Update: Raspberry Pi now has it’s own image downloader and flasher – https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ called “Raspberry Pi Imager” – Note separate links for Windows, MAC and Ubuntu respectively within the above – odd that they chose Ubuntu and not Debian – given that Raspbian is based on the latter – but…
Meross Home Control
Recently I received several IOT units from a company called Meross (designed in California, made in China I noted on one of the boxes) including the UK version of their MSS310 power-monitoring Smart Plug, their Smart Radiator Thermostatic starter kit and othe items. Now, before I launch into this, I…
A quiet refurbishing day
Recently I’ve been catching up on my backlog of reviews and you could be forgiven for thinking that’s what I generally do. Far from it, today I’ve had a quiet day refurbishing. A couple of weeks ago, in order to do some testing before sending some kit off to Spain,…
Wireless Video Camera Doorbell with APP
Wireless Video Camera Doorbell for Home Security or to give it the full title from the Banggood website, Wireless Camera Video Doorbell Home Security WiFi Smartphone Remote Video Rainproof. I love it (March 2020 update). Late in 2019 I received this wireless (433Mhz for the bell, WIFI for the app)…
Owon ODP3033 Bench Triple Power Supply
Updated Feb 29, 2020: And why would anyone write about a power supply? Not the most interesting subject, but like many boring things such as backups, essential. I created a short video several weeks ago about the Owon P4603 – a single channel job of particular interest as it has…
AliExpress Sinilink WIFI USB Controller
Today’s project for the day is the ESP8285-based “Sinilink WIFI-USB Mobile Phone Remote Controller” (or Sonoff for USB” as others have called it) – which handles up to 5 amps and can use a USB connection of from 3.5 to 20v (I’ve only tested 5v). Later I will describe how…
Bakeey E70 Waterproof ECG, Blood Oxygen and BP Smartwatch
I’ve updated this blog entry about the Bakeey E70 IP68 Waterproof Wristband ECG+PPG Heart Rate Blood Oxygen Monitor Smart Watch (which looks lovely) as I think it deserves a second glance because it has now been on my wrist for 7 solid days and the battery is still at 68%.…
Raspberry Pi 4 and SSD – Miracles at Last?
I’ve just been watching a video by Andreas Speiss – and I agree with him, USB boot on the Raspberry Pi has taken FAR too long and we are NOT a tiny minority in favour of USB boot, contrary to comments in the Pi forums. The PI3 had USB2 boot…
Xiaomi ZAJIA Auto-sense IR Induction Water Saver
I LOVE getting new toys – and this time I think Maureen likes this one too. Clips straight into the tap in the kitchen or bathroom to provide proximity-controlled water supply. If you are on a meter or just environmentally-conscious – this battery powered (USB rechargeable) device might just be…
Blitzwolf BW-HL2 Smart Watch
If like me, you are aware of Blitwolf (actually the name often takes me back to “Wolfensten”) you will probably think of battery packs or even WIFI-controlled power sockets or adaptors…. but here we have a Blitzwolf BW-HL2 WATCH. A classy looking job with “leather” look strap, default classical-looking analog…
Deerma VC20 Ultra Light Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
Ok, I know this isn’t strictly high tech – but I promised Maureen I’d get her a new vacuum from China and here it is – the Deerma VC20 Ultra Light Cordless Vacuum Cleaner This neat cordless vacuum just arrived, having been (almost) delivered at the start of January JUST…
Smoke Alarms, Door and Water Leakage Sensors for RF-Bridge
I recently wrote about the Sonoff RF-Bridge – a great device for transferring RF signals from various gadgets to WIFI – well, first things first, I put Tasmota on the RF-Bridge so now, using the free Tasmota Device Manager on it, I can receive information from devices and that gets…
Xiaomi Redme Note 8 Pro Smartphone
I’ve been waiting for the Redme Note 8 Pro Smartphone (Xiaomi – Global version) for quite a while now, ever since Banggood sent off a Bakeey cover for the Redmi Note 8 Pro phone when all I had at the time was the original Note 8 (there IS a difference…
New for 2020 – Bluetooth 5.0 Earbuds and much more
Having spent much of January visiting family in Chicago, USA – I’ll be back to working on the blog in the next day or so. Much to catch up with as well. You would not believe the things that have gone wrong remotely while I was away in freezing cold…
Bakeey R16 Smart Watch
This is a quick writeup about the Bakeey R16 music control IPS screen smart watch with heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen monioring as well as the usual sports mode, sleep monitoring and more. It is a winner and I’ve no idea why I didn’t blog it when I received…
High Power Mains Switching with Sonoff
I am as most of you know a great fan of the Sonoff BASIC modules – because, in the main, they are cheap and reliable – but increasingly I’ve been faced with challenges that involve the need for isolated contacts – or high power (immersion heating) or both. Well, here…
First Solar Lamp of 2020
Having been through hundreds of PoundStretcher cheap solar lights over the years, most of which manage one UK winter if you are LUCKY, I’ve taken to moving just a little upmarket recently and with some success. This 100-LED Solar Motion Sensor light just turned up for me today (Jan 2,…
LA104 Logic Analyser by e-Design
It is Christmas and time for some new gadgets. I’ve used all manner of logic analysers from the tiny Salae analysers (and the clones) through to expensive and large ZeroPlus monsters. The former are not really a lot of use due to limited bandwidth, the latter (in particular the big…
Sonoff GK-200MP2-B WiFi IP Camera
To give the camera it’s full title – GK-200MP2-B WiFi IP Security camera, this is a nice camera from Itead. No power supply, just the camera, you need 5v DC (3.5mm x 1.35mm dia – i.e. the smaller type) to run it and it handles WiFi or RJ45 connection. It…
10 inch 2560x1600P 2K FHD Monitor
This blog entry is about a really NEAT 10 inch 2560x1600P 2K FHD Monitor from Banggood. So what’s good about it?. Surely that resolution in a tiny monitor is useless? Well ,it might be if you could not perfectly scale it down (but if you are mainly watching high quality…