Home Automation

[marlingardener]

Ian, raising and lowering blinds by hand not only saved you the money for motors, but also the cost of a gym membership. All that raising and lowering is great for upper body strength!

 

[CanadianLori]

@marlingardener

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Sounds like we have similar hobbies Colin! I often use CPC for buying electronics components, as it's free delivery over £5 and the prices are quite reasonable - sometimes I'll use RS if I'm in a rush, as they do free next day delivery for all items (even when I've ordered a single 50p connector!).

It's not the same as popping in to a shop and picking parts up, but given the huge volume of parts, it's inevitable that it moved online in time. I wish we had a local electronics component shop nearby.

Thanks for the info . I'll stick to doing it by hand at that price .

I too use CPC Ian and receive the catalogues through the post with their latest special offers. Years ago when I first started playing with electronics I took Bron over with me to RS in Leeds wondering what to expect as a total novice and never having visited such a place previously; I parked the car and headed to the entrance; on the wall by the entrance was a large sign declaring I wasn't welcome unless I had an account with RS so I never did find out what the store was like inside and if they couldn't deal with me as a cash customer then I would buy elsewhere? Shortly after this I found Farnell's also in Leeds so once again we set off for a trip out and what a total difference this experience was; we parked easily and I headed to the entrance but this time there wasn't a notice stating I needed an account with Farnell so I approached the sales counter with my wish list; I was made most welcome and whilst my order was being processed I was invited to take a seat; I then noticed a table in the corner loaded with electrical items so being nosy I had a good browse; the items were being sold off at dirt cheap prices; I bought big rolls of special insulation tape each roll would have been expensive but now for 10p each; I eventually used a lot of this tape when I wound my 3 phase transformer.

What a totaL contrast between RS and Farnell though; RS couldn't be bothered with me whereas Farnell made me most welcome; Bron and I visited Farnell many times in the following years but due to my change in hobbies we've not been over for a few years to Farnell's so it might have changed by now; Farnell only insisted that a minimum of £5 would be spent. I've never bought from RS and possibly never will. As I say I was a total electronics novice and during this period we visited Maplin in Leeds; I completely left my personal comfort zone taking on electronics and visiting electronic stores and looking back what was I worried about; making a fool of myself whilst trying something totally different? Now if I'm unfamiliar and feel out of place in strange surroundings I simply state I'm a novice so please be gentle with me and this has never failed allowing me to ask the very basic questions without feeling stupid in any way; being open and honest stating I'm a novice opens doors and it's usually greeted with a broad smile of acceptance; I feel being honest and open in this way is much better than trying to bluff that I'm competent.

I enjoy leaving my comfort zone to try new things but many are happy to stick with what they already know and of course their choice but trying new things such as electronics can be most rewarding indeed and its impossible to completely fail because right from the start knowledge is gained hence progress is made I'm hopelessly colour blind but I adopted both electronics and vintage radio restoring; a couple of years ago I had a go at watercolour painting; I use the colour identification on the paint tubes so a bit of web browsing gave me the colours to mix such as yellow and blue to make green; I select the yellow and blue tubes then I'm OK just playing around with shades; below is an example. I also had a go at sketching following a YouTube tutorial; Bron liked the sketch so much she has kindly framed it and it's on display.

Sorry to hijack your thread Ian but I feel something like tackling electronics for the first time could be very daunting so I hope my story will encourage others to follow your lead; the only way to fail is not to have a go and skill in basic electronics can be picked up quite easily whilst not costing a fortune; a cheap multimeter at around £7 and a soldering iron is a good start. Electronics is a fascinating hobby and for a novice a good place to start is Maplin's buying one of their electronic kits these being easy to put together. I have never yet failed but I usually fall into all the traps and make every mistake possible before succeeding but failure isn't an option. Have a go at something totally new; I can recommend it.

I've rambled on enough.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Larisa]

Are you serious? This sounds psychologically dangerous!

@alp It is important to treat this correctly.
Alice is also in my smartphone. At first it was ridiculous. Sometimes it's convenient. For example, if I'm in an unfamiliar place, Alice finds me on the map and shows the way.
Sometimes she thinks she's joking. But when she promises to blow me up, I begin to be cautious about the "Smart House" system. This is also the voice assistant supervises. So I run my house myself.

 

[Silentrunning]

In spite of being a techie with my hobbies I try to eliminate automation in my life as much as possible. I know it is paranoid to worry about such things, but I am concerned about the results of an EMP. Whether man made or from a solar flare the loss of controls will be disastrous. As we build our new house I will be attempting to have systems in place to sustain us in the event all electronics become useless.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

In spite of being a techie with my hobbies I try to eliminate automation in my life as much as possible. I know it is paranoid to worry about such things, but I am concerned about the results of an EMP. Whether man made or from a solar flare the loss of controls will be disastrous. As we build our new house I will be attempting to have systems in place to sustain us in the event all electronics become useless.

