Controlling the Raspberry Pi HDMI port — with MQTT and Home Assistant

Controlling the Raspberry Pi HDMI port — with MQTT and Home Assistant

We have a Raspberry Pi driven digital calendar in the kitchen. I’m currently using crontab to turn the HDMI port off at night, and when we’re at work.

But a much more flexible solution is to control it using MQTT and Home Assistant. That way it can easily be automated to turn on when we’re home, if there is movement in the kitchen, or any number of conditions.

It’s really quite easy to do, here’s how 👇

Read more →

Running three CAT6 cables to the living room TV bench

Running three CAT6 cables to the living room TV bench

Ever since we bought the house, last year, I’ve been planning to run wired network to the living room TV and media center — it’s time to finally get that done 🙂

Read more →

Running two CAT6 cables to the play room

Running two CAT6 cables to the play room

We recently got a family computer in our play room, and it of course needs network. So I ran a 20 mm conduit from the basement, through the kitchen, to the play room, and pulled two CAT6 cables.

Read more →

Downgrading Unifi APs from 5.43.43 to 4.3.28

Downgrading Unifi APs from 5.43.43 to 4.3.28

Shortly after I upgraded my Unifi access points from 4.3.28 to 5.43.43; I started getting timeout issues. Not all devices, but some; the Raspberry Pi driving our DAKboard, and both our Netatmo air quality sensors.

It took me a while to understand what was happening, and I didn’t immediately relate it to the firmware upgrade.

Read more →

Electronics lab equipment

Electronics lab equipment

When I got serious about my electronics lab — I found it useful to see what equipment other people have in their labs. I got a lot of information from EEVblog’s video on How To Set Up An Electronics Lab.

So — here is my contribution 🙂 Below you’ll find a list and photo gallery of my electronics lab equipment 👇

Read more →