and happyness !

Furthermore, yesterday I "revived" an IP pan/tilt camera, so now I can remotely monitor our home via my smartphone :-)
I'm also very busy with planning the new hobbyroom, it's final now, on january 28th, we are going to sign the papers with our lawyer !
After this, I can finally start sorting out materials, fitting a radiator, new electricity and lighting etc ...
So, before summer, I can re-start with the modelrailroad :-)

Nothing much to say, only, yesterday, it snowed :-)



This weekend I will try to do some work on the second BR52.
Also, I'm currently experimenting with TL tubes and a special dimmable ballast,
to create a "day/night" illusion for the new modelrailroad room !

Today, some PE work got done on the second BR52.
(Check it out in the corresponding tutorials section)

Also, yesterday, my "old" 6-digit clock got "embedded" in our new cabinet.
(It does NOT sit ON the wall, but it fits IN the wall !)

The clock, at the top, showing 17 hours, 22 minutes and 23 seconds ...

Kris was very ill the last few days. (It all started on thursday-afternoon)
He got the flu, alltough he was vacinated !

In the meanwhile, I also started building a BR52 in scale 1/35.
(Because Kris starts to feel a bit better today, he helped me a little bit)
Also, last week Kris already painted his BR52 chassis red/black, pictures of the result are also available now.

Check it out in the corresponding tutorials sections !

Because of the party last night, I didn't do anything on the BR52.
So, today, I did take some detailed pictures of the current "status" of the BR52.

Furthermore, I finally found some time to finish the tutorial on building closed-shelf cabinets.
(particularly the part of installing acrylic doors and protection)

Check it out in the corresponding tutorials section !

Today it's the fifth anniversary of me & Christel together ...
Our adventure started 5 years ago, on november 23th - 2004, we officially started a new life together !

Please leave your "congratulations" in our guestbook :-)

Yesterday my BR52 from Trumpeter in scale 1/35 finally arrived ! (after waiting for more then a month !)
I started building right away, the first "results" can be seen in the corresponding "tutorials"-section.

This weekend I did have some time to do some weathering on the gondola.
Also, during my last holidays (beginning of november), I had some time to change the workout of the Loc-shed diorama !
Furthermore, I added the plans/announcement for the 3th diorama, called "the cargo dock".

Check out the corresponding "tutorials"-section for some pictures.

Yesterday I finished building the first gondola. (in scale 1/35)
There is still some work to be done, but check out the corresponding "tutorials"-section for an impression.

Due to the large number of visitors we get on our website, we decided to switch to a professional hosting provider.
If you see this text, it means you're provider already updated his DNS records, and you are visiting our website on our new webspace :-)

We had a very busy weekend ...

On Saturday we went to the 3-rail forum guestday in 'S hertogenbosch (The Netherlands)
I finally did see some of my fellow 3-rail forumpals in real life.
Furthermore I also enjoyed several sessions (koploper (thanks Walter), building things with soft metal (thanks Harry), making cargo-loads (thanks Bert)

On Sunday, we went to the "Night of the Proms" in the Antwerp Sportpaleis.
We did enjoy the following artists:
- Roxette
- OMD
- Sharon Den Adel (from "Within Temptation")
- Toots Thielemans
- Peter & Zoltan Katona
- Jonh Miles
- Fine Fleur (vocals)
- Il Novecento (orchestra)

So, take a look in the "Photo Albums"-section, if you want to see some pictures :-)

The cyborgs are here !

Happy Birthday Christel !

I started working on the 2th diorama, I added an item in the "tutorial"-section for it.
This diorama is called "The loc shed", and will represent ... guess what ... a locshed offcourse :-)
So take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials"-section ...

The BR52 still did not arrive !
So I started with the building of the gondola's. (the cargo cars which will be put behind the WR360)
The bridge for the first diorama (number 1 out of 3 diorama's) also arrived, for this I started a "diorama"-tutorial.
So take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials"-section ...