In the infants school I attended from the age of five Silentrunning I was taught basic maths and alphabet using chalk and a slate board; by the time I left school aged 15 I was very competent in maths and English all without the aid of a single electronic bit of kit in fact we all in those days left school with a decent education taught the old fashioned way where teachers and headmaster were in full control.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=old+fashioned+chalk+&+slate&rlz=1C1MSIM_enGB700GB700&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4xsnQk6rYAhXoKJoKHVgLBDQQsAQIXw&biw=1920&bih=949

During my apprenticeship I used a slide rule; later whilst attending training courses when pocket calculators came in I could still beat a calculator using my slide rule although I doubt I can still remember how to use my slide rule not having used it for around 50 years but I still have it. Here's a YouTube video which might be of interest but I've seen similar where the slide rule wins easily.

We were also taught how to use an Abacus as seen above.

These days of electronic wizardry have schools been made better and are school leavers more competent than when I left school 55 years ago?

I don't trust anything at all with a circuit board included. Items like washing machines and central heating boilers will all fail at some point as will every computer?

It's no fun standing at the checkout of Aldi because the electronic tills have died? Of course the world would quickly cease to exist now if electronics were completely removed.

I'm definitely a dinosaur.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I am well on my way to living with technology at home. For Christmas I got my wife a mesh wifi so she could have good signal throughout the house without the flashing lights upstairs that were on our old router. She also got a Bose Wave Radio to listen to books on tape with, which she had been doing with her cell phone. I was interested to see 9 separate devices attached to the network. What is remarkable is how they all blend together. Now I am worried about a better passcode and security. I heard a person on the CNBC finance channel say it costs 1250 usd just in electricity just to make the very large number that represents a bitcoin. That is a large number. My passcodes do not cost a penny

 

[CanadianLori]

Might be safe to use your lottery picks for your password. Just dots instead of spaces.... I mean the odds on winning the lottery are?

 

[DirtMechanic]

@CanadianLori Brilliant! Could you imagine if I picked a winner? Everybody on the net would type my password and I would be done in!

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Might be safe to use your lottery picks for your password. Just dots instead of spaces.... I mean the odds on winning the lottery are?

You've just reminded me Lori; I reckon the odds of winning the lottery are about the same as us enjoying a warm sunny; dry day without the slightest breeze in fact I think I've a better chance of winning the lottery.

Years ago when automatic garage doors were introduced I believe nearby washing machines could trigger the control?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Silentrunning]

The most high tech thing I may put in my new house is going to be "The Clapper"

 

[DirtMechanic]

That reminded me of the mounted bass fish that would flap and sing.

 

[Silentrunning]

That reminded me of the mounted bass fish that would flap and sing.

I might get one of those too if I have any money left.

 

[alp]

But when she promises to blow me up, I begin to be cautious about the "Smart House" system. This is also the voice assistant supervises. So I run my house myself.

Good idea! Here in the UK, we have a HIVE system which will turn on your central heating. Some reported that it turned on their central heating to a very high temperature and hence spent more of their money. Automation gone mad. You have to pay to have this installed. Personally, I don't see the point of turning your central heating two hours before you go home. When you go home i,e, from the cold to indoors, you don't feel the cold so badly anyway!

 

[alp]

In spite of being a techie with my hobbies I try to eliminate automation in my life as much as possible. I know it is paranoid to worry about such things, but I am concerned about the results of an EMP. Whether man made or from a solar flare the loss of controls will be disastrous. As we build our new house I will be attempting to have systems in place to sustain us in the event all electronics become useless.

I totally agree with you. Automation has actually enabled thieves in supermarkets. I went to a UK Walmart and I saw a mother and her daughter using the automation when it was maga/super/ultra busy, their terminal kept beeping and of course, there was only one lone supervisor for about 6 to 8 tills and all the other tills were screaming for attention. I saw one of the women kept putting things into bags ON THE FLOOR away from the scale on the other side. After the shopping, they hailed a taxi home.

Another time in a different supermarket, the attendant was busy with another terminal and when she came standing next to me, she asked me if I knew who had been using the terminal next to me, I said no. The screen listed a number of items and no shopping or shopper to be seen. Well, someone did a runner! !

Some humans are very devious and that's why theft is rampant. Now police won't be bothered with theft under £200 and people are joking that a lot of people can get away with £199.99! I think the reverse should be enforced so as to stem out theft in the bud .. But then again, I am not power that be!