Dedicated Frigate Server

Dedicated Frigate Server
I've decided to use Frigate as the platform for AI object detection using my existing Amcrest IP cameras. It's working as a sidecar to Synology Surveillance Station as detection only. frigate-server 12-core Ryzen 5900X, 64GB RAM, 8TB SSD & 16TB HDD storage, Google Coral TPU, nVidia RTX3050GPU. Hosts Frigate and Home Assistant.

NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF 100kHz-1.75GHz Software Defined Radio

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?

Home Assistant
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…

Earthquake Data

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.

Shelly Garage Door Hack

Shelly Garage Door Hack
Turns out my garage doors are dumb. They make smart ones, but I don't really want to give up privacy on my locks. Enter 2nd buttons triggered via Shelly over WIFI. When I looked into my garage openers, it was clear going smart with their tech wasn't an option. I did a little more research and realized that they did support second remotes. I found cheap compatible buttons on Amazon for about $10 each and…