The BR52 still did not arrive, so I did have time left to do some work on the WR360.
Lights (SMD LEDs) are installed, and weathering is almost done !
So take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials"-section ...

The past few days, I did have some spare time in the evenings, so I worked on the WR 360.
(In the hope to get it *allmost* finished before the BR52 arrives)
It's allmost completed, so take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials"-section ...

This weekend, I did some paintjobs on the WR360 and started "weathering" the rails for it.
Take a look in the corresponding "Tutorials"-section ...

Due to the new cabinet we recently builded, we came up with the idea of putting some "big locomotives"
on the shelves in this new cabinet. Quickly the idea of these "big locomotives" was "re-shaped" into building some "big dioramas".
So, quickly I discovered the 1/35th scale locomotives kits from a company called "Trumpeter".
I also own (due to mistakes and some luck), a WR360 kit, also in the same scale.

Go check out the "Tutorials"-section, to see a building report of these 2 locomotives, along with the diorama's.

I receive a lot of emails and requests lately about my "robotics interest", so I decided to update that section as well.
(I did take a picture of the current robots I own, along with a brief description. I also added a few robotics-related links to the links-section.)

Go check it out at the "Robotics"-Section :-)

The new cabinet is finally finished !
- There are about 1000 twinkeling stars, across the 3 inside walls.
- The lighting color can be changed, thanks to RGB LED strips and a remote control.
- The brightness is also changeable.

At the bottom sits my marklin rotating globe, with C-tracks on it, and several trains.
Above the globe, I have 3 shelfs. For the moment I have 2 chess-sets and a lego technic design car on it,
but this will change in the future, I'm planning on building some locomotives in 1/35 scale to "fill" these shelfs.

So, here are some pictures of the finished cabinet !


The cabinet, with white, blue and green lighting. (with brightness at 100%, I can also "dim" these RGB LED strips)


Because I did put the brightness to 100%, the "effect" of the twinkeling stars, gets a bit "washed off".


Closeup of the rotating marklin globe, in green ...


Another closeup of the rotating marklin globe, in yellow/orange style this time ...

This weekend, we finally started with the building of a new cabinet, exclusively for my Marklin globe.

Initially, the modelrailroad was planned to take shape "above" our desks. This is why at the right and left side of our desks, we have "hollow blocks",
with an outer measurement of 110 cm x 110 cm, reaching from the floor, all the way up, 2m70 high.
Those "blocks" where forseen for my "rail-spirals" at both sides of the modelrailroad.
Because I did find some other space to create my modelrailroad, those "blocks" have no purpose at all, so we decided to make cabinets inside these blocks.
This "makeover" is not yet finished, but due to the curiosity of some people, I decided to already upload some pictures.

Some extra info:
The 3 inside walls, are all 2m40 high. They all have a few hundred holes drilled in them. The holes are "filled" with "fiber optics".
When lit, the "stars" do "twinkle".
The floor of the cabinet is raised. This is done for 2 reasons:
1. To make the foot of the globe look "thinner".
2. To preserve the maximum of "empty space", above the globe.(e.g. Without a raised floor, I loose 15 cm in available height above the globe.
Above the globe, I will have room left for 3 glass plates, with 50 cm empty space between them.
These glass plates will be used to put some LGB steamlocomotives on them. (I still need to buy these locomotives)
The internals of the cabinet will also be lit by (hidden) RGB LED-strips !

Picture 1: This is how the "blocks" did look like, before the "makeover".
Picture 2: A look inside, just after cutting a hole in the front wall.
Picture 3: Electricity done, Raised floor and back wall with fiber-optics already inserted. (globe inserted for global image)



More to come ... (close-ups and pictures of "work in progress"), I hope to finish the complete cabinet within a week ...

Due to popular demand, I'm currently uploading ALL modelrailroad related photoalbums in high resolution to my Skydrive.
I added links to these Skydrive folders, in the corresponding photo albums ! (Upload will be completely done by september 22th - 2009.

