Flashing WiFi smart home devices with Tasmota firmware
There are many WiFi controlled outlets, switches, and other gadgets out there on the market these days. These are great tools for smart home automation and are available for a reasonable price. These devices add smart convenience to our homes and the ability to do voice control of lights and other appliances just by asking […]
Read Moreparental control for internet using OpenDNS
BACKGROUND There are a number of products out there which use different methods for filtering content. Because my home network is very customized, many of the consumer products out there don’t offer the flexibility I need as a parent without “dumbifying” my network. I have invested a great deal of time and some money on […]
Read MoreBacking Up a Managed Network using Expect & Bash
BACKGROUND Most people don’t have this problem on a Home or Small Office network. Being a Cisco fan (Cisco networking), I eat my own dog food when it comes to networking at my house. We live in a two story victorian home, circa 1886 with all its charm, it has 21st century smarts. When we […]
Read MoreReduce or eliminate SD card corruption on Raspberry Pi
BACKGROUND Raspberry Pi computers… they are used for many DIY projects and are even used in production environments for various roles from IoT (Internet of Things) to network servers of all kinds. They’re great for small industrial uses as well as IoT applications and the reason why is because they have a small power […]
Read MoreTYT-9600 Warbly Audio on low TX power
TYT-9600 Dual Band DMR Radio Warbly sounding audio on low TX power issue BACKGROUND: A friend of mine purchased 3 TYT 9600 radios and after some time was spent putting in a code plug & testing the radios out, we found something interesting: The transmit audio on any power setting but HIGH sounded warbly, a […]
Read MoreThe Radioddity GD-77 Dual Band DMR Radio
Because I am an active Ham Radio enthusiast, it is hard to pass up the chance to try new things that come out, especially new radios! My first experience with digital Ham Radio was D-Star, and while D-Star is great and a lot of fun, I *had* to try DMR eventually. Unlike D-star, in the […]
Read MoreSonoff WiFi Switch: How to flash a non-cloud firmware
Sonoff: A Versatile WiFi Switch I have been playing a lot with home automation technologies and the ESP82XX/arduino platform as hardware interfaces to my ever expanding control system. Most of the stuff I’m implemented has been Z-Wave, but though Z-Wave is an excellent technology, it is rather pricey to acquire. Since the ESP8266 & ESP8285 […]
Read MoreESP8266 WiFi module used with Domoticz
First Project with the ESP8266 WiFi/MCU Module The ESP8266 is an inexpensive WiFi-Serial MCU module that allows you to create sensors, switches, or just about any WiFi enabled connectivity for projects. In my project, I decided to embark on a learning exercise by creating a real time energy threshold monitor to monitor my electricity usage […]
Read MoreMotion triggered camera
I recently setup a wireless front door security camera to watch and notify of any visitors to our front porch. During the holidays, there’s a lot of package stealing being reported in the news. I am prepared! My home made system does the following: uses passive infrared (PIR) to detect motion within 30 feet sends […]
Read More3 Flickering Candle Holiday Light
DIY Holiday Flickering Lights Happy Holidays to all! In case you are in the spirit to DIY your own window candles or make a flickering lantern/fixture, here’s a Arduino sketch I wrote that has lifelike flickering of up to 3 channels (candles). If you only want one channel per light, just comment out the 2nd […]
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