featuring the blog where you learn from my mistakes…
I recently started playing with Grafana as a dashboard to keep an eye on my local network of IOT devices, and it’s turned out to be very useful on more than one occasion so far.
Continue reading “IOT Monitoring with Grafana”
Ever since I put a mailbox out on my front gate, I have to check it manually to see if the postman has delivered any mail. That involves getting out of my car on the way in or out, or (ugh) walking all the way out to the post box! So, I’ve now installed a Raspberry Pi by the post box to send a text whenever something is put in the post box!
Continue reading “Mail-Pi – Raspberry Pi Post Box SMS Notifier”
Over a year ago I did an article about a DIY alarm system I’d build based on Raspberry Pi’s. I’ve recently done an update, and this time I’ve cleaned up the code and released it onto GitHub. It’s based on Node-Red and Python.
Continue reading “AlarmPi – Raspberry Pi Security Alarm Pt.2”
I decided a few months ago to cut the cord and get rid of my Sky TV subscription. Between a combination of purchasing and returning a Saorview Connect box, and trying out various front ends, here’s the end-result, and I’m delighted with it. Continue reading “New TV Distribution System (No More Sky)”
I’ve been toying a lot recently with LoRaWAN networking, even going so far as to build a full gateway and mounting it on my house. As an alternative, I ordered some GSM shields from AliExpress which connect into your existing GSM providers network. It saves building a gateway, although the running costs will probably be higher.
Continue reading “Get your IOT Project onto the Cellular Network for ~$10”
A few months back I built a full LoRaWAN gateway node for The Things network, and now I’m finally getting around to writing it up. I’d recommend this project to anyone interested in IOT, as it’s very edudational, and you’ll be helping expand the LoRaWAN network coverage in your area. In this build, I use a Raspberry Pi, a RAK831 8-channel gateway and an adapter board (also from RAK) that allows the RAK board to be mounted easily on the Pi.
This bit of Home Automation has been on my list for a long time. I usually find out that the home heating oil (kerosene) has run out when an orange light is illuminated on my boiler. At that stage, we’ll probably be without heating in the house for a day or two. So, I was looking at ways to measure the level of home oil in the tank that would give me a constant level indicator, and also not break the bank.
I finally bit the bullet and uninstalled the Nest Thermostat that I got a couple of months ago. I was not happy with it’s ability to keep my house at a stable temperature. There was also the problem of the circulation pump feeding the heated water to the radiators (covered elsewhere on this blog).
I got a Kindle Fire HD6 for a really great price from Amazon.co.uk on Black Friday, which I’m using as a console for my Home Automation system. I though it’d be nice to have it mounted in a convenient location in the house. In this article I describe the design of a 3D-Printed wall mount for it, and I even supply the STL file as an attachment so you can print it yourself!
Continue reading “3D-Printed Wall Mount for Home Automation Console”
I got a Nest Thermostat recently and it was installed (for free) by my Electricity Supply company. Initial reactions were good, however as time goes on, I’m less and less happy with it. This article covers my initial attempts at getting around some of it’s shortcomings, and future articles will cover more.
Continue reading “Nest Thermostat problems (and how I’m working around them)”