I found some time today, to post my new faller sets I bought during our holidays,
and I also added the trackplans for my new layout !
For the rest, I found some additions which I forgot to post in august, so I also added them :-)
Please, go check it out, in the modelrailroad section !

Further more, we bought a new lens for our Nikon DSLR during our holidays, check it out in the "digital visions" section !

While updating our website, I ran into the problem of having not enough webspace at the current digitalplayground location.(200 MB)
So, I moved the site to the same location as our checksum failure website, where I still have 3 GB webspace left.
If you can read this message, it means you are already visiting the new location ...

There are currently more then 1000 pictures on our website, and I don't want to use any of the free online photo-albums,
I want to keep everything within my own website. (mainly to have an add-free website, and to have the same "look-and-feel" all over the place)

So, with this 3 GB, I still have room left for about 13500 pictures :-)

We took the liberty to add a few photo albums from 2008 and 2009, we now have a total of 21 albums online (with about 1485 pictures !)

We got back from holidays ...
Due to my medical condition, we didn't take the risk to go "far away" from home. (We didn't get any further then Germany)
Also, this caused us to return early this year.

First, we started with a trip to Brugge. (yes, in our own country) Next, we visited 'The Netherlands', with stops in Den Haag, Rotterdam, Amsterdam & Texel.
After this, we travelled to Germany, to visit Oberhausen, after this, we already returned home !

I changed the "top menu" of our website, and added a "photo albums"-section.
Please take a look in this section, to see some of our holiday pictures :-)

Another update of "new additions" in the moderailroad section !
Take a look in the "Model Railroad" section, to see some pictures ...

The plans of the new modelrailroad are almost finished.
To see that everythings fits, I decided to build the whole right part of the new layout, on the floor, in the living-room :-)
(just as a test, lol, after making some minor adjustments and taking pictures, I did cleanup everything again.
Take a look in the "Model Railroad" section, to see some pictures ...

Due to a long period of illness, nothing happened to this website in months !
So, today I made a major update !

- I added a list (including specs and pictures) of my new "high-tech" toys in the "Digital Visions" section.
- I also added a bunch of pictures and "big news" in the "Model Railroad" section.

This "absence of updates" was not only due to the fact of illness, but I also started another project :-)
Take a look at http://www.checksumfailure.com if you are curious about this "other project" ...

Today I finally found some time to take pictures from my new items from the past month.
Take a look at the "Model Railroad" section, and enjoy these 17 new items !

Easter today ! Look in the "Model Railroad" section what the Easter-bunny brought me :-)

Aah, the cabinets are finally hanging at the wall :-)
Take a look at the tutorials section for another brief description, and pictures ...

Also, we do own an ultrasonic cleaner now, I did a little test with dirty coins,
check out the digital visions section for more info ...

The second part of the closed-shelf cabinets tutorial is online. (how to install LEDs)
The tutorials are now also available in PDF !
So, take a look at the tutorials section ...

I cleaned up the tutorial section, but even more important, the first part of tutorial for building your own closed-shelf cabinets is also up on that page !
So, take a look at the tutorials section ...

This week, I did spent 3 days in Metropolis, for the Microsoft TechDay$.
I enjoyed these "brainwashing sessions", but due to this, I didn't had time to do anything else ...
This weekend, I finished another closed-shelf cabinet, and I did hang them on the wall :-)
More info can be found in the modelrailroad section ...

Because I do own a lot of trains, I decided to make a closed shelf-system, to show-off my trains in the livingroom.
More info can be found in the modelrailroad section :-)

Due to illness, I didn't do anything on the modelrailroad for more then a month !
But I did spend lots of time and money on ebay, you can see the results of this, in the modelrailroad section :-)

Aah, this weekend was Valentines weekend ! We both had a day off on friday, and the plan was to visit Bruges for 2 days.
Everything turned out different !
First off all, I came home from work on Thursday, to ill to think about Bruges. That same thursday night, our combi-oven failed to function.
So, we decided to stay home from Bruges, and on Friday, we went to Saturn, to buy a brand-new combi-microwave-oven.
We bought the biggest they had, an LG :-) I can tell you, these things are expensive !
Next, on Fridaynight, we also had lots of troubles with our home cinema receiver/hifi-set. We already had small problems with it for several weeks,
but things became worse ! So, on Saturday-morning, back to Saturn, buying a new A/V receiver. We bought a Sony STR-DG820. A real beauty !
As an extra, we also bought a subwoofer :-)
Take a look at the specs of this AV-receiver at our "Digital Visions" section ...

