Track Weather Balloons: Monitoring with an RTL-SDR and Old Laptop
In my previous post I looked at weather balloons and sondehub.org, the online tracking site where you can monitor the balloons. In this post I will cover my setup of a monitoring station using an SDR to monitor balloons and upload the data to SondeHub. It is much simpler and cheaper than I expected. Monitoring balloons online There are quite a lot of hobbyists interested in tracking and attempting to retrieve the radiosondes. A popular website sondehub.org is run by a group of hobbyists. It displays a map of the world and lets you monitor current and recent launches. Monitoring…
Track Weather Balloons: A Beginner’s Adventure
I’ve had an interest in weather balloons since the 1970’s. I couldn’t have imagined back then the amazing resources that are now available to monitor and track them and that I would so easily set up a monitoring station. Why would you want to monitor radiosondes? I have found it is surprisingly interesting and it combines radio, electronics, meteorology, GPS, and a real-world treasure hunt. If you are persistent you could find a radiosonde that you can keep. Finally, it is not very expensive and you don’t need a huge amount of equipment. In this post I will cover some…
Creating Simple Web Apps with Claude and Hosting with GitHub Pages
It’s a lot easier to use AI to create a simple web app and put it online than I expected. A while back I went looking for an online tool to convert images to RGB565 for use with Arduino displays. The ones I found were covered in ads, and some didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the safety of my PC. I wondered if Claude AI could instead generate a tool as a single HTML file that I could download and run locally in my browser. It could, and I wrote about that experiment in an earlier blog post. I then…
Building a Simple Internet Clock Using an ESP32 and ST7789 LCD
Update 18 Sept 2026: Since making this post the code has been updated to allow the network and time zone settings to be updated over WiFi, rather than hard coding them in the Arduino sketch. This post has been updated to reflect those changes. If there was only one type of electronics project I was allowed to work on, I think it would be clocks or maybe lights, but this project is about a clock, so I’ll say clocks. I’ve made a few and I regularly get the urge to make more. I’ve been thinking about making one using an…
ESP32 Mailbox and Driveway Alarm: What Worked and What Didn’t
Back on 3 October 2023 I wrote about the issues I was having building a notifier that would send alerts to our house whenever the mailbox flap opened or someone entered our driveway. Building a smart mailbox: Challenges and unsolved issues. After 2 and a half years and more tinkering I have made some progress. There are still issues, but I’m declaring it good enough, at least for now. To recap, the circuit is based around an ESP32 that sends alerts using ESPNOW to another ESP32 in the house that has a 16×2 LCD display and speaker. The mailbox is…
Rebuilding My SDR Tuning Knob in Spotted Gum
A while back I made a Tuning Wheel For SDR Radio on my PC Using an Angle Sensor. When plugged into a PC, this behaves as a mouse wheel. I’m using it as a tuning knob for SDR software. It works well but I was never very happy with the enclosure. I guess ‘enclosure’ is not really the correct term as it was more of a mount. It was made from a few bits of pine and while it was sturdy, I wanted it to be a bit prettier, because I’m superficial like that 🙂 This is what it was…
A communications speaker: Rescuing an AR-7 from the Tip Shop
We have developed a habit each Friday to go to our local Tip shop. They often have a few old speakers stacked in a corner. I don’t need any more but I always have a look, just in case there is something special that wants to come home with me. Normally there are a couple of things I look for. Firstly if there is just a hole with a cable hanging out, it loses marks. I’m looking for ones with proper terminals. Second, I look at the cabinet. If it is very light for its size, I presume it has…
Comparing MT6701 Modules for Rotary Encoder Replacement
I recently came across a discussion on Reddit about MT6701 working modes, where someone referenced my earlier posts on using a magnetic sensor as a rotary encoder. That prompted me to look more closely at the different MT6701 modules currently available and how suitable they are as drop-in replacements for mechanical encoders. What’s the point of the using a MT6701 module? My goal is simply to replace low-cost mechanical rotary encoders in Arduino projects, particularly where they get heavy use with something more durable, without changing existing code. The MT6701 can output standard quadrature (ABZ), so once configured it behaves…
Front Panel Designer: Free Software for Laying Out Project Panels
I have a great deal of trouble laying out items for project front panels, particularly where multiple holes have to be aligned. I don’t have a CNC router or other high tech tools. I just have old basic tools. I do have a basic saw bench but I think it is at least 70 years old. I also have a cheap small drill press. Front Panel Designer I started to look around for some free software to help out. I wanted something that was easy to learn and use. I came across Front Panel designer by Front Panel Express. This…
Explore Classic BBC Documentaries on YouTube
I watch quite a bit of YouTube and over time I have found some I recommend following. BBC archive is one of these. It is an official archive channel from the British Broadcasting Corporation that curates and publishes historical BBC television content. I like the calm, slow, deliberate style instead of the modern fast-cut media. I find it fascinating as it shows how people genuinely thought at the time. I’m also amazed at how much humour is in them. It may have you longing for a return to this documentary style. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed 1973: Checking the…
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