I remember reading, less than a month ago, a blog entry called “The Mysterious ESP-EYE” in which it is stated that there is no information on the Espressif site on this interesting little camera module. Well, I’ll correct that – there most certainly is now and here’s the link. https://www.espressif.com/en/products/hardware/esp-eye/overview…
Month: January 2019
Phone Charging Epiphany 2
Some time ago after using USB chargers (and USB battery units) since late last century and having been constantly disappointed by their performance when charging phones, I started to get very selective. At the risk of boring experts in here, a short history… The first change I started to make…
K88H Smart Watch Heart Rate Monitor
Back in October 2018, I received this lovely, black K88H smart-watch from GearBest. Immediately it looked like one of the better choices for a low-cost smart-watch and here we are, months later – I’ve not changed my view. First of all, it looks lovely. Unlike many smart watches and bands,…
Adjustable Display Soldering Iron
As a DIY type you can never have too many soldering irons and this latest one has some virtues, it is CHEAP at under £18 and it has a nice display and simple temperature controls. It also uses pretty widely available bits. Not excited about the stand but it works…
The A5X MAX Android 8.1 TV Box
Regular viewers may recall I reviewed a rather nice TV Android box some time ago – the H96 Max Plus. I’m particularly choosy about these units, again regular readers will know that I’ve used and tested a number of mini-board level products such as various NanoPC boards and others for…
My New Kinetic Light Switches
Here’s something new (for some of us at least). I’ve been struggling with faulty hall wiring for some time since another room rewire – well, not faulty, more disconnected. The problem is while I can easily seal up the original wiring with just one hole in the (flat roof) ceiling…
Vodafone Gripes and a Glimmer
To any readers considering Vodafone broadband – here’s the story of my first 3 months with Vodafone UK. It begins with the promise of a free gift to join Vodafone but read on, there is more and some good news… When we moved home last year, I was very excited…
Sonoff, Tasmota and Alexa
I always think it is worth periodically re-visiting things you’ve tried before, even when the first attempt led to tears. Things change. And so it was that I pulled out and old (original 4-pin connector) Sonoff Basic recently and gave Tasmota a go. It is some time since I looked…
Tips for T12 Soldering Station
Remember my blog entry about the T12 soldering station? I had a slight concern about tip availability.. solved.. Can’t say fairer than that… £26 inc. post for a complete set. And these look far more substantial than those in my other soldering station so hopefully they’ll last a while. I…
Geekcreit Large Rainbow Clock Kit
If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for pretty colours, which is why I had to have this Geekcreit Large Size Rainbow Colour Clock DIY kit. I kind of glossed over the kit bit when looking at it, but never mind, I’m up for a challenge (and if…
Newwear Q3 Plus Smart Watch
I figured I was just about done with cheap smart watches as as couple I really like (Xanes B06 and Bakeey M30 and Maureen LOVES the Xiaomi Mi 3 – only charged it twice since she got it – I need colour) but then along comes another one I like.…
Raspberry Pi RPI-CLONE Issues
As I normally rave about RPI-CLONE – I thought I’d share the dirty laundry this time. ** Update Jan 13 2019 It seems pretty obvious in hind-sight that the issues I was having below were power supply related and one bad SD card. I’ve just finished my 7th successful backup-clone…