While disconnecting the old set, and installing the new set, we also needed to disconnect our set-top-box for "Telenet Digital TV".
After re-connecting it, this box also failed ! ARGH ! After calling Telenet and a visit to the local Telenet dealer, it was clear that this set-top-box died !
It was 2 years and one week old, so one week past the warranty ! The telenet dealer told us that we could rent a new set-top-box for 5 euro/month !
If you add this to the monthly fee that you need to pay to watch television, you get a monthly sum above 20 euro !

We already decided to "leave" Telenet and to switch to "TV Vlaanderen" this year, so this was the moment, a bit sooner then forseen :-)
That same day, we bought a TV-vlaanderen dish-set, with dual LNB. Now we pay 9,90 euro/month, and we have about 500 TV-channels !
So, on saturday-night we installed the dish-set, to only find out that there was a tree from our back-neighbours, blocking the Astra signal ! ARGH !
After a night of good sleep, on Sunday-morning, we removed the satellite-dish, and placed it a bit higher, and on the back of our garage-roof.
When finishing installation, we had the TV-vlaanderen channels "up-and-running" within minutes !
I can tell you, we had a very expensive Valentines-weekend, but after all, we are quiet happy with all changes, finally everything from Telenet is "gone" :-)
(as a side-note, we are going to add an extra LNB to the satellite-dish in the near future, to receive a whole bunch of UK channels, mainly for movies ...)
Take a look at our "Digital Visions" section for more info about or TV-vlaanderen adventure ...

I'm still ill, so I didn't do anything on my modelrailroad layout this weekend :-(
I watched movies all weekend long, but I also made a minor changement in the left section of the trackplan.
I removed some odd curves (alldough that piece of the tracks is hidden), which also made the length of that track-piece a bit longer,
which means a less steaper curve to "climb" for my locs ... Look in the modelrailroad section for the "enhancement".

The problems with my stomach are still not over (and I still suffer a lot of pain).
Due to this, I didn't do much on my modelrailroad layout, but I did spend some time on Ebay ;-)
So, I posted the new things I bought on Ebay during january 2009 in the modelrailroad section ...

Alldough I still have serious problems with my stomach, I updated the modelrailroad section with the latest pictures about the current status.

Some time ago, I converted my Marklin Hogwarts Express (aka Harry Potter train).
I did put Ribu shortcouplings underneath it, because the cars were to far apart !
So, I removed the "Koipond" section, and added a "Tutorials" section !
Check it out, for a tutorial about the modification of this train-set.

I'm having serious problems with my stomach ! Due to this, I need to take some medication, and are allmost unable to "move" myself :-(
Everything hurts, and even sleeping is a real nightmare.
Due to this, I didn't do anything "usefull" the last days, besides bidding on some railroad-items on Ebay.
I also made some minor changes in the Wintrack plans of the modelrailroad, because I'm going to "implement" Marklin 76510 coaling installation !
Due to this, I also ordered some extra tracks. (e.g. 7x 24188 - 3x 24172 - 6x 24207)
(You can find some info about this, in the modelrailroad section)

We wish everybody a happy & healty 2009, with lots of love and luck ...

Because Christel was out of the house, due to the fact that she had to work, and I still had some time off from work,
I took the time to finish "level 1" of the modelrailroad, and also to complete the "spiral", so take a look at the modelrailroading section ;-)

Allmost the end of the year ;-) Yesterday and today, I had 2 days off, so I took the time to do some benchwork on the modelrailroad.
The first level is allmost completed. Look at the modelrailroadsection for more info :-)

I'm offline for the rest of the year, lol, we are going to start a little party at home !
See you all next year ! AND REMEMBER, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE !

Today I had a day off. I allmost slept until midday. (I had the whole bed for me alone, Christel did go to work today)
In the afternoon, I started building a rail-spiral ... Check out the modelrailroad section ;-)

We wish all our friends, family and visitors of our website, a Merry Christmas !
Some of you got a Christmas card from us, with the following picture on it ...


The solution is easy, you can read the final text in the second column of the following table underneath, from top to bottom ..."Merry Xmas"

I have been ill for 2 weeks ! (Still not fully recovered)
So, After this illness, I picked up where I left before ...
Check out the modelrailroad section for a few minor updates !

It's not yet Saint-Nicolas (december, 6th), but I allready got my presents ...
I got a Marklin turntable (7286) with a complete digital control unit,
but I also got the Marklin "insider 2008" H0 set, The Senator, a German train, which fits into Epoche III !
Take a look at the modelrailroad section for some pictures.

The model railroad section got an update, you will find pictures of my prototype of a real working analog railwaystationclock
and a railway car, loaded with coals ;-)

Today I did a mega-update in the electronics section.

Aah, it has been a while, since the previous update, this was mainly due to a lack of time ;-) (No, really, I mean it !)

- First of all, in the weekend of october, 25th and 26th, we went to 2 modelrailroad expositions.
At Eurospoor in Utrecht, I bought a few electrical couplings for my "Rheingold" trainset.
At Modelspoorexpo in Mechelen, I bought a steamloc and a dieselloc. (both equiped with sinus motors and C90 decoders) and some other stuff ...
(See the model railroad section for more information)

- Next, there was the "party week". Christels' birthday was on november 4th, so I "organised" a few things ...
First of all, I did buy a Nintendo WII for christel, with a lot of extras included. (balance board, extra controllers, wireless sensorbar etc.)
I allready own 3x Xbox and 2x Xbox360, which Christel rarely plays on, but the WII is really something she enjoys ...
On Saturday, november 1st, we had a nice diner at "Kaasboerin" in Deurne. They even picked us up with an XXL limo ;-)

Me and my love, drinkin champaign in the limo ...


Some pictures of the XXL 400 limo ;-)

On Sunday, november 2th, we did take the Thalys to Paris, where we stayed at a hotel, close to "The Louvre", for 3 nights.
We visited the Louvre, the Eifeltower, Arc De La Defence, Arc de Triomph, Mont-Marte (and the Sacre-Coeur), Tour de Mont-Parnas,
The Champs-elysee, and also made a boat-trip on the river Seine.
The day we arrived, the weather was "dry", but the next days we spent in Paris, were "very sunny" ... (as you can see on the pictures)

On the left, Christel in front of the Eifeltower. (I think they stole the idea of blue lighting from my mini-version of the Eifeltower, lol)
On the right, It's me, in front of the Louvre piramid)


As you can see on these pictures, we had a clear sky, with no clouds at all, local temperature was about 22 degrees Celcius ...


Nobody will probably believe me, if I say that I also like ancient art, so here is the proof that we really visited the Louvre museum ;-)
Left, Christel in front of a painting from Anthon Van Dyck. On the right, Christel in the "Rubens Room".
Ask Christel, I could even tell her which picture was painted by which artist. (Rubens, Da Vinci, Van Dyck, Picasso etc ...)
I did take about 130 pictures in the Louvre ! (we also saw Napoleons' salon, the Mona Lisa, ancient Egypt art etc ...)


We did even have wireless internet available in the Thalys train. I really couldn't resist to test this out ;-)
What you see here, is a screenshot of the onboard thalysnet site. It gives realtime information about the speed and location of the train.
This screenshot was taken at the way back home, you can see that we approach the Belgian border with a speed of about 300 KM/hour ...

