That’s node-red-contrib-alexa-applestrudel etc. – but the title was getting too long:-). This article is about Alexa-related “nodes” for Node-Red. To give this set of eight nodes (seven visible) their full title, the original offering was known as node-red-contrib-alexa-remote2 and when I first wrote this blog entry in September 2019. The…
Zigbee Development – The Big Update
Some time ago I wrote about the Sonoff inexpensive Zigbee dongle and various Zigbee hubs etc. At the time I was experimenting with HA and a load of other things and didn’t really give Zigbee the attention it deserved. This week I came back to this armed with the latest…
Xiaomi Mijia 1S Second Generation Smart Vacuum
For a few days now we’ve been testing the 2nd generation Xiaomi Mijia 1S Robot Vacuum Cleaner – I’ve provided a Banggood link here but I should say immediately that I’ve recently been told that Banggood cannot sell Xiaomi in the USA – so any USA-based subscribers might want to…
Doogee S96 Pro Global Smartphone – Lovely
I LOVE getting new phones. the 8G/128G Doogee S96 Pro arrived this morning and with caviats I’m impressed for a budget phone. You can get the full spec from the Banggood link I’ve just entered above but I’ll give you some key points and my experience so far in here.…
Elecrow Crowbits Kits – Beginning Electronics
Some time ago, I noted a company called Elecrow in connection with a kit to turn a Raspberry Pi into a laptop (it’s all on their website in the link above and check out their Indiegogo link). But the RPi is NOT what this blog entry is about. I’m not…
Node-Red-Contrib-Timeout
This is a quick update to my node-red-contrib-timeout node for Node-Red. This is as always, available at https://flows.nodered.org also at https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-red-contrib-timeout The current version then is 1.1.5 which puts out the SAFE message at start-up and starts the default count-down. Interested viewers will find that as well as the normal msg.payload…
Huawei Honor Band 6 v Xiaomi Mi Band 6
When I wrote the first part of this back in April 15, 2021- it seemed that AliExpress would have the new Huawei Band 6 (GLOBAL) that week to I guessed that meant we outside of China would not be able to actually get one for maybe another 3 weeks –…
Eleksmaker A3 Pro 3500mW Laser Engraver
The A3 Pro is proving to be a MARVELOUS engraver. Some of you may recall back in 2018 I wrote about the original Eleksmaker Pro engraver – it came with a 400mW laser module which was rapidly replaced with a 2300mW laser and very nice too. I left that with…
Perfect Prime IR202 Thermal Camera
Having just recently written up the Perfect Prime IR281 thermal camera (not cheap) I thought it might be useful to take a look at the less expensive add-on for mobile phones version IR202 from the same company. I’m showing photos of all three variations of this mobile phone add-in camera,…
Broadlink Bestcon MCB1 Smart Home WiFi Switch
I just received one of these MCB1 units from Banggood – and I’m struggling to see what’s special about them, apart from the price that is. Depending where you live these could be as low as €7.38 + €1.68 shipping (price given here in Euros). Ok, it’s a neat, small…
Athom pre-Tasmota’d Smart Socket and Smart Lights
I’m so excited about this so I’ll dive straight in. The company is called ATHOM and they make smart sockets and lights pro-programmed with TASMOTA. I took the smartsocket out of the box, plugged it into the mains, told my phone to look for access points and it found “tasmota_D3F950-6480”.…
Rechargeable Cordless Air Duster – Heaven for Engineers?
Banggod just sent me a rechargeable Cordless Air Duster and I LOVE it. After a lifetime in electronics, I can’t begin to tell you how many cans of compressed air I’ve bought over the years. Back in the UK, being a business, we would shop at Costco – and as…
The saga of Raspberry Pi 4 Power Control and Dual Sata (SSD)
Like other Raspberry Pi 4 owners I’ve been wrestling with which is the best power option – can I use 2 SSDs – how do I ensure which SSD will start first – what case to use and related questions – well, I’m at an interesting peak with this right…
Comparing Various Disk Device Speeds Updated)
As I have several disk devices sitting in-between jobs, I thought it might be nice to run a speed comparison between them using CrystalDiskMark, my new favourite PC tool for speed-testing disks. Before I start I should sake it clear that I did one test each in identical conditions (USB3-based…
Perfect Prime IR281 Thermal Imaging Camera
Interested subscribers may remember my write-up about the Perfect Prime IR005 camera back in June 2020. Infra-red resolution was 220×160 and visible resolution was 640×480. Well, the New IR281 Camera has similar resolution while having a somewhat (IMHO) better feel to it – but that doesn’t really cover the improvements…
GL-iNET GLS1300 Convexa-S Smart Home Gateway
At one time or another I’ve covered many of the GL-iNET range of routers with more to come (Remember the little MANGO travel router?). I’ve been using a home setup comprising a TP-LINK W9980 VDSL2 main router attached to the local Internet provider’s modem for some time, following a lightning…
Ranger 2C Indoor Smart Security Camera
You may recall some time ago I did a review of the Bullet 2C camera from Imou. Well, it has taken some time but I finally have my hands on the new Ranger 2C Smart Security Camera. They’ve given me some info – links etc (see below) but first, why…
ESCAM QF260 WiFi Solar Camera
Described on Banggood’s website as the “ESCAM QF260 WIFI HD 1080P 2.0MP Wireless IP67 Outdoor Solar Battery Power Low Power Consumption PIR Surveillance Security Camera“, this looks remarkably like my original YN88-WIFI-130W described here. Well, THIS new WiFi camera also has the term “Watchmen” on the box but is a…
Astrolux VC04 Versatile Charger
Don’t you love it “Astrolux 4-solt Li-ion Battery Charger” – I think we can safely assume that should be “4-slot”. Inside the manual, the company refers to the inputs which are USB-C, micro-USB and “Lighting” – well, as a non-Apple user that kept me going for a minute – they…
Today’s Postbag – the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 – a WINNER
I have had a Mi Band 4, a pair of Mi Band 5s and at the end of April 2021 I got the brand new Xiaomi Mi Band 6 from Banggood. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited. I opened the box – instructions in Chinese, partly charged…