A journal of hobbies
I have a soft spot for rotary encoders. They are so simple, yet work so well as an interface. I have mostly used the cheap mechanical quadrature rotary encoders that are sold on modules. However, there are a couple of projects that I'm interested in where these are not ideal. The first is the tuning... Continue Reading →
In a previous post I looked at an anemometer that I bought from AliExpress that was built around a cheap toy motor. I wasn't happy with it so decided to salvage the cups from it for use in a scratch built one using a bicycle hub. It's been an interesting project and had more challenges... Continue Reading →
DFRobot's DFPlayer mini is a small, inexpensive MP3player module and the info page for it lists some of its uses as: Railway station, bus safety inspection voice prompts; The public security border control channel voice prompts; and Multi-channel voice alarm or equipment operating guide voice. Anyway, this post is not about using it for that,... Continue Reading →
We noticed our broccoli plants had started to show signs of being chewed. We thought it was possums because large leaves had completely disappeared. We moved a portable shade house over the plants and expected that to solve the problem. By this time a lot of the leaves had already been eaten. Three days later,... Continue Reading →
I've had an interest in detecting lightning for many years. I remember reading an article about Benjamin Franklins lightning experiments back in the 80's or early 90's. I thought the article was in an issue of Electronics Australia, but I have not been able to locate it. Ben Franklin is fairly well known for flying... Continue Reading →
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 →
Possums have been a regular part of our lives. Many years ago, when we first moved into this house, possums had already made themselves home in the garage and in the ceiling cavity. There wasn't a door in the opening that goes under the floor and possums had managed to go through the opening and... 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 →
Garry's blog 