Next, on sunday, november 9th, we went to "The night of the proms" in the "Antwerp sportpaleis".
This 4-hours long show, was really good ...
We did see:
Midge Ure (the guy from Ultravox, well-known from the hit "Vienna"),Live (a boysband), Sinead O'Connor (Known from "Nothing Compares 2u"),
Igudesman & Joo (2 crazy guys), Tom Helsen (a Flemish 'star') and ofcourse, the Simple Minds (Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill), (Known from "Belfast Child")

Midge Ure ...


Igudesman & Joo


The Simple Minds

Yesterday, we made some "sneak preview" pictures of our "home improvement" project. (see the model railroad section).
Also, today, I added the track plans to the model railroad section.

Next weekend, we are going to visit "Eurospoor" in Utrecht (the Netherlands) on saturday,
and "Modelspoor Expo" in Mechelen (Belgium) on sunday, so expect a lot of pictures after next weekend ;-)

Today I made some updates on our website.
There is now also some info in the electronics and the model railroad sections,
and I also added some pictures from our last holidays to this blog ...

As our website is now available under our own domain,
please, feel free to write something in our guestbook. (link is at the bottom of this page !)

YES, finally, our own personal domain "www.digitalplayground.be" is ready ;-)
It did take a long time, but our ISP dommel, Finally released the update of the CRM and control panel, which included the ability to activate a domainname.
From now on, our site is "open" for a wider public, so we need to update it more frequently.
Furthermore, after beeing ill for more then a week, and for beeing on holidays for 3 weeks, I still did not finish my "home improvement" project ...

We are back from our "summer holiday" ... And we really enjoyed it !
We first planned on going to Austria (NOT Australia, there are really no kangeroos in Austria) or Italy, but at the last moment,
we changed our plans ... The day before our departure, I had the idea of going trough France, Monaco, Italy, Austria & Germany.
I booked all of our hotels, the day before our departure ;-)


A small overview of the trip we made (route was actually logged by our GPS logger), spanning a few weeks ...
This trip by car was about a total of 4000 kilometers. A lot of people say to us that this is to much for a holiday,
but driving about 400 kilometers every 3 days isn't really that much ...

- We started our trip, by driving to Chamonix (we have been there before), to visit the top of the Mont-Blanc.
- After that, we went trough the Mont-Blanc tunnel, into Italy, driving trough the Aosta-valley.
- Then, we visited Nice (France).
- After Nice, came Monaco ...
- Pisa was our next stop ...
- We passed Firenze, and went to Venice ...
- Innsbruck (Austria) was our next stop, passing the Brenner ...
- The last country was Germany, where we visited Goppingen.
(Marklin Erlebenis Welt an hotel "HohenStaufen", where they had marklin trains inside the tables in the bar).
- Afer Goppingen, we passed Stutgart, and went back home !

A few pictures from the places we visited ...


The top of the Mont-Blanc, as seen in the morning, from our hotel room.


The beach of nice.


Overview of Monaco, picture taken from the stairs to the castle.


Christel in Pisa with the leaning tower in the background.


Christel at the Saint-Marco Square in Venice, with a lot of pigeons.


Kris in Venice.


Christel in Innsbruck.


Kris in Innsbruck, at the top of the North-Park.


A small impression of a part of a Marklin modelrailroad in Goppingen.

We are going on a "summer holiday" ...

We recently decided to "convert" our maingarage to an extra hobby room.
The idea is to have extra workbench space. (When you need to house mindstorms, electronic compononents, a CNC machine, several PC's and a lathe,
you need a lot more space then 2 times 2 meters. After the "conversion", I will have a workbench with 3 meters and 70 centimeters workspace,
and a second workbench which has a whopping 4 meters and 80 centimers of workspace !


look, it's me ;-) cutting a circle in a plate, to hold a sink ...
(don't drool about my cute legs, lol)


ooh no, what a mess ... (wait until you see the final result !)
(Actually, we made up this mess, specially for this photo, lol)

