When I saw this video from Louis Rossmann or this one by Tom, a fellow HAM radio operator, I said to myself: Holy shit! I use these car fuses a lot, and I always expected that they protect my circuits from overcurrent and possible burning, but I never checked if they work. Particularly since I st...
2024-04-03 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Smartphones connect nearly everywhere to the Internet. What if we could use all their towers to connect our sensors and other gadgets to the Internet? Would LoRaWAN or Sigfox be obsolete? If you are brave, you will follow my journey and learn much about cellular IOT technology and how to survive ...
2024-03-21 20:27:13 +0000 UTC View Post
LoraWAN is a widely used low-power, long-range network that consists of sensors and gateways. I will provide you with an overview and a comparison of the currently available LoRaWAN gateways, as well as how to select them. Because most gateways use the same chips and should have similar ranges, I...
2024-03-06 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
LoraWAN is a widely used low-power, long-range network that consists of sensors and gateways. I will provide you with an overview of the currently available gateways as well as how to select them. Because most gateways use the same chips and should have similar ranges, I will not test it. Still, ...
2024-03-01 17:00:24 +0000 UTC View Post
If you happen to be at this show and find some time to meet with me, just send me a notice.
I should be here till Thursday.
Regards
Andreas
2024-02-26 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Frequent viewers know that I like GreatScott's channel because he greatly develops people’s interest in electronics. When he showed a trigger board to keep a USB power bank on for small projects, I thought: Great idea, but this could be done better! And it is a perfect excuse to tinker with the...
2024-02-16 14:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post
When I proposed to leave the Raspberry Pi for home server applications, many viewers wrote that Proxmox is now also available on the Pi. The Raspberry Pi 5 is much faster than the Pi4, it comes with 8GB of RAM and, with its low power consumption, should be a perfect fit for a Proxmox server. So, ...
2024-02-01 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Charging and transferring data over USB cables has become much faster over the past years. With the standardization of USB-C connectors, it also became easier, right? Wrong. Because, without precautions, you still will encounter low transfer speeds and slow or even no charging at all.
Becau...
2024-01-18 20:58:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Around the beginning of a new year, I usually choose a topic that is related to the channel and universal enough to be interesting for everybody’s life. Today, it is the topic of “abstraction” and its influence on our electronics projects. Understanding this topic also helps you decide on t...
2024-01-05 14:20:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Rechargeable batteries last way longer if we do not charge them up to 100% or fully discharge them. This is particularly important for batteries in expensive devices like smartphones or tablets because repairing a defective battery is expensive. It took Apple many years till, finally, the iPhone ...
2023-12-08 21:35:24 +0000 UTC View Post
When I listened to The Amp Hour, episode #599, I was astonished by the project and its creator, Uri. He built a simulator for all kinds of MCUs and electronic parts. This project is so cutting-edge that I cannot believe only one young guy was able to create it. And because it is useful and fun, I...
2023-11-24 23:10:38 +0000 UTC View Post
I use the SDRconsole software for my QO-100 station and SmartSDR for my Flex radio. Both have in common that they run on a PC. I like such programs because they work with a mouse. With one exception: I want a PTT, preferably a foot switch, to keep my hands free. I had to search and experiment til...
2023-11-15 18:07:44 +0000 UTC View Post
My year-end mailbag video contains devices and parts around our hobby, particularly around power and power delivery. It is divided into two parts. The first airs on 11/11, and the second part airs one day later. Both in time to grab the singles day discounts.
2023-11-10 21:44:25 +0000 UTC View Post
We all know Wi-Fi. But do you know Wi-Gig? Can you imagine what it is? Invented by Elon Musk, where everything is called “Giga”? No, not really. Still, we will talk about Gigahertz and Gigabit per second. After the video, you will know the next frontier of Wi-Fi. As a bonus, I will tell you t...
