A few simples notes on probably my pet project and also some work that Antonio and I have been doing recently including a quick stress test for the Pi4, for those concerned about heat… remember I wrote about a combined heatsink/case? With this: sudo apt-get install stresswhile true; do vcgencmd…
Category: General
Gorilla Heavy Duty Mounting Tape AND MORE
No, this is not an ad, nothing of the kind, nor do I know ANYONE at Gorilla nor their distributors – though I SHOULD. For many years and like, no doubt, many of my subscribers, I’ve been struggling with mounting USB hubs, cameras and mains extensions on walls and shelves…
WiFi GPS Dual Lens Car DVR Camera
To give it the full title – I just received this little number… and rather than the usual pretty stock photos here are some REAL photos to start the ball rolling. Out of the box I fitted an 8GB microSD card I had lying around (as you do)… and plugged…
Solar Wireless Car TPMS Monitor
This device – advertised as a has turned out to be wonderful. See the photo of the device sitting on my car dash (2 brackets and an adhesive pad supplied – I used the latter) which also comes complete with manual and 4 tire sensors with a claimed battery life…
ACEPC T9 Box Minus Windows
Way back in February 2019, I reviewed the little Z8350-based, Windows-based AcePC T9 Box from Banggood though they don’t seem to have that right now as my old link is dead (I think Gearbest have killed it off too). As it turns out, this inexpensive mini-computer wasn’t that good with…
Xanes X1 Waterproof Smart Band
The X1 is a low-cost bracelet but easy to use, could be a winner. Here’s the full title – . Banggood sent this to me along with a Heija B1800 which I’m struggling with (“location fail” is all I could get out of the app for the latter which also…
Node Red 1.0.2 is OUT
Not only is there a new release of Node-Red i.e. 1.0.2 – I also noted there is some new video material to go with it. Congratulations to Nick O’Leary, Dave Conway Jones and others. If you’re interested, I suggest a look here… Much more later when I figure out how…
Huawei Honor 5 Smart Band
Here we have the Huawei – as you may know I’ve had dozens of these Smart bracelets and watches in the last couple of years – and my favourite up to now remains the , however a friend of ours started me off on the Huawei bands and Maureen likes…
A9 Mini WIFI HD 1080P Wireless IP Camera
Update April 2020: the APP for this camera is no longer available on the Android Playstore and the QR Code takes you to a dead website – another nail in the coffin for cloud-based cameras? I don’t think the camera is ONVIF compatible, the picture quality is variable and it…
ijoou Smart Moxibustion Device
The ijoou-B02 is a USB-powered (5v-1amp) pearly white “Smart Moxibustion Device” made in China by Shenzen Baichuanai Technology – here’s their website… In short, two round heating units on which you fix replaceable adhesive pads (moxa patches) so you can stick the two units on your arms, back etc at…
A Blitzwolf Week including the SS1
Not a company I’ve ever associated with home control, Blitzwolf do some decent battery packs – but now they have a neat little IOT mains relay controller of their own. not to mention their own mains relay control board just like Sonoff (well, not really). So, first off the bat,…
Besiter 20,000maH Power Pack
This on’e a little more beefy than previous power packs I’ve recently looked at (I did sayI had a backlog). The is a solid-looking and only JUST pocket-sized battery pack able to handle type-C, micro-usb and full USB-S connections as well as being a Quick-Charge compatible battery pack. The highest…
A95X Android 9 TV Box
Ok, that’s done. I am more grateful than you might imagine for a speedy delivery from China – Banggood sent me the latest A95X TV box which is around £37 inc post right now. But perhaps the main reason I’m grateful is we just arrived back in the UK from…
Uninterruptible Power Field Day
I’ve been messing with uninterruptible power supply issues for years and with Raspberry Pi and similar needing (only at leak of course) 3A 5v power, I’ve looked at various alternatives. Here’s a thought for motorists who are IOT enthusiasts as well.. I just solved the issue of ninterruptible power for…
Bakeey Glass for Pocophone F1
IMHO the most important thing next to having a sparkly SmartPhone is to have sparkly screen protectors to keep the phone looking new. If you follow the blog you’ll know I’m particularly proud of my Pocophone F1 and want to keep it in the best possible condition. To that end…
Rechargeable Desk Cooling Fan with Light
To give this lovely fan its proper title… Or: I love it: “Little Sunny Baldness Fan”. And here’s the fan itself… Smashing job, 3 speeds and a white light inside. Lowest speed almost silent, overall quiet and it has no visible blades, just like an obscenely expensive Dyson. The device…
DIRT Cheap Sonoffs
If you are into home control, then unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve almost certainly heard of Sonoff – Sonoff BASIC is their cheap power controller… recently upgraded to R3. Well, until October 31, Banggood have a VERY special price on the R2. I’ve been using these for…
Node-Red 1.0 b3 Trials
This one is only for Raspberry Pi / Node-Red fans. ALL SORTED – everything works – so this is here merely to help others and maybe to encourage a better setup for I2C, RPI GPIO in Node-Red 1.0 official, serial and SQLITE3? Here’s a thing – don’t even THINK about…
RPI4 Network Lesson
This blog entry was last updated mid-September 2019 and covers a wide range of issues I’ve had and resolved since the introduction of the Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer (SBC) and the “Buster” update to the (Linux Debian-based) Raspbian operating system, in particular in setting up the networking and hostname…
Diamond USB Wine Cork Light
As far as simple gimmicks go, this new one is a “corker”. As many of you know, I’m a sucker for LED gadgets and have them all over the place. The full title for this winner is (corrected English spelling) “Colourful Diamond Shape USB Rechargeable Wine Cork LED Bottle Light”.…