Setting up RGB lights to work with Tasmota is not always as smooth as it might possibly be. Check here and you will see in this Tasmota template, a clear reference to the AWOW A60 E27 9W RGBW light So, simple enough, apply the template? {“NAME”:”AWOW 9W RGBW”,”GPIO”:[0,0,0,0,37,40,0,0,38,0,39,0,0],”FLAG”:0,”BASE”:18} Well, yes…
A Better Raspberry Pi Case?
Over the years I must’ve had every cheap plastic case going for my various Raspberry Pis, from clear cases through bright red expensive looking perspex, black, orange, you name it. Until now, sizes were pretty much universal and would even fit some of the Not-Raspberry PIs. But now, all change.…
More Zigbee Learning (or not)
Elsewhere I’ve just started to write about Zigbee – the low-energy RF communication alternative to WiFi and 433Mhz radio control of various smart devices. To make a start, I’m using my normal Raspberry Pi arrangement with the addition of a small pre-programmed dongle from Itead which works with the widely…
Blitzwolf BW-SS4 1-2-way Smart Switch
Maybe I’m just fascinated with the name Blitzwolf but here I am with another gadget from the company – I use lots of Blitzwolf gadgets – I didn’t even bother with the Blitzwolf APP which will do exactly what you expect of a smart controller, Instead I took a chance…
New 8GB RPi4, USB3 Boot now WORKS on all RPi4
What’s new? If you read through you will find I finally got USB boot all working using a 2GB RPi4 with various ways to boot my RPi4 – “rpi-cloned” from one master SD. The SD, SD-in-USB3, USB3 stick, USB3 HD,USB3 Hybrid Drive, USB3 SSD. Why bother with all of this?…
Blitzwolf BW-PSSD1 256GB USB3 SSD
A very exciting start to my week… my new (first ever in my case) portable Solid State Drive just arrived for my Raspberry Pi 4 – According to Royal Mail the unit came from Online Retailer SWTL – but to the rest of us, from BANGGOOD. I was expecting some…
ZemiSmart Lamps , Tasmota and Retail Therapy
The original of this blog entry has lots of interesting stuff but as I’ve now been through even MORE RGB lamps from various suppliers – this requires an update (June 14, 2020). Zemismart, as you will see further down, do several decent RGBW lights of the type that offer proper…
Fun with Colours
Colour fun I’ve been playing with these oddly named programs for ASCII text and pretty colours on my Raspberry Pi machines – check them out: cowsay figlet toilet lolcat For example: sudo apt-get install -y cowsay figlet toilet On the RPi as it happens, the first two were already installed.…
Hands-free washing using inexpensive foam
This subject is more easily covered in video so here goes – all the links are included, I’m having great fun with these (now very appropriate to the times) gadgets which combine to provide a clean, hygienic hands-free washing experience – quite topical right now. Above, an inexpensive USB-powered hands-free…
Owon XDG2035 Function Generator
I just received my Owon XDG2035 only to realise they yet don’t have it advertised on their UK site – however, Eleshop EU has it advertised at 289 Euros + tax (and their photo is better than mine – other than that I have zero connection with them) – I…
Stone Technology 7″ Intelligent TFT Displays
This week I received a very well packed 7″ TFT display from Beijing Stone Tecnhology Co. Ltd. The 800*600px colour display shown below came complete with a power/signal lead (and a spare), USB adaptor for programming (with 12v power socket which, it seems, will tolerate 6v to 35v DC, not…
Tuya-Convert on RPi or Orange Pi Zero
Elsewhere in the blog I’ve referred to Tuya-Convert – which I have been running on the Raspberry Pi. Today Antonio (Mr Shark – based in Italy) and I took on the MINOR task of putting Tuya-Convert on an otherwise unused Orange Pi Zero. SO – what is Tuya-Convert? Let’s say…
Windows Update May 2020 – a Big One?
May 2020 Windows upgrade is out and at least here in the UK, is available – in “Windows update” and I have just finished upgrading six PCs. Not a lot of really exciting stuff but the updates to the Windows WLS might be worth checking if you want to run…
Garden Solar Light Time
No matter where I am, it always seems to be about the same time of year that I suddenly get the urge to play with garden solar lights… and I keep discovering new varieties to keep my interest up. This weekend I was at home in Northumberland when a package…
Xiaomi Mijia LCD Writing Tablet with Pen
This is one of those sub-£20 gadgets your spouse or partner will say you don’t really NEED but you will probably want anyway! At least the first part is what my wife has told me repeatedly until last night. “You don’t NEED one, she said – but regardless, here it…
Another Day, Another RGB Bulb
This turned up from Banggood for me yesterday – an E27 (screw-fit) and it works well with the recommended, free Smart Life app. These bulbs also work with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. I really can’t complain as the lamp does what it is supposed to (and will be priced…
Pocophone F1 Strikes Again – with Infra-Red Photography
What are incorrectly touted as “x-ray-like” photos, the OnePlus 8 Pro phone supposedly has IR capability and of course, all the media can think about is that pervs will abuse this feature as it can see through certain materials – such is our sick 21st century world. But there are…
RAVPower – something new from an old favourite
I’ve been using RAVPower battery packs for years and recently taken kindly to their new high power PD (60w and 65w) phone chargers, so my excitement at receiving the new PD Pioneer 20000maH 65E 2-port Power House should come as no surprise. That didn’t stop me getting excited when it…
More Blitzwolf Blitz from Banggood
This morning I received a package in the post which included a couple of Blitzwolf Smart sockets including the BW-SHP6 (2350w). BW-SHP6 (2350w) You may then recall that I’d been made aware that there was a “pro” version of the SHP6 model of smart socket – same name (exactly) but…
Xiaomi Mi 2100 WiFi Router
Let’s start with a photo. The Xiaomi Mi AC2100 WiFi Router arrived today and about all I can get out of it initially is the MAC address and serial number along with a website mewifi.com – that’s because the entire box is in Chinese – as is the instruction leaflet…