A journal of hobbies
Choosing an Anemometer I've been considering what to use for an anemometer for my weather station. I was thinking of making my own, but a significant downside would be calibrating it. I checked what was available on AliExpress. Many are plastic and I don't want a plastic one and I don't want to have to... Continue Reading →
Whenever someone pointed out to a work colleague that there was an easier way to do what he was attempting, he’d look confused and then reply, “Well, anyone can do it the easy way.” I seem to find myself avoiding the usual easier way with projects, just to try do it differently. That's how I... Continue Reading →
I've been working on building a weather station over the last few months and while I haven't completed all the sensors, I have a few done including recently a rain gauge. The receiver is based around the "Random Nerd Tutorials ESP-NOW Web Server Sensor Dashboard" in which the data is displayed on a web page.... Continue Reading →
I've wanted to build a weather station for a long time, probably for at least 30 years. Droughts are common here, and we rely on rain for all our household water. Our house is also quite exposed to strong winds. At one point a neighbour a couple of kilometers away had their roof blown off... Continue Reading →
Around 1976 a friend and I became very interested in CB radio. The craze had not long taken off in Australia and it was still illegal to use them at that time. Dick Smith Electronics and later Tandy’s sold CB radios, antennas and accessories. Despite being illegal to use them, that didn’t stop a lot... Continue Reading →
Ever since I started tinkering with Arduinos I’ve wanted to build a shortwave receiver using a Si5351 oscillator to tune the frequency. When I saw and built the Soldersmoke Direct Conversion receiver I immediately saw a chance to give it a try. While I've dabbled a lot with Arduinos, I have never used the Si5351.... Continue Reading →
I was browsing Aliexpress the other day and came across this phone holder. It appeared in the Choice tab and at the time was only AUD$2.89, although it seems to have gone up a bit since then. I have an ANENG AN8008 multimeter. It was inexpensive and I find it quite good, but I have... Continue Reading →
I’ve never owned a proper set of helping hands for soldering, so I can’t tell you how good they are. I've tried using metal spring clams, but that didn't work well. For the last few years I've been using blu tack the Julien Illet way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZygyqx6AOY It works well, but sometimes I just need to... Continue Reading →
I’ve been using a budget 6V solar panel to power my mailbox notifier. It’s one of those polycrystalline epoxy resin panels you’d usually find in bargain-bin solar lights. I should’ve known better, these things are just not up to withstanding the hot Aussie sun. After just a year’s use, the panel turned milky with a... Continue Reading →
I've made a few power supplies over the years. The first one was in 1978 or 79 when I was about 13 or 14, At that time what is now TAFE NSW (Technical and Further Education) in Australia ran short night courses for hobbyists. My mother went to quite a few including sewing, upholstery, carpentry... Continue Reading →
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