I know – I wrote about this router model some time ago BUT THERE’S EVEN MORE – READ ON… While I was over in the UK at Christmas (where my first GL-iNET AX1800 Flint router remains, fully operational with firmware v3.2), my Convexa-S here in Spain fell off the wall…
Is ChatGPT the End of Creative Writing and Blogging?
I’m quite new to ChatGPT 3 but have played with several other packages capable of writing code, creating general text and more (I’ve been fascinated with AI before the term was in general use). I have of course played with the various AI programs that create art from simple text…
Blog Newsletter – Starting from Scratch
Hi everyone and let me start by apologising to the many of who you have at one time or another genuinely signed up for the blog weekly news brief Due to a phenomenal amount of spam which started to worry my service provider, I’ve had to wipe the large subscriber…
Local Bytes Tasmota Smart Plugs and Lights
Local Bytes are a company who make, amongst other things, Smart Plugs and Smart RGB+CT lamps (E27, Bayonet etc.) which come preconfigured with Tasmota – the free firmware for ESP-based devices about which I regularly rant in here. Local Bytes is a small British company based in Oxfordshire – that…
A Brand New Year is Upon Us
Happy New Year everyone – I’m sure most of us have high hopes for a better year this year. 2022 has been a mixed year here at tech.scargill.net, old favourite such as Banggood have not been having a good time and have been very quiet, meanwhile I’ve made all sorts…
More Sonoff Zigbee Goodness
Happy New Year everyone… If you regularly check into the blog you’ll know I’ve just finished (for now) a writeup on some new Sonoff equipment including the brand new NSPanel Pro WHITE. As if that wasn’t enough I’ve just received two more Sonoff products (new to me at least) -the…
Christmas 2022 General Goodies
I’ve just arrived in the UK to a shedload of samples and stuff I’ve ordered from Amazon etc… first off – a lady over here called Marianne Wilson (her UK-based company is called PRotocol) sent me a “Defender door handle alarm” from another UK-based company called Solon Security and is…
Christmas 2022 with New Sonoff Devices (Itead)
I recently arrived in the UK for Christmas to find a bunch of stuff from Sonoff waiting for me – so let’s get into it… for starters, the new WHITE Sonoff NSPanel Pro and the enclosure for desktop operation (model “StandW”). Initial impression? Very Pretty! And here, the initial power…
Zigbee Motion Sensing – Tuya Z20ZL and Aqara P1 Sensors
Last update 12/12/2022 at the end. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a Zigbee TUYA Mini-PIR Sensor ZG-204ZL from (in my case) AliExpress – taking a leap of faith – as I wanted initially to see if it was worth turning Alexa Show off overnight. Today the sensor appeared…
Vyze-Link WiFi PTZ Security Camera VYZ-KT5
This is the point where I’d often show you the box, but guess what… it ended up in the bin.. SO, the camera – full PTZ (i.e. pan and tilt) and the KT5 produces a 4MP output with a field angle of 110 degrees. Night vision is claimed as maximum…
The Compact PowerVision S1 Gimbal for Smartphones
The PowerVision S1 is a 3-axis smartphone stabiliser with wireless power bank and “PowerFollow” tracking. If you’ve read my blog entry about the new Hohem iSteady V2 Smart AI Gimbal for Smartphones, you may wonder why I want two such devices. Well, one reason is that these are very different…
The Topic of Power Saving and IOT
I regularly use Smart Sockets to save power on various devices – been doing it for years and never given it a second thought. I was just today pondering the fly-killer we run all day every day in our living room. Now, let’s say we have a standard LED UV…
The Ugoos Media TV Box with Android 11 ROCKS
The new Ugoos X4Q Android 11 box (AMLogic S95X4-based unit) looks neat.. I’d love to show it to you completely unopened but the wrapping messes with my camera 🙂 So… Back in April 2022 I reviewed the Ugoos UT8 Pro TV box. That box was quite impressive and has been…
The Sonoff NSPanel Pro and NEW FEATURES
Firstly, what’s an NSPanel Pro? It’s like an NSPanel but newer – and – erm – different. In my photos below, you can see that this is a full screen display – there are also two holes near the top. One hole is for sound input, the other a light…
eWeLink Web and using an Old Phone as a Security Camera
As many of you know, I’m always testing Sonoff products – and as such I have their eWeLink APP on my Android phone. I spotted an ad/link this week and just out of boredom (just recovered from Covid and have been playing with gadgets in-between coughing fits) I went off…
The Mi Band 7 from Xiaomi – More Smart Band Updates
Note: Big update October 2022 to the included original June 2022 article – see the end. I’ve written in here several times about my love for the Xiaomi Mi Band range – I’ve had them all and in June 2022 the brand-spanking new Bluedtooth 5.2-based Mi Band 7 arrived on…
Hohem iSteady V2, Samsung S22 Ultra and Video Production
Last update: Dec 16, 2022 – I’ve been playing with the new Hohem iSteady V2 handheld AI gimbal for Smartphones on my Samsung S22 Ultra phone. First things first, after opening the box, I went off to the Google Play Store and found the HOHEM PRO App. Firstly a small…
Meross Whole Home Mesh WiFi System MMW120
An interesting title with the assumption of a certain “home” size. I’m confident this mesh WiFi router pair will handle our small-ish home here in Spain – the box claims “Covers up to 300m2” and “Ideal for 1-500Mbps fibre”. It says nothing about 100Mps incoming 4G but then I guess…
Chuwi Larkbox – Windows + Celeron Mini PC – Updated
This is one of those devices you just have to SEE – I’ll do my best. I started this blog entry around October 2020 but checkout the updates toward the end. The Chuwi Larkbox Mini PC (that Banggood link is no longer valid – there is a newer model but…
Blitzwolf BW-S25 75W Fast Charger
Firstly take a quick look at one of my blog entries from way back from August 2020 – the Blitzwolf BW-S16 75W Fast Charger cost at the time (and I think still is) something like 56 Euros from Banggood (I hesitate to convert that to other currencies due to the…