Bad Boy – Mowing Tech
I thought I was making the switch to Electric wholesale when we moved in. It turns out gas zero-turn mowers are just higher quality and do a better job faster.
Cisco Network Upgrade Complete
I've been using a variety of different brand switches in a patchwork to get all of the network and camera devices I am using connected. The network mess was causing performance issues so it was time to take a more serious approach to the network. I need to connect two buildings, and power many PoE devices. The backbone of the network is two Cisco CBS350-24P-4X managed switches connected via 10Gbps SFP+ over copper. The old…
Wildlife Pond Complete
I am an avid photographer. I put together a pond to help attract wildlife to the yard.
NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF 100kHz-1.75GHz Software Defined Radio
This one gets a bit nerdy. I have a driveway monitor system that uses magnetic frequencies to detect cars in the driveway. The problem is that it runs at the same frequency as a lot of garage door openers causing a lot of false positives. I have an extensive camera setup, so I was more interested in using it as a way to log events than the loud chime in the house. That led me…
Home Assistant – How Did I Get Here?
I am absolutely horrible at turning off lights. That's how it began. The color changing aspect of Hue bulbs was cool, but adding motion sensors was when I saw the power of automation. I expanded Hue and added Amazon's Alexa for voice control. Then I tried Samsung's SmartThings to integrate Hue with other things, but that was flaky. Next I tried Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. That was enough to introduce me to what…
Getting Jacked – Modular Style
One of my obsessions is modular synthesizers. It's an instrument, a puzzle, a teacher and the most interesting paradox of complexity used to create peaceful music.
My how he has grown
One of the benefits to the extended career break has definitely been getting to watch Draco, our Chocolate Lab, grow up. Luna is an exceptional big sister and they are the best of friends.
Earthquake Data
I get asked about Rainier and volcanos a lot. I decided to integrate some seismic data into Home Assistant today for information and future notifications.