I just made a short video (see below) about this ESP32-based board from Banggood…. and off-the-shelf it runs a set of 25 serial RGB LEDs and is VERY pretty with it. Of course, being me I had to go to the next step and try to put TASMOTA32 on it.…
Sonoff SwitchMate R5 (using Mini R3 as a Gateway)
SwitchmanR5 is a battery-powered multi-function wireless wall switch which needs a “gateway” to talk to normal IOT WiFi. There are a limited number of devices which can act as these gateways so so firstly, I opened my handy the Sonoff MiniR3 and plugged it into live and neutral. Immediately it…
LEDYi 24V LED COB Strip (For All Your Lighting Requirements)
Sorry about that, I remember a famous (at least in the Northeast of England) AD for J.T. Doves – a Builder’s Merchant who’s catch-phrase (in a Northern accent) was (and probably still is) J.T. Doves – for all your household requirements. I couldn’t resist paraphrasing that for the blog title.…
Switchbot – for the times you can’t just plug something in!
I’ve wanted a Switchbot for AGES and hey, ZBANX just sent me a couple of Switchbot Bots to play with. Nice. In case it’s not obvious, the Bot is a little battery-powered box with a tiny lever to physically turn things on and off from an APP. The device will…
Xiaomi Redmi AC2100 and Xiaomi Mi 2100 Routers
This is just a story which started off badly but now with an increasingly happy ending. Be warned the blog entry is at in-depth WiFi router nerd level – and is probably going to expand over time – there is already some great feedback in here.. Back around May 2020,…
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Phone from Hekka
~This is a phone for p[eople who drive tanks!! I guess that shows my age (the tanks reference was from a Kenny Everett sketch). The Ulefone Power Armor 14 is a budget smartphone – it is not going to change the world but it IS SOLID. This is the second…
ME160H Tuya Smart WIFI LCD Colour Thermostat for Electric/Water Floor Heating
The ME160H Tuya Smart Wall LCD Thermostat is great up to a point but read on… I just received this unit and put it on test yesterday. All was looking well, it is full of features missing on some other smart stats and the price is ok but I believe…
The Hotwav Cyber 9 Pro Rugged Phone
Super hi-res cameras? NO. Latest tech? No. Solidly built? Yes. That about sums up my opening experience with the (fairly new model) rugged Hotwav Cyber 9 Pro Android phone which arrived this morning from Banggood. My Cyber 9 Pro came with 8GB RAM, 128GB ROM and has the following cameras:…
The Mighty Longer Ray5 Laser Engraver
Page 1 – Introduction I’d hate anyone to think this blog was turning into a laser engraving site – it’s not – I just happened to get two engravers sent to me at the same time. I’ve just finished my work on the (supplied almost in one piece) little NEJE…
Important Changes to Scargill’s Tech Blog
I figured this needed uploading as I’ve made a few changes to the blog thanks to some great feedback from Antonio (Mr Shark). A number of subjects have attracted so much feedback that the comments sections were getting to be unfeasibly large so I’ve introduced comment pagination and at the…
LilyGo TTGO T-Internet ESP32 Board with Ethernet, PCIE and SIM card slot
I just HAD to have this LilyGo TTGO ESP32 Board with Ethernet and SIM Connector for one main reason – I’ve used hundreds of ESP8266 and ESP32 boards but never EVER seen an ESP32 with an Ethernet connector before. So, I opened up the package, plugged the board into an…
H801 LED RGBWW Strip Controller + 4-relay ESP8266 Board
This blog features two gadgets who’s common thread is the ESP8266 processor and the (optional) use of Tasmota firmware. The March 2022 update here concerns the H801 – the original article was written back in February 2021. Firstly the H801 LED WiFi Controller If you are still new to these…
NEJE Master 2S 30W Laser Engraver and Cutter
Just in (as they say in stores) this new laser engraver thanks to Banggood. The full title is “New NEJE Master 2S 30W Powerful Laser Engraver & Cutter 2 In 1 Adjustable Variable Focus Lens and Fixed Focal Laser Support Wireless APP Operation/32-bit MCU Banggood Exclusive World Premiere” – wow,…
InfiSense P2 IR USB-C Camera for Android and IOS
The full title of this gadget is “P2 Thermal Imager IR Sensor Resolution 256*192 Mobile Phone Infrared Thermal Imager Camera Thermal Leak Diagnosis Thermal Sensor Thermometer” – there’s a mouthful. Let me start by clarifying – Banggood sent me this item to review – I AM NOT getting anything out…
More SHELLY Goodies to Write About on my Birthday
I’ve just started a write-up on the Sonoff Window/Door sensors (WIFI and RF) and what should arrive? The Shelly Door/Window2 sensor. This is no ordinary AliExpress job RF, it’s a MONSTER for starters. The sensor arrived with no batteries – that was a worry but luckly Amazon had some in…
Sonoff Goodies including WiFi Door Sensor and more
I just received a little package from Itead (Sonoff) including their DW2-Wi-Fi door/window sensor. DW2 RF sensor and RFBridgeR2. Nothing special about this lot? Well, the DW2-Wi-Fi has WiFi and Bluetooth built into it. OTT for a door sensor? That was my exact reaction (but read on). I figured they…
IESAFY Folding Solar Power Pack with Torch
Ok, not the most imaginative titles I’ve ever devised, but I have little communication from the company (Bonic) who sent this power pack to me – so basically I’ll give you some headline specs and photos I took this morning. As this is the first item I’ve received in the…
BlitzWolf® BW-OLT6 4-Heads Solar Sensor Wall Light
Why do I keep buying solar lights? after many years in denial, I’ve finally admitted to myself that while cheap solar lights work just fine in dry, sunny Spain, back here in rural Northeast England they are a complete waste of time. (a) there isn’t enough sunshine and (b) there…
The Script
Regular readers may be aware of The Script, created and developed over many months to simplify the otherwise often torturous job of taking a basic Raspberry Pi complete with Raspberry Pi OS and installing a bunch of tools and utilities including Node-Red, Mosquitto MQTT broker, graphing tool Grafana along with…
Blitzwolf BW-GS3 Stereo Sound Bar + RGB
It’s a bit sad when I get excited mainly because something turns up quickly – but recently Amazon has been either out of stock of things I want, or delayed and/or more expensive than normal… and of course, AliExpress goods have recently been on unfeasibly long lead times to the…