In this project we integrate inexpensive ‘old’ 433MHz devices with modern smart devices see also: 433MHz smarter letterbox how to set up RFlink so that it will read your RF sensors The easiest ready-to-roll...
In a previous project I set up temperature sensors in my room and sent the data via Bluetooth to Home Assistant, the home automation platform. Home Assistant is software that can record measurements and...
In this project I control a Sonoff light switch using Home Assistant. You can do the same with other Sonoffs. The switch shown here is the T4EU1C wall plate switch. It works over wifi...
see also more about 433MHz devices The letterbox is five doors and fifty metres from my desk. The uncertainty of the post lady arriving in the afternoon means that I make wasted journeys to...
what you need to run your own home automation server Raspberry Pi – a kit with Raspberry Pi 3+ or later with the recommended power supply, 32Gb SD card, heatsinks and/or cooling fan. A...
A heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. Measures oil level in any unit – litres, gallons or days until I need to refill the tank Displays readings...
The need was to meter the use of oil for billing purposes. I solved it easily and inexpensively. This was before the days of home automation – but it nevertheless meets a need inexpensively....
The First World War, that began in 1914, put chemists to work. Their chemicals could harm as well as heal … but on balance the outcome was … horrific. As the author of two...
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Here are pictures of labs, data loggers, sensors and experiments from the 1990’s to the 2000’s. You’ll see different solutions to computers in a lab and for example, different colorimeters and different ways to...
When it is icy they put salt onto the roads to melt the ice. What the salt does is to depress, or reduce, the freezing point of water. The result is that the ice...
Batteries are a handy source of power. You’ll know that there are different kinds of batteries, and maybe that some are good for some jobs, and some for others. But battery power is expensive. It...
Radioactive materials decay, or lose their radioactivity, in a predictable way. If you have a fast decaying source, such as Protactinium with a half life of just 72 seconds, you can take a series...
You can use a temperature sensor to study the conduction of heat through materials. Two temperature sensors allow you to compare different materials at the same time. In this example, you heat strips of...
You can use a temperature sensor to study the insulating properties of materials. Two temperature sensors allow you to compare different materials at the same time. In this example two beakers of hot water...
Measuring the appearance of cloudy sulfur when we mix acid and sodium thiosulfate is a popular science teaching activity. We can change the temperature or concentration of the reagents, and see whether the mixture...
A lot of people use science at work and more so here in Cambridge, England. We started interviewing them for our radio show from 2011 up until 2014 and here they are. While the interviewers...
We’ve recorded dozens of scientists and entrepreneurs talking about what their work involves. We hear from experts in Cambridge, England as they talk about their inventions, discoveries and interests. We shout to twitter @105science.
Just when I thought I knew enough … I discover why a bicycle headlamp wasn’t working. It was because some 18650 batteries have a button top. Read on for useful things to know. The...
Here’s what to do when a restaurant asks you to scan a QR code for their track and trace (written in 2020). And here’s how to identify a plant, an animal and lots more....
The need: you use a table light for watching TV and a main (wall) light at other times and you want a coffee table button to switch between one or the other or have...
I got to a point where I had plenty of ‘smart’ lights and gadgets but few switches. But then I found a 3-gang version of the T4EU1C wall plate switch. It works over wifi...
The touch light switch on the wall lies in wait for someone to press it. When it’s on a press turns it off and when it’s off it turns on. That’s toggling a switch....
I wouldn’t especially recommend the D-Link DCS-D150 motion sensor but it does have some features that had me buy it. Firstly it plugs into a wall socket above a worktop so it can sense...
If you could look inside an old replaceable laptop battery pack like this you’d find 4 or 6 cells. Usually the cells are 18mm diameter, 65mm long and are called 18650 lithium batteries. Each...
Includes up-tempo anything and even some country music.
Broadly latin, cha cha, afro, carib beats
Tracks have that extra for swing but leave the rest of us breathless. What gets in here: syncopation; swing; faster; lindy hop; east coast swing; cowboy country music
These tracks might be for parties and weddings with the generation heading towards their funerals. Tracks from the Tamla Motown, Disco era and 90’s have been a staple of, at least, my party years...