So, our website is getting shape ... The "CnC" and "Robotics" section are also "up-and-running".
Still to go: Electronics - Home Automation - Model Railroad - Koi Pond (So, I guess we are "half-way")
No news yet about our domainname :-(
You still have to use: http://digitalplayground.dyndns.org/gigaset_http/index.htm , But I hope we can shortly move to http://www.digitalplayground.be
(but hey, if you are reading this, it means you know the way to our website, so don't worry)

Today, a few sections of our website got filled-up ...
In the "links" section, you can find out where we spend our time online, and where we spend our money online ;-)
Our "guestbook" is also up-and-running, so please, feel free to post something in it.
If you don't know us, (how did you find out about this website anyway ?), and are curious of who we are, then take a look in the "about us" section.

Things are going well, just finished writing the first articles in the "Digital Visions" section. This will probably be all for today, because we expect some
really close friends this afternoon. Rik & Monique are comming over from "Hove" today, for a nice "chit-chat" and a visit to a local restaurant this evening.
Rik is also "into" photography. (He is even a member of a real photoclub). Rik and I met eachother about 5 years ago, when we both were a member
of AVAC (Antwerp Video Amateur club). And since then, we had a lot of fun together. I made a film called "Venatio" (which you will be able to download
from this website within a few weeks), and Rik & Monique did play a few small rolls in that movie, and also assisted with the shooting of this movie.
We went together on a short "culinary weekend" a few years ago (All 4: I, Christel, Rik & Monique) Rik also helped me with my border-stones of my
koi-pond a few months ago, and they are allways there when you need them, and prepared to help. (alldough, this also works in the other direction, lol)
Rik, if you ever read this, you probably now you are my best friend, without the need of lots of explanation or words ;-)

Time for our very first blog-item ;-) (so please, open-up some champagne - time to celibrate)

As of last week, we switched our internet-provider. Previously our ISP was telenet. We had a turbo-pack, which allowed us to have 35 GB of traffic a month,
for a *whopping* 65 euro a month. 35 GB seems a lot for most of you, but I can assure you, it is NOT !
Everybody will probably think that you can only reach that high amount of data-traffic with illegal things, like music and movies, but I can assure you there are
more then enough legal ways to reach this amount !
Demo's on xbox360, legal downloads from Xbox360 marketplace, watching some youtube DIY movies about electronics, model railroading etc ...,
downloading some beta-software from M$, or just downloading full ISO-distros of various Linux-variants, will make your internet-traffic rocketing the sky ;-)
Actually, The last month that we had Telenet as our ISP, I needed to order extra "blocks". (a block is an extra gigabyte, above your "regular" monthly
traffic of about 35 GB). I needed to order 60 GB extra (I "used" 95 GB on traffic that month), and the invoice stated 163 euro !
(I'm thinking of putting this invoice in a frame on the wall, so I never forget this malicious ISP again)

So, it was time for a new internet-era ;-) We switched to Dommel (click here for more info)
We now have unlimited internet-access without any limits, and are also allowed to make unlimited phone-calls to any domestic phoneline within Belgium.
You American guys who are reading this, would probably laugh your ass out, but here in Europe, we are not that civilized as you, alldough this only counts
for "telecommunication" ;-)
This is "more" then Telenet could ever offer us. (you can buy extra gigs with Telenet, but my wife (and I also), are not that happy with all those extra
costs) And the best part of the story is, we only need to pay 48,95 euro a month ;-) (49,95 euro, if you don't use the automatic payment)

Ooh well, enough off-topic, the reason why we started this website, is because we can ;-) And it's a lot of fun to ;-)
We have this website running at our home, on a USB-disc, connected to our dommel-router ... So, we have a *whopping* 32 Gigs of webspace ...

Don't look any further on this website, only layout, styling, news & home are done, so a lot more, yet to come.
Keep an eye on this pages if you love us ;-)

Enough chit-chat, time to put this "beast" online, and go to bed ... it's allmost 2 AM when writing this message - BLOG style ;-)
(Actually, this should be posted as a blog on sunday, but I assume I will have an update of this site tommorow, so ... goodnight)