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 has similar resolution while having a somewhat (IMHO) better feel to it – but that doesn’t really cover the improvements as…
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 today 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 band in Chinese, what to…
Blitzwolf BW-GC8 Gaming Chair with RGB Lighting
This Blitzwolf BW-GC8 gaming chair from Banggood is a far cry from the first chair I reviewed, the BW-GC1. Opening the box it was immediately obvious that this chair was taller (I was not going to need the supplied headrest) and generally the chair looked upmarket – but it was…
Comparing Various Disk Device Speeds
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…
Instar IN-9008 Full HD MQTT Wired/WIFI IP Camera
In February 2020 I received a very nice IP camera from INSTAR Deutschland (Germany) GmbH – the IN-9008 Full HD camera (1920×1080 HD) has turned out to be a winner. I’ve had several emails with support and comments from Mike Polinowski of Instar about the “first ever” MQTT IP Camera.…
18650 Lithium Rechargeable Battery Lengths
I won’t bore you with the usual warning about Lithium battery safety and as for capacity – that’s a whole other issue – we all know that some suppliers make ridiculous claims for 18650 capacity (if you see a capacity rating of over 3500maH, there’s a good chance you’ve been…
Worx WX240 4V USB Mini Screwdriver
What’s exciting about a Lithium screwdriver? Basically not a lot, but if Banggood had simply wanted to send me the bits – I’d have had them… you can never have too many screwdriver bits. Anyway, the Worx WX240 4V USB Mini Screwdriver certainly ticks the right boxes – as usual…
Blitzwolf BW-SHC3 PTZ 1080P Outdoor Camera
To give this camera its full title, it is the Blitzwolf BW-SHC3 PTZ 1080P Outdoor IP Security Camera. And yes, that’s a link to Banggood – full technical spec therein 🙂 If you are interested, you may have just read my short review of the Imou outdoor camera, which while…
Imou Bullet 2C Camera Motion Detection Camera
I received this Bullet 2C external camera directly from Imou some weeks ago and initially dismissed it (that was a mistake as it happens). At that time, I could find no information on how to get it to work outside of its own APP, nor how to get it to…
SQLITE3 Raspberry Pi Problems and Solutions?
If like me, upgrading Node-Red (in my case on Raspberry Pi) is often problematic – then it may well be worthwhile reading this update – at last solving a long-lasting issue including SQLITE and other installs which rely on NodeJS. If you regularly upgrade a Node-Red installation which makes use…
Rock T20 Universal Multi-function Dual USB Socket
The Rock T20 is a travel socket with a difference (info in the link but as Steve below in the comments says, this is now discontinued on the Banggood site even days after I received mine – a shame as it is a nice adaptor and they don’t seem to…
ESCAM QF288 1080p WiFi IP Camera
Reader Paul Richarson wrote a comment in an earlier camera blog of mine which triggered me to get hold of an ESCAM QF288 1080P WiFi IP Camera from Banggood as he suspected the camera is 3* optical zoom, not 8* optical zoom…. and he’s right – the ads claim 8x…
Huawei Band 6 v Xiaomi Mi Band 6
Too early to do a review – it seems that AliExpress will have the new Huawei Band 6 (GLOBAL) this week to I’m guessing that means we outside of China won’t be able to actually get one for maybe 3 weeks – and I’ve seen nothing yet about the Xiaomi…
Seeed WIO Terminal and Battery Pack
Some time ago I received a Wio terminal from Seeed and I remember thinking “great, finally a decent colour display system, cased, with decent IO capability – but why didn’t they put a battery in it?”. Well, now they have – or rather they have brought out a plug-in battery…
The CRICKET from ThingsOnEdge.COM
Of course we’ve all seen this form factor before – ESP8266 on a board with power and antenna, FLASH etc.. The ESP-12 is only one of many and now we have a new option – with a difference… also – this is an update of my late-2020 original blog. And…
Mobile Hotspot thoughts and discussion
Until recently, doing away with my broadband supplier was an impossibility – and it may well still be impractical but I’m investigating possibilities – feedback is most welcome. So, to start the ball rolling, here in rural Southern Spain where we have NO landlines on the outskirts of our village…