More recently discovered or rediscovered make-you-want-to-dance tracks. I like em as they have some magic – they need a test for instant appeal.
Sometimes a laptop goes into a comatose state that no amount of charging or on-offing can end. If the laptop has a removable battery the solution might be to Disconnect the power supply and...
‘Smart meters’ and metering devices usually measure the electricity used by the whole house*. However I prefer to pay attention to the electricity used by individual devices, such as a combination oven, fan heater...
The regular way to switch a Sonoff relay is to use the official ewelink app – however Home Assistant doesn’t* work with ewelink. Other ways require you to ‘flash’ the Sonoff device with Tasmota...
The Home Assistant dashboard (aka ‘Lovelace’) is very good at displaying live sensor data and sensor data from the last several days. As you can see below you can display a ‘just now’ reading...
How to make inexpensive, ‘old’ technology, 433MHz devices work with today’s smart devices see also: 433MHz smarter letterbox RF sensors and receivers If you’ve used any of the following examples you probably own some...
smart sockets have uses. A smart socket adds a little cleverness to a table lamp or electric heater. The printer upstairs takes five minutes to warm up so switching it on by remote control...
How does one house an electronics project? Is there a neat way to house a smart doorbell and camera? I don’t relish the effort to design a 3D model. Maybe I was looking for...
they work together but not everything is possible As an early adopter I’ve come to feel that Philips Hue lighting system gains more praise than it needs as I find a dozen other makers...
This quick post is for anybody wondering how much money they need to put aside for energy. If you don’t use electricity for keeping warm, your summer and winter electricity bills will be similar....
smart bulbs and sockets have select uses. A smart socket adds a little on/off cleverness to a table lamp, electric heater or the printer upstairs that takes five minutes before it’s warm and useful....
When you look for home automation equipment you find many systems. They turn on lights and plug sockets; water the garden; unlock a door, turn up the heating; record a security camera, open the...
Even if you’ve no need for as much as a smart bulb, you do need to be impressed or surprised by the variety of smart gadgets on sale. There are smart door locks, garage...
… and see how to add features to the Home Assistant display An interest in solar energy is a possible reason to record the sun’s azimuth and the time of sunset. Home Assistant can track...
The Google nest thermostat or its Hive equivalent are items which I’d be happy to pay for rather than make. A first reason is that we rely too much on warmth, and a second...
When you set up a gadget or device you’ll sometimes be asked what its IP address is – and gosh – becoming at ease with that question is good for you. Every gadget connected...
If you want to make your own smart measuring device or presence detector or dog watching camera or tea bag lifting robot, the ESP32 and Arduino circuit boards make the gadget you need. A...
Arduino IDE is software that lets us develop code for a writing on a chip. Explore its menu and we soon see it’s made to transfer a great many capabilities to a great many...
When a ESP32 device has been flashed and powered, it will use the password you added to the code to connect to your wifi. The ESPhome interface in Home Assistant (pic below) will show...
Software which allows you to ‘own’ your devices ESPhome can be used to reprogram a ESP chip so that Home Assistant can control it. I use it to re-program a Sonoff S20 smart plug...
ESPhome is software that can add a program to (or “flash firmware to”) an ESP chip. This chip is at the core of many automation projects. The software connects things up inside Home Assistant...
I am the person who wants to know if using an electric fan heater in one room costs less than heating the whole house using gas*. At parties I can keep a sofa to...
rogerfrost.com is a compendium of ideas for using technology to find answers to sciencey questions. Since 1995 it has provided ideas to school science teachers. Since 2020 we’ve focussed on questions around the home with a new home automation section. So today we look at ways to measure and monitor around the house.
You will find everything here tagged and indexed by topic or technology.
Roger Frost was a writer from 1988 and this web includes many of his articles for magazines and newspapers. They tell how the early Internet developed; how real scientists work and how real people, like you might use technology at home or school.
Do please add a comment to an article or say hi via the social links. Use this content freely and link back here if you can.
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