I recently had one of my Arilux LED Controllers die on me, When it came to buying a replacement I found my favourite controller the H801 was out of stock, so I went on to purchase a new model known as the W03 and test that out. Below is my experiences on using it and flashing it with Tasmota.
Continue reading “Flashing the W03 LED Controller with Tasmota”
Kogan LX10 Robot Vacuum Review
I recently acquired a fairly new Kogan LX10 robot vacuum cleaner. How I came to receive it was via a mate who received it as a Christmas present. After a few uses, he decided it was not for him, and he told me if I didn’t take it away it was going in the bin. I took him up on the offer to see if it was as bad as he thought, and to review it for this blog.
Continue reading “Kogan LX10 Robot Vacuum Review”
Proxmox – migrate your Home Assistant VM to a new PC via a cluster
This post is a follow on to my previous post where I installed Home Assistant OS as a virtual machine under Proxmox. I did this on my development PC to see if Proxmox was for me before I moved the VM to my main home automation server. Now that I am happy with Proxmox running Home Assistant, it’s time to upgrade my main server to Proxmox and set up Home Assistant on it. While I could have just done a fresh installation like I did in my previous post very easily, I decided to test out Proxmox’s clustering options that allow the VM to be moved to another PC in the cluster. If this option interests you, read on.
Continue reading “Proxmox – migrate your Home Assistant VM to a new PC via a cluster”
Build and Review of the Ender 3 v2 3D Printer
When you get into a hobby like Home Automation or electronics, you inevitably are drawn into the world of 3d Printers. My first experience with one is my friend’s Creality CR10, which I made good use of and have fixed up along the way. I recently had decided to purchase my own printer and decided on the Creality Ender 3 v2. I decided on this model as it was the new kid on the Creality block that improved on the CR10’s shortcomings a fair bit despite its smaller print bed. Continue reading “Build and Review of the Ender 3 v2 3D Printer”
Home Assistant on Proxmox – next steps
In a previous post I detailed installing Proxmox on an old PC to use as Home Assistant server with Home Assistant’s Virtual Machine image. Today I will go over some changes and tweaks I have done since setting up my Proxmox server. Continue reading “Home Assistant on Proxmox – next steps”
Arlec PC191HA Smart Energy Meter Socket Review
Since Home Assistant introduced the energy dashboard, I have been playing about with the odd energy monitoring smart plug that I had in use and decided I needed to try a few more. I previously used TP-link sockets, but since this Alert I decided against using this brand again. When browsing the Bunnings website, I saw that they have a new range of cheap Tuya based Arlec Smart Plugs. Known as the Arlec Grid Connect Smart Plug-in socket with energy meter, this seems to be a smaller, upgraded version of a previous Arlec plug. At only $17.50 the price was too good to resist, so after stopping by a few stores, I eventually found one in stock, and proceeded to purchase it to try it out.
Continue reading “Arlec PC191HA Smart Energy Meter Socket Review”
Set up a Home Assistant VM on Proxmox
In a previous post a while back, I documented how I installed Home Assistant Supervised in Docker under Ubuntu. Since then, that method of install has become the not recommended way to install Home Assistant, as the Home Assistant team have stopped supporting that style of install. While I still run one system like that in a friend’s house, I decided it was time to change up the way my system was set up and have gone with Home Assistant in a VM under Proxmox. Continue reading “Set up a Home Assistant VM on Proxmox”
8582D 2 in 1 Soldering Station Review
My workshop soldering iron recently died, and it was time for a replacement. Nowadays, it gets used only a few times a month, so I was not willing to spend a huge amount on a replacement. There seem to be several sub $100 units available from the usual cheap Chinese sources like eBay, Aliexpress, Banggood and even Amazon. What kept coming up under several brand names was a unit known as a 8582D 2 in 1 soldering station, which is what I ended up buying for around $80 from Banggood. Continue reading “8582D 2 in 1 Soldering Station Review”
Replacing D cells with an 18650 Battery Cell
A quick post today to show off my latest 3D printed design, a battery box to replace three D cell batteries with one 18650 lithium-ion rechargeable cell that is charged by a cheap onboard charger and step up circuit board. Continue reading “Replacing D cells with an 18650 Battery Cell”
Using the QuinLED-Dig-Uno PCB with WLED
I have previously posted on some of my LED strips before. All of these have been RGB strips, where you can choose a single colour for the whole strip. They are relatively cheap and easy to set up with controllers that can be purchased off the shelf and used as is or flashed with Tasmota. Continue reading “Using the QuinLED-Dig-Uno PCB with WLED”