2023-10-26 19:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Lately, many radar sensors have become available for relatively cheap prices. In this video, I will give you an overview of what is available and how they compare. And, of course, we will have a look into how they work and test a few of them. After viewing this video, you should be able to choose...
2023-10-13 20:52:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Radio Frequency interferences, also known as QRM, have become a significant issue in modern times. Today, I will present a structured approach to tackle this problem and include interferences of Power Line Communication Devices (PLC) and solar optimizers. This video will provide valuable insights...
2023-10-08 07:23:28 +0000 UTC View Post
The Raspberry Pi 5 was recently announced. It is faster than the old one, and you can add an SSD with a special adapter. The price went up, and now it needs a beefy power supply. Is it worth ordering one for our home automation server? Maybe you watch this video before you order.
2023-09-30 08:01:32 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2020, I was the first YouTuber to make a video about “Meshtastic,” created by Kevin Hester. The project name was a merge between Mesh and Fantastic. Already then, I loved the project. But why is it the “most dangerous LoRa project”? Here is the proof: My video was included in a study t...
2023-09-13 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the last re-run of this summer break. In two weeks, I will be back with a new video.
I should have been warned: Some viewers on our summer project were against a gun on the tank. But I did not listen. This video shows what happened and how I was punished. In Switzerland, every...
2023-09-01 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Unfortunately, most soil moisture sensors used in our Arduino, ESP8266, or ESP32 projects destroy themselves after a short while. We need a better solution. Today we will test different sensors, and I will show you how they work and why most sensors from China destroy themselves. And, of course, ...
2023-08-18 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
When it comes to emergency communications, it must be solid, reliable, and scalable. In HAM radio, we often use AREDN networks for that purpose. Because they run on 2.4 or 5.8GHz, their performance is high and allows to build mesh networks for flexibility and reliability. Today, we will add the n...
2023-08-10 15:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a re-run of a video made on May 6, 2018. Of course, some of the tools are replaced. But many stayed. I will pin a comment with the changed tools. Which are the essential tools in a lab? Which one do I use, and how am I organized? A video for all who are curious about how it looks be...
2023-08-05 08:06:32 +0000 UTC View Post
During my summer break, I reupload successful videos of the past (for your rainy Sundays). This one aired on April 5th, 2020. Measuring current is simple. Right? You just take a multimeter, connect it to the two cables, and read the value. If you want to do the same with a Microcontroller l...
2023-07-22 15:08:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Patreons,
As every year, I insert a summer break and, to keep the rhythm, schedule some "evergreens" (this was proposed by a subscriber, BTW).
I want to thank you personally for your engagement. Patreons are a very important motivation for all YouTubers because it shows the value of th...
This is the second part of my long mailbag video. It contains some products, some explanations, and experiments. And it shows a bit of my side projects.
2023-06-15 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
A typical mailbag video with some explanation and experiments. Because it was too long for one, a part two will follow next week.
2023-06-08 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The USB feature of the new ESP32 chips is handy. Unfortunately, it is not easy to use because the information is hidden. This video shows how everything works and how you must set up the Arduino IDE to exploit the USB functionality. I promise it will save you a lot of frustration and time. And it...
2023-05-25 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
We have all heard of Wi-Fi and Zigbee. And Alexa, Google home, or Apple Homekit. And Home Assistant, IOBroker, or Node-Red. And maybe “Matter” or “Thread”. But how do they relate? Today and in the future? And how does this affect us? Let’s have a closer look.
2023-05-12 12:25:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Because the Remote Radio Station has no grid, we want to go solar. I built a battery with eight 302Ah cells, including a Daly 100A BMS. The 25.6V nominal (23.2 - 29.2V) is converted to a stable 13.8V by the grey buck converter.
On top, you find the needed fuses and breakers. As input, we have ...
Today I will show you a project with several aspects. Even if you do not need to charge batteries with voltages of 35 volts and above using a solar panel, you will find learnings for your projects. Or you enjoy that not only you encounter some difficulties in your projects.
2023-04-27 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post