In the last few years, I've been hacking on some Arduino/Pi stuff... so figured I'd spin up a thread on it.
Lorawan. It's an interesting long-distance comms tech that I've just fallen into. I've been working on some simple sensors for my home garden... basically, collect temp, moisture, light readings from multiple sensors in my gardens, fire them to a small raspberry pi server every few minutes, store them, and then show pretty graphs. I built up some sensors and then found that I had some networking issues. At first, I tried BlueTooth Low Energy, which was simple and low power, but I couldn't get the range. I then tried some wifi, but while range was significantly better, it was still problematic, and it was a power hog. I ended up going down an electronics rabbit hole one night and ran across Lorawan. https://lora-alliance.org/about-lorawan It's long range stuff that can go for miles, and is some primary tech being used by commercial farms to report info from the fields. Needless to say, when I ran into it, I hit up AliExpress and ordered some stuff, and it just showed up today. Picked up a simple gateway/concentrator that attaches to a RaspPi (the RAK2245), a handful of sensors, and an antennae that is way bigger than I thought it was going to be based on the pics. Turns out there's a whole OSS stack that's easy to use... https://www.chirpstack.io/ Anyway, bit of a long shot, but anyone else into doing shit like this?
Yep. Thats pretty cool. I had built a small weather station on a raspberry pi with my then-roommate years ago. Nothing complex, but a lot of fun to put together. I have been looking into applications for my dad in terms of his HAM radio stuff, particularly a small device that controls the rotation of his antennas based on frequency so he doesn't have to use the aux. controllers.
Are there any good beginner youtube channels for this type of stuff? I missed the boat growing up with a granddad owning a tv repair shop. My brother got his own "build your first circuitboard" set for kids when he was ten at a hamfest. Being able to troubleshoot circuit boards and electric circuits is really the next step I need in my car repair repertoire. Like to know how to read electrical schematics and test different circuitry correctly and so on. Ive also wanted to make one of those coolbots that turn window mounted AC units into deep freezers for diy deer processing. My brother has mentioned you could make one out of super cheap electronics and skip the hundreds of dollars the name brand one is. https://storeitcold.com/meat/
There are a few channels that I follow that are quite interesting. From a purely "beginner" perspective, Great Scott is really good: https://www.youtube.com/user/greatscottlab And the guy just happens to be doing some greenhouse stuff with LoRa... go figure! Dave over at EEVBlog is an old school electrical engineer who does a fun job of talking about electronics, and "dumpster dives" a fair bit, where he grabs broken electronics that were tossed out and fixes them. He might be a bit more advanced, but he's pretty approachable over all. He also does a great bit every now and then where he rips apart scams from kickstarter, etc. https://www.youtube.com/c/EevblogDave/featured There's also Big Clive who breaks down a lot of common electronics and helps explain how they work. https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom From there you can go down a ton of rabbit holes. Steven Hawes, making his own "pick and place" machine: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMf49SMPnhxdLormhEpfyfg Elektroboom: an EE who teaches interesting stuff very well: https://www.youtube.com/user/msadaghd Teaching Tech: probably the best 3d printer resource I've found on the web: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbgBDBrwsikmtoLqtpc59Bw
Over 30 years ago in junior high, I got to play with breadboards and shit. My local Fry's used to have an electronics section, but that section's gone now.* I'd like to learn more about this stuff again. Bad booze wrecks our young guts, and don't be like this guy: *=Among other things. This is what the store looked like six days before Christmas, at 5:50 PM. They also had no motherboards because they were "working out a new contract with the vendor."
I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'm posting this here . . . I have a can of RadioShack Control/Contact Cleaner & Lubricant (4.5 oz), but it's finally empty. It's been handy for old pot switches and other things that need a cleanup to prevent crackling sounds. But, obviously, all the RadioShacks are gone. The WD-40 or DeoxIT versions are both extremely flammable. Is the BW-100 or CRC Lectra-Motive stuff any good? I liked the smaller can, too, but it looks like most everything is 10 oz or more. Any suggestions?
You might have a hard time finding something smaller. I seem to remember that that stuff comes in a minimum size can due to the need for propellant, and at smaller sizes, it just didn't work.
That's fine. I mostly wanted whichever works, because I've only got familiarity with the RadioShack stuff. Smaller can was just a preference.
Cool, I ordered the CRC Lectra-Motive. I couldn't use the kind you linked - since it says "Extremely Flammable" on the warning, I'm assuming it's not non-flammable.
A lot of those types of sprays use things like propane as a propellant. So yeah… most of the good ones are highly flammable. Also a good reason why you don’t weld beside a can of wd-40… one wrong move or too much heat and you’ll blow up. Just like you don’t clean a weld surface with the good brake clean, as it has chlorine in it… and will kill the fuck out if you real quick.